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The skyscrapers in future

A standard image in the construction of urban landscapes is this corporate skyline shot. This scene features an imposing phalanx of corporate towers that looks rather like a postcard shot - panoramic, inspiring, professionally framed. As a symbol for corporate capital, this imagery makes sense insofar as scenes like this represent an enormous concentration of corporate Capital and condensation of Space.

But unlike postcards which identify their images, this corporate urban center has been fully abstracted from place. We know little about the time and space coordinates of these spaces. This is how it is with most skyscraper images - they no longer possess any ground. Their foundation is in our consciousness, but not in our field of vision. To be sure, a recognizable building shape periodically appears that allows viewers to identify New York City (the Chrysler Building), or San Francisco (the Transamerica Building). But this only reinforces the way in which the signifiers of global cities have been abstracted from geographical location. Decontextualized, skylines can function as icons that now work their magic as Myth - second-order signifiers that have been hollowed out of relations.

Basic Definition
For the purposes of Research, a high-rise building is defined as a building 35 meters or greater in height, which is divided at regular intervals into occupiable levels. To be considered a skyscraper an edifice must be based on solid ground, and fabricated along its full height through deliberate processes (as opposed to naturally-occurring formations).

A skyscraper is distinguished from other tall man-made structures by the following guidelines:

  1. It must be divided into multiple levels of at least 2 meters height;
  2. If it has fewer than 12 such internal levels, then the highest undivided portion must not exceed 50% of the total height;
  3. Indistinct divisions of levels such as stairways shall not be considered floors for purposes of eligibility in this definition.
Any method of structural support which is consistent with this definition is allowable, whether masonry, concrete, or metal frame. In the few cases where such a building is not structurally self-supporting (e.g. resting on a slope or braced against a cliff), it may still be considered a skyscraper but is not eligible for any height records unless the record stipulates inclusions of this type.

Minimum Height
The cutoff between high-rise and low-rise buildings in Skyscrapers.com is 35 meters. This height was chosen based on an original 12-floor cutoff, used for the following reasons: 1) Twelve floors is normally the minimum height needed to achieve the physical presence which earns the name "highrise"; 2) The twelve-floor limit represents a compromise between ambition and manageability for a worldwide database.

Since height information on smaller buildings is usually not readily available, the twelve-floor limit is still used in most areas covered by Skyscrapers.com. A building of fewer floors may only be included as a high-rise when its exact height is known. In most cases, a city is considered to have a satisfactory listing of high-rise buildings when all twelve-floor buildings are counted.

Several low-rise buildings can be accessed through the database used by Skyscrapers.com. These are not counted in high-rise related statistics, and are being reserved for access through future database tools.

Single vs. Multiple Building
In most cases there is no trouble deciding what constitutes a separate building. Only when they are linked in unusual ways is there a logical difficulty. The following rules have been adopted by Research to set a uniform standard:

  1. Any two towers which are separated for at least 2/3 of each tower's height are considered separate buildings UNLESS the connection(s) form an unmistakable architectural unity, such as an arch-shaped building (examples: Genex Tower, Dusit Dubai, Umeda Sky Building). Skybridges are generally not sufficient to unify two separate towers.
  2. Any structures which adjoin each other for more than 1/3 of any of their heights should be considered 1 building UNLESS:
    • they were built as separate structures and neither one can be considered an addition to the other; this means that the interiors are not integrated at any level, including the ground floor or basement; or
    • the structures are separated at ground level and connected for most of their heights but are normally considered separate buildings; or
    • an addition to a building forms a significant architectural disjunction.
  3. An addition on top of an existing building is never counted as a separate building from the one underneath unless it overhangs the lower building from another base.

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This page last modified Mai 18, 2003 (helf)