Skyscrapers: An Architectural Type of Modern Urbanism

The first thing you will be impressed with this book is the fine photograph on the cover. It would have been impossible to choose one skyscraper from all those covered to put on the cover. So,if you can't pick one;then why not put them all on the cover;which they did. Each skyscraper was reproduced in wood at a scale of 1:2000. The largest structure in the picture is of the One-Mile High Skyscraper that Frank Lloyd Wright designed in 1956 .It was to be built in Chicago,but was never constructed.One day,its time will surely come.The model on the cover dramatically shows what a gargantuan structure this would be compared with anything built to date. As you go through the book you will be treated with photographs of all the skyscrapers,the context in which it was built , descriptions and illustrations detailing their structural design,typical floor-plans,circulation and facade details.Each structure is accompanied with some of its noteworthy design features. Since these structures were built to accomodate man;it is fascinating to see how man and these strucures inter-relate. It is hard to pick a favorite from so many excellent designs;but there is one particular building that interested me,more as an oddity than anything else. That being the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo,Japan,completed in 1972.This is a structure composed of 132 mobile residential units,of 20 cubic meters. That converts to 706 square feet.Assuming a ceiling height of 8 feet; that would result in a tiny room of 88 sq.ft. ;something like 11 X 8 feet.I find it unimaginable how one can think of magnificent skyscrapers and at the same time accept living in such a cubby hole.Such a tenant could ask himself only one question "With all this progress,where did I go wrong?".This reminds me of the apartment complex built in Russia many years ago. The Architect did ont equip it with any elevator.When the tenants raised a huge fuss over that;the government made the Architect move to the top floor.I think it would be poetic justice if Kisho Kurokawa was were to call one of these modules his abode. Another building that was of personal interest to me was the AT & T Building in New York,completed in 1984. I was working in the HQ Building Design Group of AT & T at the time this building was proposed by the Architects.When we first saw the proposal,we were nothing short of flabbergasted. Our first thought was that it resembled a Chippendale dresser. Little did we think at the time ,that Mr Johnson,who we realized to be the best of the best,was going to have such an impact on skyscraper design,as he did with this building.Although there are many buildings,particularly around Malls that have tried to incorporate Johnson's designs;I have yet to see one that even closely competes with his success. All in all a wonderful trip around some of the world's finest skyscrapers.