| Vol. - No. | Vol.9 - No.1 |
|---|---|
| Date | Mar., 2020 |
| Title | Editor's Note |
| Contents |
Early multistory office buildings in the late 19th century were built with interior iron frames and perimeter masonry walls in many cases. As the number of stories reached about six, passenger elevators became a necessity and soon building height reached about ten stories. Further, with the expanded use of metal skeletal frames also for the building perimeter in conjunction with the development of curtainwall façades, tall buildings have continued to become taller and reached the supertall height of over 300 m in the early 1930s and megatall height of over 600 m today. In recent years, tall buildings have become even taller and the height of over 1 km will be reached soon. Tall buildings, with their economic benefits in dense urban land use and global symbolic presence, are a worldwide architectural phenomenon. Due to their extreme height and large scale, tall buildings have always required the most advanced technologies and today more than ever they require thoughtful sustainable design. The current issue of the IJHRB is composed of two parts presenting papers on the past and future of tall buildings. Each part is composed of five papers. In the first part, Professor Gerald Larson thoroughly documents the emergence and evolution of early tall buildings primarily in New York and Chicago in his two part papers. Professor Gerard Peet expands the history of early tall buildings to include non-US examples. Professor Thomas Leslie presents the first two "buildings without walls" – Reliance Building and Fisher Building. Professor Beyhan Karahan presents the 1899 Park Row Building that is still contextually relevant and sustainable today. In the second part, Stephan Reinke, the director of Stephan Reinke Architects, presents the future of workplace in vertical cities. Professor and MULTI's CEO Michael Cesarz presents innovative and holistic multiple dimensions of urban transportation. The WoodWorks' president and CEO Jennifer Cover discusses mass timber as the new sustainable choice for tall buildings. Professor Dario Trabucco et al. presents the role of robotics in improving building construction processes in their comprehensive two part papers. The editor truly appreciates all authors for their invaluable contributions. In addition to the aforementioned 10 papers, the current issue of the IJHRB also presents the winning paper of the 2020 Best Paper Award: M D Burton et al.'s "Wind-Induced Motion of Tall Buildings: Designing for Occupant Comfort." This year's best paper has been selected among the papers published during the past five years in the IJHRB. Congratulations to the winning authors. |