Rethinking the Tall Building:
TheInfluenceofClimate,
CultureandContext
Mr. Dawa Azad
MArch in Design, University of Nottingham
Presentation Aims
1. To introduce the tall building typology
2. To demonstrate how local characteristics, qualities and
challenges can become drivers for architectural design
3. To introduce climatic design and the relationship between
climate, built form construction, life style and sustainability
Presentation Agenda
1. Introduction to tall buildings
• What is a tall building?
• Six tall building trends
• Four tall building drivers
2. Design failures of tall buildings
• Failure 1: ‘The Commercial Model’
• Failure 2: ‘The Social Housing Model’
• Failure 3: ‘The Sculptural Model’
• The problem with ‘Greenwash’
3. High-Rise Opportunities
• Response to Climate, Culture, Context
• Alternative Functions
• Skybridges and Social / Communal Spaces in the Sky
So, what is a tall
building?
CTBUH Height Criteria & Definitions
What is a Tall Building? ……..there are 3 considerations
1) Height relative to context
CTBUH Height Criteria & Definitions
What is a Tall Building? ……..there are 3 considerations
2) Proportion
CTBUH Height Criteria & Definitions
What is a Tall Building? ……..there are 3 considerations
3) Tall Building Technologies
Six Recent Tall Building
Trends
Tall Building Trend 1: An increase in Height
Height Incremental Changes in the Development of the World’s Tallest Buildings Historically
Tall Building Trend 1: An increase in Height
At a height of 828 metres, the Burj Khalifa has made a 61% leap in height
increase over the previous world’s tallest
Tall Building Trend 2: An increase in Number
Shanghai: 1987 – 2013
Dubai: 1991 – 2005
London: 2006 – 2013
Tall Building Trend 3: A change in Location
Tall Building Trend 3: A change in Location
Tallest Urban Agglomeration Statistics
Tallest 25 Urban Agglomerations
Tall Building Trend 4: A change in Function
Tall Building Trend 5: A change in Material
Tall Building Trend 6: A change in Title / Motivation
Chrysler Sears Petronas Taipei 101 Chicago Spire Shanghai
Tower
Four Tall Building Drivers
Tall Building Driver 1: Land Prices
Tall Building Driver 2: Global Icons
Tall Building Driver 3: Population / Urbanisation
Tall Building Driver 3: Population / Urbanisation
According to the United Nations some 193,107
new city dwellers are added to world’s urban
population every day, with 95% of this growth
occurring in developing countries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/world/asia/chinas-great-uprooting-moving-250-million-into-cities.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Tall Building Driver 4: Sustainability & Climate Change
Three Design Failures
Design Failure 1
The Commercial Model
Seagram Building, New York, 1958,
Mies van der Rohe & Philip Johnson
The tall building as a fully-glazed, air-conditioned box / vertical extrusion
of an efficient floor plan. A western model ‘exported’ to developing countries, with no
regard for climate or site.
Singapore Chicago Dubai
1991; No.1 Canada Square,
London, Cesar Pelli Associates
1985; World Financial Centre, New
York, Cesar Pelli Associates
Tall building-scape, Jakarta Tall building-scape, Seoul
Design Failure 2
The Social Housing Model
Social / Communal Spaces
…in low-rise buildings? …in high-rise buildings?
Tall buildings and families
Office of National Statistics – UK, 2001
Design Failure 3
The Sculptural Model
30 St. Mary Axe, London,
2004, Foster & Partners
The tall building as piece of urban sculpture, its only relationship with the city
being visual.
Riyadh Chicago Dubai
Literal Cultural Symbolism
(as defined by Antony Wood)
2004. Taipei 101, Taiwan, CY
Lee & Partners
Abstract Cultural Symbolism
1997. Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur,
Cesar Pelli Associates
Abstract Cultural Symbolism
1981; Natwest Tower (Tower 42)
City of London, Richard Seifert
Literal Cultural Symbolism
Pangu Plaza, Beijing
High-Rise Opportunities
1. Response to Climate,
Culture, Context
Response to Context
“Streets in the Sky”, Mumbai – 2009, University of Nottingham
Response to Context
2009 Aqua Tower, Chicago
Studio Gang Architects
Response to Context
2009 Aqua Tower, Chicago
Studio Gang Architects
Response to Context
ARCOS Tower, Fukuoka
Emilio Ambasz Architects
“As the location’s most endemic factor, climate
provides the designer with a legitimate starting
point for architectural expression in the endeavor
to design in relation to place, because climate is
one of the dominant determinants of the local
inhabitants’ lifestyle and the landscape’s ecology.”
Ken Yeang, 1996
Response to Climate
2014, Solstice on the Park, Chicago
Studio Gang Architects
Response to Climate
(Hot dry / humid / desert)
1983. National Commercial Bank,
Jeddah SOM
Response to Climate
(Hot dry / humid / desert)
1983. National Commercial Bank,
Jeddah SOM
Response to Climate
(Hot dry / humid / desert)
1983. National Commercial Bank,
Jeddah SOM
High-Rise Opportunities
2. Social / Communal
Spaces in the Sky
The Pinnacle at Duxton, Singapore, 2010, ARC Studio
Commerzbank, Frankfurt
Foster & Partners
