Cities in the Sky: The Quest to Build the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers

In this informative if rose-colored study, Rutgers economist Barr (Building the Skyline) argues for the inevitability of skyscrapers—calling them “a kind of natural order” for human habitats and comparing them to “the way that ants build mounds.” He contends that tall buildings are a solution that emerges organically when land becomes scarce, and even asserts that the new fad for supertalls—skinny and ultra-high skyscrapers—is a rational economic development, pushing back against criticism of them as developer cash grabs and elite money-laundering schemes. He details the 130-year history of skyscrapers with a focus on the developers and engineers who made them and innovations in construction techniques, including recent improvements that allow buildings to sway with the wind at high elevations. He then pivots to an analysis of the economics of skyscrapers meant to bolster his opening apologia for them as a social good. This section, while it usefully sums up recent achievements and scandals in skyscraper construction, sometimes falls back on facile assertions, like when he defends supertalls because they are not the cause of the high cost of land in New York City, but merely a response to it—a fact that critics likely realize. Such circuitous arguments make it feel like the concerns of critics aren’t being handled seriously. Still, for architecture buffs, Barr’s meticulous research is worth checking out. (May)