Visit the daily-updated online resource for all the latest news on tall buildings, urban development, Global News and sustainable construction from around the world at: http://news.ctbuh.org Americas From August to October 2014, the Americas continued to raise eyebrows in the skyscraper world, as multiple projects redefined skylines and kept heads gazing upwards. After nearly 10 years of planning, 53W53 is finally ready to begin construction in New York City, as the necessary air rights have been granted for its parcel, which sits directly adjacent to The Museum of Modern Art in Midtown Manhattan on West 53rd Street. This highly-anticipated project, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, features a striking cross-bracing system that lends a touch of complexity to its metal and glass façade. The 82-story, 320-meter tower will comprise 140 luxury condominiums, 28 serviced apartments, and a 3,600 square-meter gallery space expansion for the Museum of Modern Art Journal Squared, Jersey City. © Handel Architects / 160 Folsom Street, San Francisco. © Studio Gang below. Completion and initial occupancy are HWKN expected to take place in 2018. Elsewhere in Manhattan, revised plans have Pacific Park has also made headlines with news been uncovered for 125 Greenwich Street, a that construction on the world’s first modular superslim tower that may boast an impressive high-rise, B2, has been halted due to a dispute height of 413 meters upon completion. between the builder, Skanska USA, and Forest Original designs for the development called City Ratner. Skanska claims that the modular for a 293-meter tower designed by Rafael techniques set out by Forest City were flawed, Viñoly. While Viñoly has been retained as the while the developer claims that the entire architect, new designs reveal a much taller construction process was mismanaged by the finished product, one that will top out 3.5 builder. Regardless of who is to blame, the meters shy of One World Trade Center’s development world is eagerly following the rooftop. At 77 stories, the tower will feature debate, as it could provide major insights into unusually high ceilings and will offer a total of the viability of modular construction techniques 10 penthouses, the highest of which will be a for high-rise buildings. duplex that will contend for the title of Manhattan’s most expensive residence. Alternatively, things are moving smoothly across the river in Jersey City, as crews continue Across the East River, the Atlantic Yards construction of Journal Squared, a massive mega-project has been rebranded as Pacific three-tower high-rise complex that will include Park. The announcement comes after the tallest residential building in New Jersey. The developer Forest City Ratner Companies lower floors of the complex will accommodate struck a partnership with China’s second- smaller units and commercial spaces that largest property developer, Greenland Group. respect the development’s low-rise The developers have selected COOKFOX to surroundings, while the upper floors feature design two new towers at the site, 550 larger, higher-end residences. The first phase is Vanderbilt Avenue and 535 Carlton Avenue. expected to complete in 2016, while the second The high-rise at 535 Carlton Avenue will be phase will complete in 2021. completely devoted to affordable housing, providing much-needed economic relief in On the US West Coast, planning permissions are one of the United States’ most expensive moving along in San Francisco for 160 Folsom real-estate markets. Street, a 40-story residential tower designed by Studio Gang, offering a unique interpretation of 53W53, New York. © Ateliers Jean Nouvel 6 | Global News CTBUH Journal | 2014 Issue IV Park Grove, Miami. © OMA Torre BBVA Bancomer, Mexico City. © Lego Rogers Victoria One, Melbourne. © Elenberg Fraser the city’s iconic bay windows. At a modest interaction and promoting a sense of designs for Victoria One, a tower that would height of 122 meters, the tower features stacks community. Sky gardens at every ninth floor become the city’s tallest residential skyscraper. of windows and balconies that twist along its create valuable outdoor spaces that take The 241-meter tower is to be clad in refulgent height, creating an elaborately textured façade advantage of the tower’s 360-degree views. green glass and a series of layered architectural that catches the eye. Details of the project are The design of each office floor is varied, as fins that reduce downdrafts at the street level, still evolving and the desired skin material is still each responds to the service core that runs while providing solar shading for residences. At being researched, but architect Jeanne Gang diagonally along each ascending floor plate. a distance, the orientation of the fins lends a says she is certain that it will be a material that The resulting layout provides a variety of fluid aesthetic to the building’s façade, is light in color in order to reflect the vibrancy unique, efficient office spaces. complimenting the sleek, high-end