Helen Li

IDC 4001H

Professor Maciuika

How High Should We Go?

            According to many people, the higher you live, the wealthier you are. It is quite funny to think that centuries ago, size determines status, but now, height is the representation of your stature. You can probably list dozens of movies in which the CEOs gaze out of their floor-to-ceiling windows to an incredible scene that no average employee can view out of their small windows twenty stories below.

Most definitely, there exists an economic aspect to these skyscrapers since the prices of these spaces are directly related to their heights. These steel caged spaces are considered luxuries in which their prices may or may not be justified.  Apparently, this is the new trend of New York. As described in the Skyscraper Museum Exhibit, people start to live higher and higher up ever since Raymond Hood’s proposal to transform New York into a city of tall, slender buildings in the 1920s.

However, not only are skyscrapers a trend, but their existence is also inevitable. Space is so limited, but the population expands exponentially. Earth lacks the space to accommodate each and every individual. Since it is impossible to expand our space vertically, we can only expand horizontally leaving more space for transportation and traffic. As a result, architects and engineers develop more advanced technology such as “cage constructions” to allow even higher towers.

Another justification of these expensive spaces is the difference in air quality between penthouses and ground floors. The lower floors of a building are most often compact with a greater population density which leads to higher levels of pollution and a decrease in air quality. These skyscrapers also accumulate heat and block radiation efficiently because of the advanced technology and materials used to create these buildings.

Yet, this is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. If people want clean air, should they not be controlling pollution instead of “creating” open spaces of “sunlight, air, and free circulation?” as Hood described. If people want more space, should they start controlling their population instead of having their ever-increasing population control them?