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Thursday, February 10, 2005
Conspicuous Consumption for the 21st Century
THE tallest buildings in the world are a pair of towers in Malaysia, the 1,483 foot tall Petronas Towers. The Empire State Building is 1,250 feet tall. The newest Bling Bling for the extravagantly rich is a 1,000 foot tall pile of 10 $35,000,000 townhomes-in-the-sky, approved yesterday by the New York City Department of Buildings. Can you say, “Qu'ils mangent du gâteau”? *
A few years ago, Paul Goldberger wrote a New York Times article in which he said only nouveau riche countries compete for the title of "tallest building in the world." The Hancock Tower in Chicago has apartments in part of the building, so this New York tower will only be second-tallest residential building in the world. But it's form is much more ostentatious, and it's 14 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower. Donald Trump, eat your heart out.
* Translation = "Let them eat cake."
More at Curbed.
More here: “What's Good For Starchitects Is Good For The World.”
February 10, 2005 in Architecture, New York, Urbanism | Permalink
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all that for 10 units? isnt there any sort of minimum density required? I would assume then also that each "townhome" would be about 6-7 stories? is this any way to be "urban"?
Posted by: Boots at Feb 10, 2005 5:41:27 PM
The tallest building in the world is the Taipei 101 in Taiwan.
Posted by: Nathan Eddy at Feb 11, 2005 10:19:14 AM
Who cares. I won't be able afford a place like that for at least another 20 years (I can always hope!), but as a downtowner, I'd enjoy looking at that building every day. It's beautiful, almost like sculpture.
Let's build!
Posted by: Downtown Lad at Feb 11, 2005 12:44:47 PM
almost dont cut it, its gargantuan and out of scale with its IMMEDIATE neighbors.
Posted by: Boots at Feb 11, 2005 7:44:07 PM
I live in the seaport. In an area where preserving the history is essential, this is a bad idea for the area. Build it? Yes! Do it in midtown.
Posted by: Tom Brown at Aug 30, 2005 10:55:12 PM
