With in-person events coming back, and a new CEO taking the helm, CTBUH had a transformative year of growth. This list highlights a few of those moments from 2022.

 

January

On 3 January, CTBUH released its annual report, CTBUH Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2021, part of the Tall Buildings in Numbers data analysis series.

_{Javier Quintana de Uña joins CTBUH as the next Chief Executive Officer, while Antony Wood steps into the role of President
after a successful 15 years of leading the Council as CEO.}

Also in the early part of the year, then CEO Antony Wood, moved into the role of President to lead the Council’s thought-leadership, research and academic initiatives. Javier Quintana de Uña, an active member from the UK chapter, was selected by CTBUH Board of Trustees as the next CTBUH CEO.

On 19 January, Wood and CTBUH industry experts from TK Elevator and Killa Designs discussed the future of cities and skyscrapers in “Future City: Architecture and Mobility.”

 

February

_{A new Masters of Tall Buildings and Vertical Urbanism (M.TBVU) program was announced at IIT that President Antony Wood will be leading.}

The Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and CTBUH announced the world’s first multidisciplinary advanced degree focused specifically on the high-rise. President Antony Wood will be leading these efforts and teaching at IIT when the program starts in the fall of 2022.

 

March

The first group of winners for CTBUH’s 2022 Award of Excellence program in the categories of Best Tall Building and Urban Habitat are announced.

It is announced that CTBUH member, Andy Campbell, New Business Director, Multiplex, will serve as the CTBUH UK chapter chair, replacing Javier Quintana de Uña who moved into the new role as CTBUH CEO.

CTBUH Scandinavia Chapter had their first 2022 event in Oslo: Adaptive Reuse in the Nordics – Where the Past and Future Meet. The meeting focused on the built environment and the continued and evolving relevance of adaptive reuse.

_{Post-Conference Report for the CTBUH 2021 International Conference.}

The 2021 Post-Conference Report is issued digitally from the Council providing insights on its annual international conference in 2021, on the theme of “Addressing Carbon, Climate & Societal Crises,” across 16 cities around the world.

 

April

The 2021 International Research Seed Funding grant, kindly sponsored by Arup, was awarded to Dr. Fatemeh Aminpour, associate lecturer, School of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Read more here.

_{CTBUH Journal 2022 v1, Special Issue on Tall Timber sponsored by Lendlease.}

A special issue of the journal on Tall Timber, sponsored by Lendlease is issued, with a limited amount of print editions, and a larger promotion to digital as CTBUH begins to make the move towards reducing its carbon footprint and the commitment to be more environmentally friendly.

 

May

The CTBUH France Chapter welcomed its second annual General Assembly on 16 May.

An interactive study on “The State of Tall Timber: A Global Audit” is released by CTBUH. This data study represents the significant recent momentum of the mass-timber movement worldwide. There are now 139 mass timber buildings around the world of eight stories or higher.

_{Attendees of the 2022 Steel-Timber Hybrid Buildings Conference pose for a photo outside of Crown Hall after the close of the conference.}

On 23-24 May, CTBUH held a conference on Steel-Timber Hybrid Buildings in Mies’ Crown Hall at the Illinois Institute of Chicago where it represented an essential element in the two-year CTBUH research project, “The Future Potential of Steel-Timber Hybrid Buildings,” sponsored by constructsteel and the Softwood Lumber Board (SLB).

 

June

The remaining group of winners for CTBUH’s 2022 Award of Excellence program in the technical categories are announced.

_{Flyer for CTBUH Cambodia with Eurocham for the Tall Buildings Forum on 27 June.}

CTBUH Cambodia in collaboration with Eurocham hosted their first Tall Buildings Forum in two years on Wednesday, 22 June at Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, where a wide variety of real estate industry experts from the private and public sector looked into the post-pandemic trends shaping the future.

 

July

_{In Milwaukee, CTBUH unveiled the Ascent as the "World's Tallest Timber-Concrete Hybrid Building." © Catalyst Construction}

CTBUH Director of Research and Thought-Leadership, Dan Safarik, traveled to Milwaukee on 20 July 2022 to participate in the unveiling of the 25-story Ascent as the new World’s Tallest Timber-Concrete Hybrid Building.

On 21 July, and organized by the CTBUH NYC chapter, a presentation on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) was given with a reception and tour afterwards.

In an article in the Chicago Business Journal looking at the state of commercial high-rises in Chicago, CTBUH contributed data regarding completed office building standing 100 meters or above in the United States.

The Toronto Chapter hosted a “welcome back” to all our CTBUH members in Toronto and other AEC industry professionals in the city on 28 July to kick-start their chapter events after a long pandemic hiatus.

