Tall Buildings July 23, 2004 | Archives Terry Riley (rt) discusses Meier's WTC proposal with the JAs. We had a huge crowd for our curatorial walkthrough of Tall Buildings with Terence Riley, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design. The exhibition focuses on 25 international buildings, some built and some not, all demonstrating innovative ways to think about skyscrapers. While most of us associate tall buildings with settings such as New York and Los Angeles, some of the most revolutionary designs are in fact taking place in relatively new urban landscapes, such as Beijing and Frankfurt. Engineers are playing a large role in the latest designs, bringing about technologies that give architects the opportunity to create never-before seen shapes and structures. Such advances not only mean greater possibilities in the ways that buildings can take form, but also include “green technologies,” making building more energy efficient. One great example of these eco-friendly designs is the Swiss Reinsurance Headquarters, also know as the “Gherkin,” which has spiraling light wells that, in conjunction with the building’s aerodynamic shape, work to cool the building by circulating fresh air upward through it. JAs look at a model of the Swiss Reinsurance Headquarters. Although there was much to discuss, with each building having its own tale, the greatest points of interest in the evening for many of us were three of the World Trade Center competition entries by Norman Foster, United Architects, and Richard Meier and Peter Eisenman. (Daniel Libeskind’s “Freedom Tower” was not included given that Terry’s co-curator of the show, Guy Nordenson, is the structural engineer on the project). Maybe it was all the time that has passed since the proposals were first unveiled, or perhaps it was Terry’s in-depth explanations, but the designs finally made sense to me and dare I say, even looked good. JAs look at model for United Architects' WTC proposal. One of the most resounding points that I took with me from the walkthrough was the notion that tall buildings not only play a functional role in the urban setting as a means of dealing with density, but they also serve as defining landmarks in a city, in a navigational sense and in a symbolic sense. Certainly not a “eureka” thought, but in viewing the exhibition, and in thinking of all the controversy and passions that have been roused in NYC over new buildings, the WTC site in particular, the significance of what to build next seems greater than ever. I highly recommend visiting the Tall Building Web site, which goes into great detail about the exhibition and the individual buildings. http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2004/tallbuildings/index_f.html Here are more photos from the evening; Terry discusses the Central Chinese Television (CCTV) Tower JAs in the Tall Building gallery JAs look at Gehry's NY Times HQ model Back To Blog Main Page   Past Entries 2007 Archives Back To Blog Main Page