CTBUH Interviews


The "Talking Tall" feature involves prominent professionals discussing their personal vision on our future and what role tall buildings play or share their professional insights on topical matters.



		Fast-growing Saudi Arabia Embraces Tall Buildings CTBUH Journal 2013 Issue I Amid a rapidly changing cultural and economic landscape in Saudi Arabia, John Harris, co-head of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Saudi Arabia office, discusses the shifts in the market and the Kingdom’s growing interest in building tall.

		One of the Architecture World’s Fast Rising Stars has BIG Plans for Designing Tall Buildings CTBUH Journal 2012 Issue IV OMA alumnus Bjarke Ingels has made a name for his Bjarke Ingels Group with innovative, paradigm-busting projects that blend nature and functionality with new twists on traditional forms.

		An Insider’s View on Navigating the Approval Process for Tall Buildings in China CTBUH Journal 2012 Issue III Brian Lee, lead designer for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, discusses the complexities of designing buildings in China and the challenges of the approval process.

		The Skyscraper Index CTBUH Journal 2012 Issue II The Skyscraper Index, which links tall building construction to economic cycles. The Index is based on the completion of the world’s tallest building is inevitably a marker for the start of a global economic crisis.

		A Future for Tall Building History CTBUH Journal 2012 Issue I Looking at Chicago's or New York's skylines, one feature that sets apart the first skyscraper cities from the recent ones is the rich history of tall building architecture. These first cities are now facing the issue of what to do with vintage skyscrapers.

		The CTBUH Chairmanship CTBUH Journal 2011 Issue IV Assuming the Chairman’s position in a not-for-profit organization is always an honorable matter, and especially so when that organization is focused on high-rise building.

		The Global Impact of 9/11 CTBUH Journal 2011 Issue III Just as many Americans still remember exactly where they were when they heard the news that US president John F. Kennedy had been shot, most people will likely remember what they were doing on September 11, 2001.

		So You Want a Tall Building? CTBUH Journal 2011 Issue II Having devised tall building strategies for Rotterdam, Dublin and London, he is the kind of guy who is called in as cities start to think about adding tall buildings. As such, he has developed a broad expertise and an interesting set of opinions.

		Ups and Downs in Russia CTBUH Journal 2011 Issue I Faced with the possibility that his tallest project was to be shortened after it had been constructed to full height, Sergey Skuratov found himself making a defense that height is a substantial part of the architecture for one of the city’s tallest residential towers.

		Dormitowers CTBUH Journal 2010 Issue IV This past decade, “student skyscrapers” have re-emerged at or near university campuses and city centers. As such, the vertical dorm is making a comeback after a construction drought which started in the early 1970s.

		Greening Supertalls CTBUH Journal 2010 Issue III The world’s tallest buildings have always been more about expression rather than necessity or a solution to any problem. Being the visible landmarks that they are, these towers have represented the aspirations of those who commissioned them.

		Winy Maas, MVRDV CTBUH Journal 2010 Issue II The urban future of Chinese cities could take the shape of supersized parabolic structures in and around current cities. Imagine a range of various green hills with apartments and spacious terraces in the shell filled with industry and technology.