AUSTRALIA: Beyonce Inspires Skyscraper

Vogue reports:

In case you didn’t have enough proof that Beyoncé is slowly taking over the world, Australia just approved plans to build a 68-story skyscraper in the shape of the singer’s famously curvaceous figure. While there have been plenty of oddly shaped structures that have gone up in the past—such as these constructions in the form of a robot, a lotus flower, and a basket—this is the first time a building has been inspired by a living pop star. The architecture firm Elenberg Fraser unveiled its plans for the undulating skyscraper yesterday and admits on its website that the shape of the Premier Tower was ultimately borrowed from Beyoncé’s “Ghost” video.

The tower will go up across from Melbourne's famed Spencer Street train station.

New Details About NYC's Nordstrom Tower

New York Yimby has some new details about midtown's coming Nordstrom Tower, which is now under construction.

Permits for the tower have continued to shift slightly in recent months, but the documents YIMBY previously obtained indicated the building would have a roof height of 1,479 feet and a pinnacle height of 1,775 feet, which would make it the tallest residential tower on the planet. Final figures are likely to be within a hair of both numbers. Compared to the world’s tallest buildings, 217 West 57th Street would rank fifth if it were built today, standing almost 1,000 feet shorter than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and by 2018 it may not crack the global top ten. But its roof will be substantially taller than both One World Trade Center and Willis Tower. The most recent figures put 217 West 57th’s Spire one foot below the WTC’s 1,776-foot pinnacle.

Despite this, the slight elevation of Midtown compared to the Financial District (a net gain of approximately 70 feet) will mean that 217 West 57th Street’s spire will actually rise approximately 1,850 feet above sea level. While the WTC may retain the title of NYC’s tallest by spire height, 217 West 57th’s relative prominence to most New Yorkers will actually be somewhat greater. 432 Park Avenue passed the WTC’s roof last year, and One Vanderbilt will likely do so in about 2017. 432 Park is currently regarded as somewhat tall relative to its surrounds, but the appearance of new buildings like 217 West 57th and 111 West 57th will quickly even out the disparities in the skyline, as will the rezoning of Midtown East, which may result in Manhattan’s tallest towers yet.

The tower is due to be completed in 2018 and will host a massive Nordstrom store, a hotel, and several hundred condos. The penthouse is expected to feature the highest outdoor space in the city. (The rendering above shows the 70th floor observation deck at Rockefeller Center.) Within five years or so the Empire State may not be among the ten tallest buildings in town. The Nordstrom Tower is #27 in the "coming soon" rendering below. Embiggen for a huge version.

DUBAI: 80-Story Tower Is On Fire

The fifth-tallest residential building on the world is on fire in Dubai at this writing. The 80-story building is called the Marina Torch and was completed in 2011. Daytime photos of the building are here. Gulf News reports:

People being rescued from the tower with smoke inhalation injuries. A resident said the fire alarm went off at 2.05am. "There have been three fire alarms every week recently and all were false. This time I heard it and said it must be false. But then I smelt smoke. I took my wallet and ran down along with my wife. We live on the 59th floor." Thousands of people have been evacuated and the fire is getting worse, according to witnesses. Chunks of masonry on fire are falling. The fire seems to have started about level 51. High winds are causing the fire to spread rapidly, says a witness.

Manhattan's Coming New Skyline

The New York Daily News has published a recap of Manhattan's insane boom in skyscraper construction. Embiggen the bottom image for a tally on the coming supertalls, several of which will eclipse the Empire State Building's 1250 feet. The supertall in the center of the top image, 111 West 57th, will be the world's skinniest skyscaper at 1350 feet tall and only 43 feet wide. With only 100 units, most of that tower's apartments will be floor-through. The building on the far right, One57, was recently completed. The bankster that bought its 13,500sf triplex penthouse for $90M is already trying to flip it. (Tipped by JMG reader Ed)

MANHATTAN: 1WTC Window-Washers Trapped After Cable Snaps At 68th Floor UPDATE: Rescued By The FDNY

UPDATE: The FDNY cut a hole in the window and pulled the workers to safety. #Whew #NotForAMillionBucks.

