Tuesday, January 2, 2024

"Best" Skyscrapers

Dezeen, a modernist outfit, has announced their ten best skyscrapers of 2023. The winner of their readers' poll was the new Brooklyn Tower, by far the tallest building in the borough, and I think it is the best new skyscraper in years.

Not bad.

But oh, the other nine. Take a look at this gem, POD Pinheiro in São Paulo, by FGMF Arquitetos. The outside is bad enough,

but behold the middle. And this is not some random utility space, but the core of the design, "eight storeys of open-air balconies and walkways."

Of this photo the critics say, "Red paint contrasts with raw concrete in the atrium." Sort of a parking garage effect, I guess. Gag me.

Of this, the less said the better.

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6 comments:

szopeno said...

Well.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/Baltyk_Poznan_2018_widok.jpg/800px-Baltyk_Poznan_2018_widok.jpg

Some say it's beautiful.

January 2, 2024 at 5:20 PM
G. Verloren said...

Take a look at this gem, POD Pinheiro in São Paulo, by FGMF Arquitetos.

You're comparing a 24 story building to a 74 story one.

You're also comparing a building constructed in a country with a GDP of 1.6 trillion to one built in a country with a GDP of 23.3 trillion.

You're additionally comparing one building that has units selling for prices between roughly $200,000 and $400,000 each, to another building with units priced between $1,000,000 and $8,000,000 each. (From 5x to 20x the price.)

Brazilian architectural tastes are far more tolerant of raw concrete constructions - because Brazil is a much less wealthy country than America, and has relied on Brutalist design for most of a century to keep many of their large scale construction projects affordable enough for them to even consider undertaking them in the first place.

Brazilians also place a much higher value on open air spaces - and are also less fond of the traditional skyscraper layout which relies on square floor plan with a central vertical core (housing the elevators, utilities, etc) and everything else radiating off of that core. POD Pinheiros is virtually the opposite, with a non-square layout and a central atrium rather than an enclosed core.

You're allowed your own aesthetic taste, but you need to temper it with an understanding of the realities of two very different buildings with very different purposes and needs, catering to two very different kinds of customers.

Personally, both buildings repulse me, because both are intended solely and cynically to cater to the ultra-wealthy of their respective nations. Perhaps a $200,000 apartment doesn't sound that bad from an American standpoint, but Brazil is a country where if you earn more than $727 a month, you are in the upper class. (And if you earn above $188 a month, you are middle class.)

The best aesthetics in the world can't fix the underlying awfulness of these buildings. Both nations are suffering catastrophic affordable housing crises, and yet the only thing that ever seems to get built is more luxury housing for the rich.

January 2, 2024 at 7:18 PM
David said...

I rather like the interior of POD Pinheiro. I find in it a sort of serene eeriness. Very Backrooms.

January 3, 2024 at 9:51 AM
karlG said...

Here's my beef: criticizing buildings that we experience only through photos. If you were in any of these cities, your view of these buildings probably wouldn't be from a drone -- and your aesthetic judgments might slightly alter.
Interestingly, the only of these three that you liked was shown from a ground view.

January 3, 2024 at 10:16 AM
Shadow said...

Isn't that last one built from a Lego set?

January 3, 2024 at 12:02 PM
Shadow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
January 3, 2024 at 12:02 PM

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