Due to Covid restrictions, The Skyscraper Museum presented its 2021 winter and spring lecture series as virtual programs. Thirteen related webinars by leading architects, engineers, and construction experts were conceived as an online course that covered key issues in the 21st-century development of the supertall typology. The lectures extended the analysis of the Museum's exhibition SUPERTALL! 2020.
WORLD VIEW: Designing Global Supertalls
The Skyscraper Museum’s 2021 lecture series, WORLD VIEW, invited architects, engineers, and building industry experts to explain and reflect on the art and science of the supertall skyscrapers they have designed and constructed around the world. Conceived as a semester of related talks, the series explored the history of the supertall typology and its evolution in the 21st century, emphasizing the global reach of supertall ambitions and the pivotal role of American firms in exporting design expertise.
The global pandemic has caused our worlds to shrink as travel is suspended and our vision and experience is focused on small screens and tight social circles. Expanding our understanding of the places around the globe where supertall skyscrapers are creating new urban landscapes is one aim of this series. Shenzhen, Guiyang, Tianjin, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, and Jeddah are among the cities in our spotlight.
Extraordinary height is the product of both ambition and expertise. The engineering challenges of reaching for heights of 400, 500, 600, and even 1,000 meters depend on sophisticated computer modeling and wind engineering, new structural systems, and the stronger concrete and composite building materials.
The thirteen-lecture series begins with the architects of supertalls featured in the exhibition, who will discuss both the inspiration for their designs and issues of the urban context. The engineers will describe the innovations of their designs within the evolution of concrete-core construction that have typified supertall structural systems in the 21st century. Our cycle concludes with talks by experts in construction management on the importance of the buildability of designs and the monitoring of performance as a way to advance knowledge within the industry.
Left-right: China Resources Tower, Guiyang WTC Tower, CTF Tianjin, CITIC Tower, Merdeka 118, Burj Khalifa, Chengdu Greenland Tower, Lakhta Center.
SCHEDULE
Please click on individual dates below to view the video of past lectures
ICONS & URBANISM: ARCHITECTS ON THEIR TOWERS
JAN 26: JAMES VON KLEMPERER, FAIA, RIBA
Design Principal and President, KPF
Shenzhen and Seoul: China Resources Tower & Lotte World Tower
Design Partner, SOM
Guiyang: “Precious Sun," A Story of Trade Routes and Supertalls
Consulting Partner, SOM
Tianjin: CTF Tianjin
Principal, KPF
Beijing: CITIC/China Zun
Founding Partner, Fender Katsalidis
Kuala Lumpur: Merdeka 118
Founder and Partner, AS+GG
Supertall/Megatall: How High Can We Go?
MAY 4: FRED CLARKE, FAIA, RIBA, JIA
Senior Principal, Pelli Clarke Pelli
The Primacy of Petronas Towers: Supertalls Go Global
ENGINEERING THE 21st-CENTURY SUPERTALL
MARCH 16: BILL BAKER, PE, SE, FASCE, FIStructE, NAE
Consulting Partner, SOM
Burj Khalifa: What We Learned
MARCH 23: PETER WEISMANTLE, FAIA, RIBA
Consulting Director of Supertall Building Technology, AS+GG
Core Value
MARCH 30: ROBERT SINN, PE, SE, FACI, F.ASCE, FIABSE
Principal, Thornton Tomasetti
How Do We Go Ultratall?
APRIL 13: MARK SARKISIAN, PE, SE
Structural and Seismic Engineering Partner, SOM
Pivot to China: How Jin Mao Portended Future Supertalls
Vice Chairman, Thornton Tomasetti
Chengdu Greenland: A Non-Coplanar Exoskeleton
CONSTRUCTING SUPERTALLS
Executive Vice President, Samsung C&T Corp
Weaving Structure into Architecture: Design & Construction Challenges in Lakhta Center, St. Petersburg
JANUARY 18, 2022: AHMAD ABDELRAZAQ
Executive Vice President, Samsung C&T Corp
Constructing Merdeka 118: World’s Second-Tallest Building
Director and curator, The Skyscraper Museum
Sizing Up Supertalls
WORLD VIEW: Designing Global Supertalls is a series of lectures, presented as live webinars and archived as videos. We recommend following the series in sequence as an unfolding "semester" of ideas and themes.
All lectures were conducted via Zoom and live-streamed on our YouTube channel.