1WTC Opens For Business Today

Via the Associated Press:

Thirteen years after the 9/11 terrorist attack, the resurrected World Trade Center is again opening for business — marking an emotional milestone for both New Yorkers and the nation. Publishing giant Conde Nast will start moving Monday into One World Trade Center, a 104-story, $3.9 billion skyscraper that dominates the Manhattan skyline. It is America's tallest building.  The building is 60 percent leased, with another 80,000 square feet going to the advertising firm Kids Creative, the stadium operator Legends Hospitality, the BMB Group investment adviser, and Servcorp, a provider of executive offices. The government's General Services Administration signed up for 275,000 square feet, and the China Center, a trade and cultural facility, will cover 191,000 square feet

(Tipped by JMG reader Ed)

Video From Manhattan's New Supertall

Via Mashable:

The new 432 Park Avenue is the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere. It's the first in a wave of new super-tall apartment buildings coming to New York’s skyline. Its top-story penthouse, which recently sold for around $95 million, boasts a view of the city that one would usually need a helicopter to behold.

The notation at 1:00 freaks me out.

(Tipped by JMG reader Ray)

Next Manhattan Supertall: One Vanderbilt

As I've noted in several recent posts, Manhattan is going through an unprecedented boom of new supertall skyscrapers, many of which are mixed-use hotel/retail/condo combos. New York YIMBY provides a look at One Vanderbilt, which will loom over Grand Central Terminal on Manhattan's east side.

Among New York’s existing supertalls, the 1,450-foot building will be closest to the Chrysler, which is just a few blocks to the east, but separated enough for continued distinction. The Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed tower will dominate the vicinity, standing over 600 feet taller than the neighboring MetLife Building, which has dominated perspectives of Grand Central Terminal for four decades. Future neighbors will likely equal or surpass One Vanderbilt, given the inevitability of a Midtown East re-zoning, which has been delayed but not denied. If residential could be encouraged, aiding Midtown East’s transition into a 24-hour neighborhood, towers even taller than SL Green’s impending icon would become all but inevitable.

One Vanderbilt will be 200 feet taller than the Empire State Building, whose height will also be eclipsed by other towers either announced or already under construction.

More Details On Nordstrom Supertall

New York YIMBY has some new details about the planned Nordstrom tower, which will be one of the class of coming Manhattan skyscrapers that the press has dubbed "super-skinny supertalls."

An elevation profile gives a look inside the tower, and at its different components, which range from a Nordstrom at the base, to a hotel, and condominiums on the uppermost levels. They will peek above the future 220 Central Park South, just across the street, and culminate nearly 1,500 feet above street level, becoming the highest residences in New York City. Taken in the context of the cityscape, the cantilever over the Art Students League is invisible, hidden beneath the forest of surrounding buildings. 217 West 57th’s defining feature will be sheer height, epitomized by the spires sitting atop the tower. Even if the final number does measure 1,775 feet — just a foot shy of One World Trade Center — the elevation of Nordstrom will make it the tallest point in the New York region, as the site is approximately 100 feet above sea level, whereas its Downtown rival sits just a dozen feet above the typical high tide mark.

A breakdown of the supertall's 92 stories is at the link.

NYC Luxury Condo To Rival Height Of WTC

Several skyscrapers now going up on the south end of Central Park in midtown will eclipse the height of the Empire State Building. Today New York YIMBY reveals a similar "super-luxury" condo tower planned for our billionaire overlords in the financial district.

YIMBY has the reveal for 125 Greenwich Street, which will become Downtown’s tallest residential skyscraper; a tipster close to the development passed along images and schematics confirming the tower’s significant growth spurt, and it will stand 1,356 feet tall. The project was formerly known as 22 Thames, but traded hands earlier this year, when Michael Shvo and Bizzi & Partners purchased the site for $185 million; the deal closed last week, signaling that plans are close to moving forward. Rafael Vinoly designed the original 961-foot tower for the site, and he has been retained as the architect; the new version will top-out just a dozen feet shy of One World Trade Center’s roof, making it the second tallest building in Lower Manhattan — and the first Downtown residential skyscraper to rival the supertalls of 57th Street. The transition from rentals to condominiums explains the sudden bump in height. 432 Park Avenue’s oblique Downtown sibling will be similarly slim, soaring 77 stories at a pencil-like width. The floor count has only gone up by seven, and the majority of the height increase can be attributed to the enormous ceilings; slab heights are 13 feet through the 38th floor, 16 feet from 40-65, and an enormous 24 feet from 67 through 77.