character of its locale. of its interiors. Aspirations remain similarly high in Miami, Asia and Oceania The luxury trend is not exclusive to Melbourne, where OMA has revealed designs for a as a stately trio of Zaha Hadid-designed towers three-tower luxury condominium complex, Australia shows no signs of slowing its upward has been presented for the Brisbane suburb of Park Grove. Sited on a six-acre plot, the towers trajectory – a trend made apparent by the Toowong. The Toowong Development will are cylindrically shaped, with gently undulating hefty development pipeline of Melbourne. In comprise three towers rising from the site of floor plates revealing a curved façade. Large early September, Elenberg Fraser revealed its the abandoned studio complex of the concrete columns separate each unit’s balcony, producing a greater sense of verticality for the towers. Among the most notable features of the project are the bases, which will accommodate commercial tenants and incorporate accessible rooftop gardens. Gardens at height are a central theme in Mexico City, as the Torre BBVA Bancomer inches nearer to completion. Standing as a symbol of Mexico City’s global presence, the 235-meter office tower is poised to become the tallest building in Mexico. The design of the building places a high priority on social Toowong Development, Toowong, Brisbane. © Zaha Hadid Architects CTBUH Journal | 2014 Issue IV Global News | 7 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Each of the towers’ façades will be multi-layered, with glazed curtain-walls covered by a patterned mesh of glass-reinforced concrete. Each of the towers tapers at the bottom in order to minimize its footprint, making room for a riverfront park that will be open to the public. South along the Australian coast, Sydney is also leaving its mark on the high-rise world. A competition winner was selected to design the Quay Quarter Tower and create a master plan for the surrounding district. The tower is divided into six interlocking volumes that shift eastward to obtain optimum views and shade the sunny northern façade. As the volumes Quay Quarter Tower, Sydney. © 3XN Lotte Center, Hanoi. © Francois Carlet-Soulages / NOI rotate, space is created for open-air atria that without atria. Hengqin International Financial Center draws link directly to interior amenity spaces for inspiration from a historical painting called employees. At 200 meters, the tower is certain Panoramic views will also be captured in Nine Dragons, which depicts a pair of dragons to make an impact on the city’s skyline. Wuhan, China, where Aedas is proposing a emerging from a stormy sea. To capture the mixed-use development comprising a essence of the painting, the podium of the The developing skyline of Hanoi has received a shopping mall and skyscraper housing office building fluidly transitions into a vertical tower, new addition, following the announced and residential uses. The development, named which then gradually splits into four distinctly completion of Lotte Center Hanoi, making it Heartland 66, employs the concept of an shaped tower components at the top. The four the second-tallest building in Vietnam. The infinity symbol to create a seamlessly flowing towers symbolize the economic importance of 272-meter tower opened for occupancy in retail podium. The mall contains a mixture of Zhuhai, Macau, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen. The early September and features a mixed-use retail establishments and dining opportunities, project will comprise conference, commercial, program of office space, hotel, apartments, and with a large number of vegetated outdoor and exhibition facilities. a department store. One of the most notable terraces to be used for alfresco dining. The aspects of the tower is a centrally configured adjacent tower would rise 300 meters over the Drawing inspiration from Chinese paintings of spine of five-story-tall sky gardens that offer shopping mall, offering remarkable views of landscapes, rather than dragons, the Diamond far-reaching panoramic views of Vietnam’s the nearby Han and Yangtze Rivers. Hill project in Shenyang boasts a mountain- capital city and lead to a 70% reduction in like profile that was developed using sunlight electrical lighting use, as compared to a tower Aedas has also recently announced a mapping to optimize the solar accessibility of 334-meter tower in Zhuhai, China. The its residential units. In addition to residences, THEY SAID Who could disagree with the aspiration that tall buildings“ should be ‘well- designed and in the right place’? The problem comes when someone has to decide what these are. Tony Travers, Director,” London School of Economics commenting on London’s changing skyline. From “Skyline: Comment,” The Architects’ Journal, April 11, 2014. Heartland 66, Wuhan. © Aedas Hengqin International Financial Center, Zhuhai. © Aedas 8 | Global News CTBUH Journal | 2014 Issue IV the development will accommodate small Broadway Malyan has also been selected to THEY SAID office/home office lofts and retail amenities.