The Bigger the Better?

“Skyscrapers capture the public’s imagination through novelty and sheer size”

A new phenomenon occurring in the world today is the construction of skyscrapers.  One fact I found extremely interesting was that in 1990, 80% of the 100 tallest skyscrapers in the world were built in North America and by 2010, and by 2010, 80% of the tallest buildings were out there.  Skyscrapers often represent a city’s ambition to create an image of progress and to show the rest of the world who they are and that they want to be known.  Living in Chicago most of my life, I saw the pride our city takes in the Willis (Sears) Tower.  You can’t find a postcard without the Chicago skyline, in particular the Willis Tower, on it.  It has truly become a landmark and tourist attraction. 

Being a big fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, I decided to look deeper into the Mile High Illinois Skyscraper he proposed for downtown Chicago.  I was surprised to see that the Burj Khalifa truly does bear a startling resemblance to Wright’s design.  Because of the height and complexity of Wright’s proposed structure, the building was divided into three sectors, each with its own sky-lobby that could accommodate landscaped open space "rooms", a concept that is now commonly used in towers constructed around the world.  Frank Lloyd Wright was truly a visionary.  Fifty years later and the world’s tallest building is almost an exact replica of his drawings. 

With the expanding population growth as well as the continuous development of urban centers, buildings in general will be getting taller.  I decided to research more about the skyscrapers of today and when I did I came across an article by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) about a concept called “Vanity Height”.  According to the article, vanity height is the distance between a skyscraper’s highest occupiable floor and its architectural top.  The results demonstrated that skyscrapers have a surprisingly uneven ratio of habitable and non-occupiable space.  From the diagram below you can see that 30-40% of some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers are non-occupiable.  It seems as though the architect is more concerned about the art and form of the building rather than the function.  While there has indeed been a growth in population, if the new skyscrapers being built are 30-40% non-occupiable, are they really benefiting the population crisis as much as we think they are? 

The Burj Khalifa’s total vanity height is 244m which, on its own, would stand as Europe’s 11th tallest skyscraper.  Cities such as Dubai are putting a great emphasis to create skyscrapers, purely to attract tourists.  Oftentimes in skyscrapers, you tend to see more of the architect’s characteristics then the city itself.  The city's identity and culture is being lost in these buildings.  As architects and designers I believe it is our job to reflect the identity of the people we are designing for.

Today, the motivation to build skyscrapers is less about economic demand and more about prestige, attracting tourists and businesses, and attaining global status.  In a way, it seems that skyscrapers are less about creating an architectural solution and more about creating an attraction.  Skyscrapers are aiding in environmental problems, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions.  The competition to see who can be taller may result in more harm than good.  My hope is that if we are building taller, we are also building greener.