The Urban Towers Handbook

Description

For well over a century, the modern skyscraper has provided an ingenious solution to high-density living and working – accommodating the greatest number of people in a building with a minimal footprint. In the contemporary context of drastic urban growth, its role can only gain in importance. The question is how to avoid past mistakes and how to conceive the tower as a positive component of an existing or newly created urban fabric. In a thoroughly analytical and comparative way The Urban Towers Handbook provides answers to these questions and serves as a reference book and design tool for architects, planners and developers alike. Its comprehensive graphic documentation includes not only aerials and to-scale plans and sections, but also purpose-made photography, drawings and diagrams.
The core of the book is made up of over fifty case studies which have been classified according to three major typological groups and their respective sub-groups: solitaires, clusters and vertical cities. Twenty-one of these examples feature detailed documentation, including classics such as the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan and Torre Velasca in Milan, as well as contemporary milestones such as Roppongi Hills in Tokyo and the making of Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. Among others, several districts in Hong Kong, Shanghai and São Paulo have been analysed as existing examples of vertical cities. The case studies section of the book is consolidated by a second section that outlines high-rise regulations in seven cities around the world, and highlights how planning authorities use tall buildings for the realisation of their urban goals and visions. The third and final section of the book addresses the uneasy relationship between high-rise structures and sustainability, placing the emphasis on the urban implications.

CONTENTS

• Preface, Acknowledgements, Introduction
• Section A: A visual dictionary of high-rise buildings
• 1st Group: Solitaires and Twin Towers
• 1 – Monument
• Main example: Kingdom Centre, Riyadh
• Secondary 1: Moscow State University
• Secondary 2: Burj Khalifa, Dubai
• 2 – Monument in block
• Main example: 30 St Mary Axe, London
• Secondary 1: Torre Agbar, Barcelona
• Secondary 2: Seagram Building, New York City
• 3 – Tower as block
• Main example: Commerzbank Tower, Frankfurt
• Secondary 1: Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco
• Seconday 2: Hotel Ukraina, Moscow
• 4 – Tower in block
• Main example: Torre Velasca, Milan
• Secondary 1: Kudamm-Karree, Berlin
• Secondary 2: Norddeutsche Landesbank, Hanover
• 5 – Twin towers
• Main example: Kungstornen, Stockholm
• Secondary 1: Marina City Towers, Chicago
• Secondary 2: Puerta de Europa, Madrid
• 6 – Tower as team player
• Main example: Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
• Secondary 1: Thyssen-Haus, Düsseldorf
• Secondary 2: United Nations Headquarters, New York City
• 7 – Tower on infrastructure
• Main example: The Standard Hotel, New York City
• Secondary 1: Shard London Bridge, London
• Secondary 2: Tour Dexia (CBX), La Défense
• 8 – Tower as module / business as usual
• Main example: Tour Ar Men, Paris
• Secondary 1: DUOC Corporate Building, Santiago de Chile
• Secondary 2: Banco Atlántico, Barcelona
• 2nd Group: Clusters
• 1 – Integrated in existing city fabric
• Main example: Rockefeller Center, New York City
• Secondary 1: Villeurbanne Town Hall and new centre
• Secondary 2: Riverside Center, New York City
• 2 – Towers as urban pattern
• Main example: Quartier du Palais (‘Immeubles Choux’), Créteil
• Secondary 1: Jianwai SOHO, Beijing
• Secondary 2: Stuyvesant Town, New York City
• 3 – Linear cluster
• Main example: Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai
• Secondary 1: Playa de Levante extension, Benidorm
• Secondary 2: Rue de la Loi masterplan, Brussels
• 4 – High-rise compound
• Main example: Moma and Pop Moma, Beijing
• Secondary 1: Marina Baie des Anges, Villeneuve-Loubet
• Secondary 2: Icon Brickell, Miami
• 5 – High-rise megastructure
• Main example: Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, Tokyo
• Secondary 1: Parque Central, Caracas
• Secondary 2: Pinnacle@Duxton, Singapore
• 6 – Towers in nature
• Main example: Hansaviertel, Berlin
• Secondary 1: Unité d’Habitation, Marseille
• Secondary 2: Newton Suites, Singapore
• 7 – Towers on podium
• Main example: Front de Seine, Paris
• Secondary 1: Jumeirah Beach Residences, Dubai
• Secondary 2: Tour 9, Montreuil
• 3rd Group: Vertical Cities
• 1 – US-American downtown:
• Main example: Downtown Houston
• 2 – High-rise as norm:
• Main example: Higienópolis, São Paulo
• 3 – High-rise as geographical obligation:
• Main example: Monaco
• 4 – City of monuments:
• Main example: Lujiazui, Shanghai
• 5 – European CBD:
• Main example: La Défense
• Secondary: La Défense extension (Tour AIR²)
• 6 – City of megastructures:
• Main example: Hong Kong
• Section B: High-rise building regulations in seven cities worldwide
• London
• Frankfurt
• Vienna
• Paris
• New York
• Hong Kong
• Singapore
• Section C: High-rise and sustainability
• Comparative table
• Bibliography, Index, Picture credits

264 pages / 22 x 28,5 cm / English