Edited by Georges Binder
224 pages with full color and black and white illustrations
The history of the Asian high-rise building can be traced back to 1935, with the Bank of China in Hong Kong and the Broadway Mansions in Shanghai. From 1950, Hong Kong became one of the few cities in the world at the time, together with New York and Chicago, to develop itself intensively towards the sky. Since then Asia boasts some of the most impressive and tallest buildings in the world.
The Editor:
Georges Binder is managing director of Buildings and Data, s.a., specializing in marketing and research for architects and developers. A 25-year special interest in high-rise buildings lead Binder to be involved in several publications about this building type including "Sky High Living," soon to be released by IMAGES, which is entirely devoted to residential high-rise buildings around the world.
Sydness Architects is pleased that both our
Lujiazui Itochu Building and the St. Regis Shanghai Hotel have been selected to be a part of Tall Buildings of Asia and Australia.
From the Introduction, by Editor Georges Binder:
With few exceptions, the Asian skyline did not see a postmodern era comparable to the United States in the 1980s, nor are there many pre-war high-rises in Asia - the ones that brought the timeless character to the American city. The high-rise buildings found in cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo are generally designed following a modernist vocabulary, which creates very different skylines to those in the United States. These familiar skylines remain the reference, but for how long? Other major cities such as Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur have produced projects with more regional imagery. Regardless of the 1997 Asian economy crisis, it is Asia that now leads the world in terms of skyscraper production, just as it has for the last decade.