Earlier this summer Vanity Fair published the below look at the "superskinny supertalls" going up in midtown. Embiggen for the details. I don't even want to think about how much those suckers will sway at the top.

RELATED: Very tall buildings are typically constructed to sway in the wind at a maximum of 1/500th of their height.  Toronto's CN Tower, for example, reports a sway of  "three feet, four inches from center" at the Sky Pod observation deck level. That sway takes place under very high winds and is usually much less. But still.

NEW YORK CITY: Midtown Manhattan May Get World's Tallest Residential Tower

According to plans leaked by New York Yimby, a skyscraper planned for midtown Manhattan would be only one foot shorter than WTC 1, making it the tallest residential tower in the world.

225 West 57th Street‘s facade will top-out 1,479′ above street level, while a surprise spire on top will cap the tower at 1,775 feet. Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill are designing the building. New York City’s skyscraper boom is entering unparalleled territory, and 225 West 57th Street could very well represent the crest of the current wave, assuming the tower is financed. The new height details will result in several superlatives: Manhattan will finally retake the ‘tallest roof’ in the United States from Chicago’s Willis Tower, which stands 1,451′, and 225 West 57th Street will become the tallest residential building in the entire world, surpassing both 432 Park Avenue and Mumbai’s World One Tower.

Several other midtown towers now under construction will challenge the height of the Empire State Building. (Via Towleroad)

CHICAGO: Willis Tower Skydeck Ledge Cracks As Tourists Pose For Photos

Speaking of  "Ow, my balls." NBC Chicago reports:

Alejandro Garibay, his brother, and two cousins were in the glass enclosure that juts out of the west side of the building shortly before 10 p.m. when Garibay said they heard cracking. They stepped off and alerted staffers. "I walked them over so they could see and they were totally shocked and asked us to step away and then proceeded to start calling staff and techs and I don't know who else. When we pulled our phones to start recording and take pictures they asked us to leave right away," he said.

Willis Tower officials say the ledge remains safe and that it was just the coating on the glass that cracked. The 103rd floor ledge is advertised as capable of bearing five tons. So go ahead, step on out.

NEW YORK CITY: 16 Year-Old Thwarts Security, Reaches Top Of 1 WTC Tower

So much for that "ring of steel" security perimeter around 1 World Trade Center. Via the New York Post:

A New Jersey teen captivated by 1 World Trade Center sneaked out of his home in the dead of night, got past the wall of security — and a sleeping guard — making it all the way up to the spire, The Post has learned. Scrawny 16-year-old Justin Casquejo crawled through a hole in a Ground Zero fence at about 4 a.m. Sunday and got a lift up the tower from a clueless union elevator operator, even though he had no ID. He was dropped off on the 88th floor and hiked the stairs up to the 104th floor — where a guard assigned to protect the top of the world’s biggest terror target was sound asleep. That guard has since been fired. Casquejo told cops he then climbed up to the roof and made it up to the antenna. After spending two glorious hours atop the nation’s tallest building snapping photos, the young daredevil was finally caught by a construction worker as he made his way back down.

Casquejo, whose Facebook page is laden with photos of 1 WTC, has been charged with misdemeanor trespassing. The Port Authority, the NYPD, and two private security companies guard the building at all times. All have refused to comment. (Tipped by JMG reader Dwight)

1WTC Wins "Tallest" Ruling

One World Trade Center has been judged the tallest building in the western hemisphere by the "official" ruling body of such matters. Sorry, Chicago.

The nonprofit Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat—the accepted arbiter on matters of skyscraper height—on Tuesday ruled that the spire atop One World Trade Center counts toward the official "architectural" height, making the new tower the tallest building in the U.S., at 1,776 feet. "We determined the structure above the mass of the building was in fact a spire," said Timothy Johnson, the council's chairman. At issue was whether the One World Trade's 408-foot steel mast is considered a "spire" that is part of the building's architecture. A structural spire counts toward the height; but an antenna doesn't. The council's guidelines are brief, calling for buildings to be measured to their "architectural top," including spires but not antennas or other functional equipment. Last week Mr. Childs flew to Chicago to urge the council to count the mast as a spire, saying the symbolic height was a key part of the design.

