March 2018 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

Behold the proposed new “W-350” tower, a 70-story skyscraper proposed for the center of Tokyo, Japan. The neat gimmick: it’s made of wood! In the tofu-filled minds of many environmental activists (and the techno-narcissist opportunists who prey on them), this is supposed to be a “green” building. Let’s get something straight: a green skyscraper is a contradiction in terms. No skyscraper is “green” in the enviro sense that it is kind to the planet. Mega-structures per se deform urban life by placing too great a human footprint on a tiny area, overloading infrastructure, for one thing. They are out of scale with the resource and capital realities of the very near-future, and they are out of scale with urbanism based on human neurology and cognition. They are not suited to adaptive re-use. They will have one-generation of life (or less if they can’t be serviced). They will never be renovated. They are going to be liabilities, not assets. Another such wooden skyscraper was proposed for London, UK, in 2016. Harken ye architects and developers out there: please stop jerking-off the public with these idiotic stunts. Join the campaign to re-think, re-scale, and re-build our cities so we can continue the project of human civilization.

Below: rendering of 80-story Oakwood Tower, London — as yet unbuilt.

Thanks to Matthew Cromarty for the nomination