A Lifetime of Tall, From an Architect-developer’s Perspective
John Portman, Founding Principal, John Portman & Associates, Atlanta

CTBUH 2009 Best Tall Building Award Winners
Stuart Allen & Frank Zabel (CICO Consultants) – Tornado Tower, Doha, Qatar
Steven Holl (Steven Holl Architects) – Linked Hybrid Building, Beijing, China
Bruce Kuwabara (KPMB Architects) – Manitoba Place, Winnipeg, Canada
Timothy Poell (SOM) – Broadgate Tower, London, UK as Business Strategy

40 Years of the CTBUH: Reflection
Charles DeBenedittis, Gilberto do Valle, Ron Klemencic, Shankar Nair, Leslie Robertson & David Scott

Session Chair: Antony Wood, Executive Director, CTBUH, Chicago
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The Council recognizes four regional best tall building winners each year. This year the winners were: Americas – Manitoba Hydro Place (Winnipeg, Canada); Asia & Australasia – Linked Hybrid (Beijing, China); Europe – The Broadgate Tower (London, UK); and Middle East & Africa – Tornado Tower (Doha, Qatar).

Each speaker presented their projects with a clear sense of pride that can only come from being intimately involved in the design and construction of a project 5+ years in the making. Each cited their projects’ sustainable credentials, and with an air of friendly competition, Steven Holl proclaimed that his project (Linked Hybrid) had 660 geothermal wells after Bruce Kuwabara had just described his Manitoba Hydro Place as having 280 geothermal wells. Other notable sustainable attributes on the projects included: Manitoba Hydro Place’s signature 115-meter solar chimney which is a key element in the buildings passive ventilation system; grey water recycling in Linked Hybrid; and the structural innovations and efficiencies seen in both The Broadgate Tower and Tornado Tower.
The projects also took a strong stance on social sustainability. At Manitoba Hydro Place, the project has reinvigorated downtown Winnipeg and has reduced automobile usage in its employees, of whom over 50% now leave their cars at home. The Broadgate Tower acknowledges it’s surrounding historic urban context and creates a pedestrian centered ground floor plan with a galleria thoroughfare that bisects the site. At Linked Hybrid, Steven Holl’s design counters current urban developments in China by creating a porous and open public ground floor plan which includes a series of four urban parks. It encourages encounters in the public spaces that vary from commercial, residential, educational and recreational. And moving beyond just the ground floor, a series of skybridges connect all the towers on the site with a continuation of these common space amenities in the sky—truly pointing the way forward for the intensification of our cities as dense, vibrant, livable communities. 

Les Robertson, in his typical humble way, reminded everyone that it was Lynn who “bulldozed all of us” to write the papers, bring in the members and organize the conferences.  Les told us that “in my term, Lynn was the real chair; I just nodded agreement with his suggestions.”  Lynn was particular about every detail and travel was very much a part of his life.  But nevertheless, every morning he would call Les with a message—and sometimes on Sundays as well.  But Lynn was always the perfect gentleman and had a talent for “bulldozing us all with a smile”.
 
Charles DeBenedittis remembered that at the time of our first CTBUH conference nobody had the modern communication and design tools we enjoy today.  Our drawings were all done by hand in those days and shipped by courier and messenger.  The engineering and construction industries have come a long way since then and so has the Council.  The advancement has been most evident in horizontal collaboration between disciplines, which is in line with Lynn Beedle's original concept of a global community of professionals.  As we look back on 40 years, we can also look ahead and dream of what the Council will be 40 years from now. 

Gilberto Do Valle introduced his reminiscences with an invitation to all to the 2016 Olympics in Rio, which Rio had just won a few days before the conference.  Turning back to Council issues, Gilberto recalled that during his tenure the question of how to measure the height of a tall building was discussed at length.  It was never resolved—and even today it hasn't been resolved.  It had become an important issue when the Sears Tower in Chicago and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur were vying for the title of “World's Tallest”.  One question was whether the spire should be included in the height calculation or not.  The Council came up with four different ways to measure height and Sears Tower was the highest in two of those categories.  The other pressing issue during that time (and for many years after) was money.  The Council had no money and the idea of moving to another university was discussed.  But Lynn wouldn't move; the Council was his baby and stayed with him at Lehigh.

Shankar Nair reminded us that after 9/11 suddenly there was a fear of tall buildings, and the question was whether they should continue to be built at all.  This presented a couple of pressing issues for the Council. One main question was raised: Does the CTBUH still have a reason to exist?  By that time the world view of the council was of a group skilled in the “nuts and bolts of high rise design.”  There was a desire to change that view to one that had a more comprehensive concern about the inter-relationship of tall buildings and the urban habitat. The other concern at the time was what to do after Lynn Beedle was no longer driving the Council. How could a transition be made to a council without Lynn?  Certainly, the evidence from the attendance at this year's Chicago conference shows that the transition has been made very successfully. 

Ron Klemencic spoke of Lynn's huge charisma.  “He could get us to do anything. “  Ron said of his first conversation with Lynn at the CTBUH conference in Hong Kong, “he had me signed up for membership and volunteering to be on two committees right away.”  During Ron's tenure as chairman the issue of whether to include the antenna in calculating building height came up again, particularly with regard to the Sears Tower.  Les said that if we include the antenna, Sears would lose out to the antenna at the World Trade Center.  Ron brought the question up to a taxi driver who huffed, “who are these idiots who can't decide how tall a building is?”  Well, we're still debating the question.  Prince Charles made the case for how buildings meet the ground, not just how high they are.  And indeed, at this year's conference there has been a consensus on how to define the bottom of a tall building—but still we're discussing what constitutes the top. 

In the waning hours of his chairmanship, David Scott told us that he was the first chairman who didn't know Lynn Beedle very well.  It was Ron who had approached David when Arup expressed a desire to take a more active role in CTBUH.  David summarized the council's efforts thus: “To some extent we don't know what we're doing with tall buildings, so we continuously learn from each other.”  That approach to continuous learning is perhaps the most important aspect of the Council.  David confessed that he will miss his arguments with Antony Wood and thanked him for being “an incredible mentor,” trusting that he will be for Sang Dae Kim as well.