 

August

_{2022 Award receipients from left to right, Peter Wynne Rees and Hanif Kara.}

The Council announced Peter Wynne Rees as the 2022 Lynn S. Beedle award recipient and Hanif Kara as the 2022 Fazlur R. Khan Lifetime Achievement recipient along with four members who were inducted as Fellows from their active and extraordinary contributions to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment.

The new, extended CTBUH Advisory Group convened virtually for the first time in August. These are a selected group of leaders that will be driving CTBUH’s activity and heading key committees, assemblies, and activities in the upcoming two years.

On 26 August, CTBUH India Chapter organized an invite-only evening with leading international and Indian experts to explore how car parking in an urban context can be dealt with through mechanical parking systems.

 

September

On Friday, 23 September, the CTBUH SEA 2022 Conference convened over 250 professionals at the Four Seasons Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The conference drew both local and foreign industry experts to the city to discuss the future of vertical urbanism in Southeast Asia, as well as new innovative development models and technological advancements prompted by a climatic convergence.

The CTBUH Seattle Future Leaders Committee hosted a tour on 28 September, guided by the team at Clark Construction, around the nearly complete expansion to the Washington State Convention Center.

_{Katrin Förster and David Seel are welcomed to the CTBUH Board of Trustees.}

The Council was also excited to announce an expansion of its governing body, the Board of Trustees. Two new members, Katrin Förster and David Seel, are welcomed to join the momentous changes happening.

 

October

CTBUH Philadelphia hosted an evening focusing on presentations and discussion on the “Vertical Regeneration: Future Tall Buildings and Urban Density” on 3 October.

_{CTBUH Sydney was one of the cities participating in the CTBUH Global Walking tour and visited significant "height and heritiage" sites.}

The ninth CTBUH Global walking tour was held during the week of 14 October, with 12 cities around the globe participating. The theme this year was “Height and Heritage.”

_{The first event in Shenzhen was held at the Citymark Centre on 26 October.}

A parallel in-person CTBUH 2022 International Conference in China took place with events being held in October and November. Starting with the city of Shenzhen, two successful events were held on 26 & 27 October.

 

November

_{CTBUH President Antony Wood gives an opening keynote at the Green Building Council South Africa, (GBCSA) Convention in Cape Town.}

_{Image courtesy GBCSA}

On 2 November, President Antony Wood spoke in the opening keynote plenary at the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) Convention in Cape Town, addressing the future of cities in density, sustainability, and livability.

_{In parrallel with the 2022 CTBUH Intnernational Conference in Chicago, an event was held in Shanghai for CTBUH members.}

The next event for the CTBUH 2022 International Conference in China occurred on 3 November in Shanghai at the Shangahi Raffles City The Bund with enthusiastic participation.

_{The first in-person CTBUH international conference since 2019 was well attended with 850+ delegates.}

The long-awaited back-in-person CTBUH 2022 International Conference happened from the 9-12 November in Chicago. Over 850+ delegates participated in this engaging event. This year was also the first year where CTBUH combined the International Conference with the Awards Ceremony. The awards ceremony was held on 11 November and announced the 2022 category award winners. Congrats to all!

It was also a time where several announcements were made, one being the location for the CTBUH 2023 International conference. Learn more here.

Another announcement was of the addition to CTBUH's height criteria, clarifying the definition of an “entrance predominantly above existing or pre-existing grade” for buildings that sit on “significant podiums.” The shift has led to the reevaluation of buildings such as The Exchange 106, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which was retroactively conferred a height of 453.6 meters to its architectural top, making it the tallest building in Malaysia at the time of its completion in 2019.

The 2022 CTBUH Research Seed Funding, Student Tall Building Design Competition, and the International Student Research Competition were announced with deadlines in January and February 2023. Learn more here.

 

December

_{CTBUH Members of the Hong Kong Chapter met on 9 December to discuss the future of dense urbanism.}

On 9 December, CTBUH CEO Javier Quintana de Uña gave opening remarks via video to the CTBUH Hong Kong International Conference 2022: The Future City: Addressing Climate Change, Decarbonization, Resilience and Sustainability.

_{On 17 December, President Antony Wood participated in the unveiling of the One Tower as the new Tallest Building in Brazil.}

CTBUH President Antony Wood traveled to Brazil on 17 December 2022 to participate in the signboard unveiling for the One Tower in Balneario Camboriu, Brazil as the new Tallest Building in Brazil, and the Tallest All-Residential Building in Latin America as of Nov. 2022.

Discussion and preparations began for Regional events with CTBUH members. More information to come soon!

 

With a successful year wrapped up, CTBUH looks forward to all the achievements, events, and exciting growth to come in 2023!