Evolution of tall buildings should not become an exploration in fantasy alone. While engineering advances have enabled structures to rise precariously towards greater heights, we continually challenge ourselves with the idea of form in tall buildings. But vertical reach also does not always create elegant structures. Height for some has become that all encompassing aspiration. How form interacts at each level of the tower becomes less important than creating an engineered peak cresting into an ephemeral sky.
With greater intensification in core regions of major municipalities we observe an increased set of standards applied to the design of neighbourhoods. This mutual respect of massing and zoning (while in its simplest forms is linked to the health, safety, and life-cycle aspects a building) has also punished the freedom of form and imagination. Required conformity to size of floor plates, setbacks and overall density has led to zones of buildings that cannot escape similar architectural facades. In essence, we have created zones of mediocrity. We have succumbed to a set of urban planning rules that in a methodology that create great swaths of urban infill, with limited individuality. We have lost the microcosm of place, and our ability to transform these places.
The iconic landmark transforms itself over time and becomes an emblem of a generation. The sense of ownership of this emblem comes not only from its footprint in the city, but when its iconic nature is recognized. Such buildings are symbols of a generation and can stand alone as engineering marvels, yet they also work to substantiate the essence of a culture. This is a city’s portrait. |