According to the council, by far the tallest building in the world is Dubai's Burj Khalifa at 163 floors and 2717 feet. When completed, it appears that One World Trade Center will rank at third on that list, although several other super-skyscrapers are also presently under construction.

Which Is The Tallest?

The "arbiters of world building heights" are meeting this weekend to decide if the almost-completed One World Trade Center will take the crown from Chicago's Willis Tower as the tallest building in the western hemisphere.

"Most of the time these decisions are not so controversial," said Daniel Safarik, an architect and spokesman for the nonprofit Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The 30 members of its Height Committee are meeting to render a judgment behind closed doors in Chicago, where the world's first skyscraper appeared in 1884. The committee, comprising industry professionals from all over the world, will announce its decision next week. The question over 1 World Trade Center, which remains under construction and is expected to open next year, arose because of a change to the design of its tower-topping needle. Under the council's current criteria, spires that are an integral part of a building's aesthetic design count; broadcast antennas that can be added and removed do not. The designers of 1 World Trade Center had intended to enclose the mast's communications gear in decorative cladding made of fiberglass and steel. But the developer removed that exterior shell from the design, saying it would be impossible to properly maintain or repair. Without it, the question is whether the mast is now primarily just a broadcast antenna.

Embiggen the above graphic for some comparisons.

Manhattan's Coming Super-Skyscrapers

The astounding condo sales for the nearly completed One57 at the southern edge of Central Park has spurred the construction of three more super-skyscrapers, all of which will be even taller and will challenge national height records for residential buildings. Gizmodo has published a breakdown of the coming towers and the one in the center of the above image caught my attention the most.

The most recent entrant in New York's supertall sweepstakes comes from SHoP Architects and JDS Development Group, which announced a plan to build a 1,350-foot skyscraper at 107 West 57th earlier this month. Though it’ll only be the second tallest building in the city (and the fourth in the country), it distinguishes itself in another way. It's only 40 feet wide: While for a townhouse that might not be all that remarkable, it’s unheard of for a supertall skyscraper. The reason most supertalls have wider bases is to support the lateral force of wind and seismic movement on its upper floors. Though SHoP was unable to comment on the structural design of the tower when we contacted them, it’s bound to be pretty unique. And because each floor is only 40 feet across, each unit will take up an entire level of the building. In other words, it’ll be an entire skyscraper of luxury penthouses.

One hundred feet higher than the roof of the Empire State and forty feet wide. Will they have to nail everything down in their apartments?

RELATED: Very tall buildings are typically constructed to sway in the wind at 1/500th of their height.  Toronto's CN Tower, for example, reports a sway of  "three feet, four inches from center" at the Sky Pod observation deck level at 1467 feet.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: I wrote about the 96-story 432 Park tower back in March.

UPDATE: Here's a groovy 360 degree view from the top of One57.  Click and hold for the image to rotate.

London's "Fryscraper" Melts Cars

Photo Of The Day

That's (sort of) the view from atop the world's tallest building, Dubai's 160-story Burj Khalifa. Gizmodo has the deets on how the photo was made. By the way, it can cost up to $100 to visit the observation deck.  Here are some of the records the building has set.

Workers Dangle 45 Stories Over NYC

Two window washers are dangling just below the roof of the 45-story Hearst Tower in midtown Manhattan after their scaffolding failed. The men are tethered to the scaffolding and firefighters are working to remove windows and rescue the men from the inside. The streets below have been cleared and tens of thousands of office workers are reportedly watching the rescue effort from nearby towers.

China Begins 220-Story Tower

China has begun construction on what will be the world's tallest building, the 220-story Sky City.  Developers claim that the tower will go up in only seven months due to its prefabricated modular plan.  The Observer takes a dim view:

Economically, the building makes absolutely no sense. It will feature over 11 million square feet (or is it 13 million? The facts for this project always seem to be in flux) of floorspace in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. With more than 7 million inhabitants, Changsha is by no means a small city, but density like this could only possibly pencil out in the densest and most valuable of city cores. And yet, the project appears to be sited outside of the city center, surrounded by acres of open green space.

Here's a promo clip from the developers.