A Backlash Against Skyscrapers

Are skyscrapers unsuitable for the 21st century or are they the most efficient response to market demand? Architects and planners debate.

1 minute read

September 20, 2001, 5:00 AM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech

"[A] group of architects, planners, and critics [are] saying that the World Trade Center attack has prompted a backlash against skyscrapers..Those pushing a downscaling to five- or six-story buildings reject high-rises as grandiose and excessive - and now, places that people are fearful to live and work in...The suggestion has sparked a fierce debate in architecture and urban design, as professionals consider not only rebuilding on the World Trade Center site but future development in cities everywhere. Defenders of modernism argue that the World Trade Center should be rebuilt for symbolic reasons, and more generally that tall buildings respond to the market demands of major cities, and are the most efficient places in which to live and work." [This article cites a PLANetizen Op-Ed .]

Thanks to Donald Yasi

FULL STORY: Urban downscaling urged

Wednesday, September 19, 2001 in The Boston Globe

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