Supertall

This recent generation of giants, generally 100 stories or higher, represents a new paradigm of slender mixed-use towers that explore innovative approaches in engineering, curtain-wall and construction technologies, energy efficiency and sustainability, and concepts of vertical communities.

To distinguish the rarified air of the super- from the merely very tall, the Museum made the benchmark 380 meters/ 1,250 feet-the height of the Empire State Building-rather than the common standard of 300 meters. Worldwide, 48 projects measure up, including six towers of 600 meters or taller, six of 500+ meters, and twenty-four exceeding 400 meters. The world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa, rises 828 meters/ 2,717 feet above the sands of Dubai. It will hold the record for at least five years- the typical time it takes to construct a supertall.

The new spheres of architectural ambition are in Asia, especially China and South Korea, as well as in the Middle East. India also promises to be a future center of high-rise aspirations. When the Twin Towers were destroyed in the terrorist attacks of 9/11, many predicted the end of the skyscraper era. They were wrong. As the exhibition shows, supertalls are a significant building type of the 21st century.

Place : The Skyscraper Museum
During : until January 2012
Information : www.skyscraper.org

Editing : Economou Manolis