A Disturbing Trend

Architecturally speaking, New York City is experiencing a disturbing trend.  Some call it proof of the city’s declining sense of innovation and economic power.  Some blame “NIMBYs.” 

Whoever’s to blame, it’s become increasingly clear that building tall is no longer a priority for the city of New York, home to eight skyscrapers that all at one point held the title of world’s tallest building.   

In fact, many would be shocked to hear that New York City does not currently hold the title of world’s tallest building, and hasn’t since 1973 when Chicago’s Sears Tower surpassed New York’s World Trade Center.  The United States isn’t even home to the world’s tallest anymore; that title goes to the United Arab Emirates’ Burj Dubai. 

Okay, so maybe calling this trend disturbing is a little dramatic – we’re only talking about the height of buildings, afterall.  However, it’s desire to stay closer to the ground is a sign of the times in New York, a city that may not have invented the skyscraper, but did perfect the construction and design of them.  A poor economy, zoning issues, and trouble attaining air rights – the empty space above a property – are partially to blame.  “Not In My BackYard” opponents (NIMBYs), often consisting of local residents and business owners, also put pressure on the city’s planning commission to deny proposals over 1,000 feet in fear that their construction will affect the aesthetics of their neighborhood and create unwanted shadows on the city streets. 

NIMBYs can be so influential that they recently succeeded in chopping off 200 feet of a proposed skyscraper designed by Jean Nouvel in Midtown Manhattan that was to become the city’s second tallest.  The building will still be built, but just a little shorter. 

Reducing a proposed building’s height or even cancelling it all together isn’t uncommon in New York.  However, buildings do still get built; it just so happens that none of them seem to exceed 1,000 or so feet, creating what has come to be known as New York’s skyline tabletop effect.  With so many buildings in one area, all of which are roughly the same height, no one particular building stands out in the skyline, creating, in essence, the appearance of a tabletop.  While this is nothing more than an aesthetic issue, this effect makes the skyline seem less dynamic and shorter than it really is. 

Lower Manhattan's tabletop effect - The red line represents the "top" of the table

And the only way to remedy the tabletop effect is by building taller.  Building towers that exceed the height of the tabletop (in New York’s case, anything over 1,250 feet) will add points of interest to the skyline, kind of like giant exclamation points. 

Again, there may be more important things to worry about, but aesthetically speaking, this is a problem that hopefully finds a solution.

An Architecturally Speaking Slide Show

The Architecture of Nafplion, Greece

Talk About a Haunted House

An aerial view of The Winchester Mystery House

Haunted houses are a movie staple this time of year.  However, architecturally speaking, their architecture is all too often exaggerated on the big screen for dramatic purposes.  Winding stairways leading to nowhere, dozens of drafty rooms, and hallways with dead ends are common in film, but impractical and uncommon in real houses – usually. 

The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose California, as it is commonly called, defies the laws of architecture and seems as if it was built specifically for a horror movie.  This Victorian mansion, which was continuously under construction from 1884 to 1922, does in fact contain stairways that lead to nowhere (except maybe a ceiling), over 160 rooms (including two separate basements), and hallways upon hallways that end up as dead ends. 

Stairs leading to nowhere but a ceiling

But, why you might ask?  Well, every eccentric mansion needs a good ghost story and The Winchester is no exception.  According to legend, the recently widowed Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Rifle company, was so upset by the death of her husband that she consulted a psychic.  This medium told her that a curse had been put on her family because the guns from their rifle company were responsible for the deaths of so many people.  These ghosts now haunted the Winchester household and in order to sooth their vengeful spirits, Winchester must never stop building the residence. 

Sound familiar?  It should if you’re a Stephen King fan.  King based his screenplay of the made-for-television mini-series “Rose Red” on the legend of The Winchester Mystery House.  However, the house is intriguing regardless of whether you believe the story or not.  Today, the house serves as a popular tourist attraction in the San Jose area and even has special flashlight tours around Halloween. 

Just don’t get lost; you probably wont find your way out. . .