Tower block

• 1. Defining The Vertical City

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  A building in New Brunswick, New Jersey known as the Hub City anchors a central business district. This structure is one of many high-rise towers that define modern urban skylines from Vilnius to Helsinki. The term tower block carries different meanings depending on where you stand. Emporis defines a high-rise as a multi-story structure between 15 and 40 meters tall or a building with unknown height from 12 to 39 floors. The National Fire Protection Association in the United States sets the bar higher at seven stories or about 23 meters. Most engineers and inspectors agree that any structure reaching 75 feet qualifies as a high-rise. These varying definitions exist because safety regulations change across jurisdictions. A building might be a skyscraper in one city but merely a residential block in another. The distinction often relies on whether the height impacts evacuation procedures during an emergency.

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• 2. Ancient Precursors To Skyscrapers

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  Martial wrote Epigrams describing insulae in Ancient Rome that reached up to ten stories. Some of these early apartment blocks reportedly contained 200 stairs for residents to climb. Emperor Augustus ruled from 30 BC until 14 AD when he attempted to limit multi-story buildings to 60 feet. Despite his decree, builders frequently ignored the restrictions and taller structures continued to rise. Surviving Oxyrhynchus Papyri indicate that seven-story buildings existed in Hermopolis, Roman Egypt during the third century AD. In Arab Egypt, the capital city of Fustat housed many residential buildings standing seven stories tall. Al-Muqaddasi described these structures in the 10th century as resembling minarets rising into the sky. Nasir Khusraw noted in the early 11th century that some towers reached 14 stories with roof gardens irrigated by ox-drawn water wheels. By the 16th century, Cairo featured high-rise apartments where commercial spaces occupied the lower floors while tenants rented the upper levels. The Hakka people in southern China built yuanlou complexes between two and five stories high. Chengqilou stands among the largest round dwelling complexes still existing today. Records suggest that as many as 80 households once occupied its 370 rooms.

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• 3. The Engineering Revolution

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  Magirus displayed the first cogwheel sliding ladder for firefighters in 1864. A turntable ladder drawn by horses followed in 1892 with a length of 25 meters or 82 feet. Magirus motorized the extension ladder in 1904 to extend reach further upward. Building regulations at the time commonly set a maximum height limit of 22 meters or 72 feet for the highest floor. This standard persists in Germany today due to the capabilities of fire trucks. Turntable ladders later increased their capacity to 32 meters or 105 feet. Switzerland now uses 30 meters or 98 feet as a common limit in building codes. Any structure exceeding these heights must install additional fire safety equipment. High-rise buildings became possible to construct only after the invention of the elevator. Steel framing allowed for lighter yet stronger structures compared to traditional masonry. Reinforced concrete remains the primary material for residential blocks while steel frames dominate North American skyscrapers. Geotechnical engineers face significant challenges when designing towers on bay mud or seismically active regions. Studies are often required to ensure that pedestrian wind comfort and danger concerns are addressed before construction begins.

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• 4. Modernist Ideals And Failures

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  Le Corbusier constructed his Cité radieuse housing unit in Marseille between 1947 and 1952 using béton brut rough-cast concrete. Steel was unavailable for framework in post-war France so builders relied on concrete instead. Alison and Peter Smithson designed Robin Hood Gardens in London as an example of Streets in the Sky architecture. These walkways emerged in Britain during the 1960s and 1970s to replace run-down terraced housing. The design included shops and community facilities within high-rise blocks like Trellick Tower and Balfron Tower. Park Hill in Sheffield featured decks wide enough to allow electric vehicles to pass through. Jane Jacobs argued in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities that streets needed eyes on them to deter crime. Walkways in these estates lacked regular flow of passers-by and came to dead ends multiple storeys above ground. There were no eyes on the street to discourage disorder and criminal activity. The Hulme Crescents in Manchester lasted just 22 years after being built in 1972. They held one of the worst reputations of any British social housing scheme due to numerous design problems. Neighbourhoods like St. James Town quickly became much poorer than their original middle-class vision intended.

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• 5. Regional Housing Landscapes

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  Over 60 percent of Hong Kong residents live in apartments including condominiums. In 2020, 2,112,138 people were identified as residents of public housing which represented 28 percent of the total population. Seoul proper has a population density eight times greater than Rome though less than Manhattan or Paris. Approximately 80 percent of Seoul residents live in apartment complexes comprising 98 percent of recent residential construction. Samsung Tower Palace in South Korea stands as the tallest apartment complex in Asia. China awarded the 2012 Pritzker Prize to architect Wang Shu for his Vertical Courtyard Apartments in Hangzhou. These six 26-story towers feature private courtyards created by folding concrete floor planes. Latvia hosts 64.4 percent of its population living in flats while Estonia follows with 60.6 percent. Lithuania and the Czech Republic also show high percentages of flat dwellers at 59.5 percent and 50.9 percent respectively. The Ballymun Flats in Dublin were built between 1966 and 1969 as seven 15-story towers. They became known as the seven towers referenced in the U2 song Running to Stand Still before demolition. Most tower blocks in Northern Ireland were built by the Northern Ireland Housing Trust starting in 1961.

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• 6. Safety And Fire Dynamics

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  The Grenfell Tower fire occurred in London during 2017 partly caused by council ignorance regarding fire hazards. A local action group complained about these risks several years before the incident yet no remedial work was carried out. Modern safety precautions can be prohibitively expensive to retrofit into existing structures due to lack of proper regulation. Ronan Point collapsed in 1968 which made tower blocks less desirable to British residents. High-rise buildings pose serious challenges to firefighters during emergencies involving evacuation procedures. Building standpipe systems, HVAC systems, and fire sprinkler systems create significant problems for emergency responders. Stairwell and elevator evacuations require careful planning to ensure resident safety during a crisis. Wind engineering studies are often required to address pedestrian wind comfort and danger concerns around tall structures. The tallest residential building in the world is Central Park Tower located in Midtown Manhattan with its highest occupied floor reaching specific heights. Some former Eastern Bloc countries have begun construction of new housing since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. These changes range from applying a new coat of paint to thorough modernisation of entire buildings.

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