Like leggy plants given too much fertiliser, [sic] these buildings are a symptom of a city irrigated with too much money.
Image Courtesy the Guardian, Photograph by Andrew C Nelson/Jose Hernandez/Skyscraper Museum
The Guardian takes on the emergence of a “new” typology in “Super-tall, Super-skinny, Super-expensive: the ‘Pencil Towers’ of New York’s Super-rich.”
Author Oliver Wainwright outlines the circumstances, both in policy and finances that yield this crop of buildings. He also interviews the proponents of these buildings who seem to dismiss any opposition. Michael Stern of JDS Development seems to argue against the laws of physics themselves in challenging any concerns over shadows on a historic resource such as Central Park. Equally as opaque is the dismissive arguments of Carol Willis who claims “campaigners fail to understand that these towers ‘will not add one single square foot of built density to the city'”…the “campaigners” recognize that…it is the cubic feet of built density in ever-excessive volumes reaped from Floor Area that are part of the concern, both from a visual and safety perspective. Read the full article HERE.
Thumbnail Image Courtesy the Guardian, Photograph by Andrew C Nelson/Jose Hernandez/Skyscraper Museum