Tag Archives: Skyscrapers

Skyscrapers vs. sprawl?

Posted on February 21, 2016 by David Brussat

It is conventional wisdom that cities with lots of skyscrapers, such as New York City, are an ecofriendly bulwark against sprawl. Building up, it is said, avoids the need to build out. “Sprawl” is not just suburbia because suburbia can … Continue reading →

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Flashmob lasers supertalls?

Posted on December 19, 2015 by David Brussat

The rise of supertallsuperthins in Manhattan has driven upward the angst over skyscrapers, but who has given much thought to what it might be like to live in one – if anyone actually does. I see a run on the … Continue reading →

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Where eagles darechitecture

Posted on December 15, 2015 by David Brussat

This startling proposal of a supertallsuperthin residential tower showed up on TradArch the other day, sent by David Rau, who objects to the machined element of its ornament. His email set off a long debate about natural and unnatural materials … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

London’s fate, black & white

Posted on December 9, 2015 by David Brussat

The British photographer Lewis Bush, using the technique of double-exposure, has been shooting scenes of highrise construction in London that might (at his suggestion) bring to mind the eternal night of scenes from the film Blade Runner. He describes his … Continue reading →

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Skyscraper vs. skyscraper

Posted on November 16, 2015 by David Brussat

Hats off to Kristen Richards of ArchNewsNow.com for publishing a denunciation by CityLab of the (Toronto) Globe & Mail’s critic Eric Reguly’s piece “Why skyscrapers are killing great cities.” Otherwise we might not have seen the latter essay, which flies … Continue reading →

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Rip facade off mod angst

Posted on September 10, 2015 by David Brussat

Very interesting chat in the Guardian, “Should Britain’s ‘worst building’ be torn down?” with its art critic Jonathan Jones and Design Museum director Deyan Sudjik debating the future of the recent winner of the Carbuncle Cup, the Walkie-Talkie building, and … Continue reading →

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Carbuncle Cup conundrum

Posted on September 2, 2015 by David Brussat

In Britain the Carbuncle Cup goes to the ugliest building of the year. The name recalls Prince Charles’s famous and much-beloved line, “a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-beloved and elegant friend,” that he applied to a proposed … Continue reading →

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De Botton’s sore bottom line

Posted on July 16, 2015 by David Brussat

Alain de Botton, who wrote a rollicking book a while back called The Architecture of Happiness, has produced a video, “The Ruin of London,” expressing his horror at what is happening in the favorite city of the super rich. He … Continue reading →

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Ungainly BIG steps skyward

Posted on June 10, 2015 by David Brussat

Rumors of BIG’s taking the 2 World Trade Center job from Sir Norman Foster erupted as news today. Silverstein Properties, the owner of the WTC site, has hired Bjarke Ingels Group and has released a video to instruct the rest … Continue reading →

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Mayors and modernism

Posted on January 7, 2015 by David Brussat

Here is a column I wrote back on May 22, 2008, just after Boris Johnson’s election as mayor of London. At the time there was good news coming from the mouths of mayors in Italy and Czechoslovakia as well. Rome … Continue reading →

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