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why is USA"S architecture so boring as compared to china and dubai?
i mean, if you look at China and Dubai there buildings are so damn COOL -so modern. all we have is the soon to be: chicago spire and the new freedom towers. i know dubai has oil power and china is getting rich but how come when we had the money, we diddnt build cool buildings? or when we do have money to build stuff now, we just dont have good architecture? hong kong and shangai have way better skylines than new york!
Public Comments
- We have regulations, they don't, but they will pay for that fanciful architecture
- There are many determining factors to what shapes the skylines of any given city. But before we address that, I absolutely disagree with your statement regarding the architecture in Dubai and Shanghai to be better than NYC or for that matter, Chicago. The consistency of quality buildings is not as abundant in those foreign cities as they are in the US. It has nothing to do with building standards, those cities also adhere to stringent requirements as those in Western countries. I've lived in Shanghai, Hong Kong, NYC, and Chicago and the closest rival to the US cities is found in Hong Kong, but I would not say either one is better in terms of the overall picture and not building specific. Also keep in mind these architectural icons are being designed and drawn by American and Western companies like Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Leo Daly, Kohn, Pederson & Fox and Gensler to name a few. In large US cities, great architecture did take place, Hancock Tower, Citicorp Building, Seagram Building, and Harbor Point. The difference between the US market and elsewhere is land cost. The cost of land do not justify going 100 storys, the developer will not require a building of that magnitude. It is just plain economics.
