There are currently 18 “super-slender” skyscrapers either completed or under construction which are set to transform New York’s skyline over the next five years.
Real estate developers are capitalising on a planning law which permits them to purchase “air rights” from neighbouring buildings, allowing for the construction of taller and taller luxury residential towers on relatively small plots. By maximising the height of their buildings, developers are able to automatically add premium value to their “super-tall” properties.
The Skyscraper Museum nicknamed these skinny skyscrapers, which are between 300 and 600 metres tall, the “super-slenders” because of their extreme base width-to-height ratios.
Now, in an attempt to highlight the high-rise obsession of Manhattan’s luxury apartment developers, a local design studio Oiio has proposed a conceptual skyscraper which would be the “longest building in the world”.
The Big Bend skyscraper has been designed to rise up, loop over and return to the ground, making its “length” the unique feature rather than its “height”.
The legs of The Big Bend would straddle a historical building to fit into narrow plots on either side.
Renderings show The Big Bend located among the plethora of newly-constructed luxury apartment towers which are mostly clustered around Central Park and particularly 57th Street – which is now known as Billionaire’s Row.
Some of New York’s prominent architects have expressed serious concerns about the number of luxury residential skyscrapers rising in the city. Local residents have also voiced concerns about the towers, complaining they will overshadow Central Park.
