Professor of Urban Development at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), a principal with Happold Consulting, and author of The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper, Kate Ascher discusses her new book about tall buildings and density.
Comments [14]
Thank you Jeremy - I will google air rights. But it seems to me the concept is now used to circumvent zoning regulations. If it can be sold, is the air space above buildings that aren't as tall as allowed taxed? Doesn't the air belong to all of us? The concept has always puzzled me.
When it comes to the increasing urbanisation of the world's population, I am thinking favelas and not the Dakota, so the conversation is a bit off, now isn't it?
Air rights started with Grand Central's requirements that the steam trains become electric trains... very interesting story - google it!
What about how many people can fit in a skyscraper and the services they need? What about Jane Jacobs (I know it's old, but still humanly true) & safety & community? Is anything changing about skyscraper design to make them more personal?
Is the Flatiron building considered a skyscraper? I heard it was the first one.
I never heard the term "double-deck elevators." What are they?
What HASN'T changed in the construction of tall buildings since tall buildings began going up?
Having just seen a documentary about the efficiency of skinny, tall termite mounds and their temperature regulation due to their orientation, why aren't skyscrapers built in a similar fashion?
As more of us live vertically, will there be police stations inside large buildings eventually?
I think of tall buildings as representing private interests. How does public space work in skyscrapers? Are there any good examples in NYC? Above the ground level?
500 feet and above? I thought the Flatiron Building was New York's first skyscraper...???
The top floors of the Chrystler Building are occupied by a dentist. He was profiled in the NY Times a few years ago and they did a nice photo spread.
I've always wanted to visit the Skyscraper Museum downtown, I'd like to know if she recommends it? I always been interested in skyscrapers. My uncle Carmine was a construction worker on the Empire State building until he became disabled from a fall of a few stories on the building.
Could Tom Cruise really smash through the exterior glass of a skyscraper?
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