Tall Buildings Incompatible with New Urbanism

The Congress for The New Urbanism seems to have had heated discussions on whether they should officially take a stand on vertical buildings, according to the latest issue of New Urban News.

"I'm sick and tired of seeing 'green' skyscrapers," says Ben Pentreath, director of Working Group, a London-based architecture and planning firm. "CNU should have a stand against vertical buildings." Working Group produces traditional-looking houses that satisfy stringent energy standards, and has built more than half the houses that have won UK Home Excellence awards. Traditional houses, he says, do a much better job of creating appealing streetscapes and saving energy. Traditional houses, with their greater proportion of solid walls and less glazing, get energy efficiency with less effort. "They're cheaper to build, quicker to build, and they sold for more money," Pentreath said.

Elizabeth Moule and Stefanos Polyzoides, partners in Moule & Polyzoides Architects and co-founders of the the Congress for The New Urbanism, proposed that CNU oppose buildings of more than about seven to 10 stories, to avoid what Polyzoides termed "loose tower disease" - erecting tall buildings without pedestrian-oriented streetscapes between them. Hank Dittmar, Chief Executive of the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Congress for the New Urbanism, pointed out that the densest part of London functions satisfactorily at heights of four to six stories.

However, Andrés Duany argued that "too many cities would simply not qualify" with a stringent height standard, Peter Calthorpe threated to quit CNU if tall buildings were rejected, and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk concluded "that's a sword that may not be worth falling on."

Tags: Urban Planning Urban Design Walkable Skyscrapers New Urbanism

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