"Cities face a choice of building up or building out," says Renzo Piano, according to a recent article on the Daily Mail. Responding to backlash led by the Skyline Campaign, a campaign spearheaded by architect Barbara Weiss that "aims to stop the devastation of London by badly designed and poorly placed tall buildings," Piano is defending London's controversial skyscraper boom by saying it's giving the one thing the city needs most: "space on the ground."
Weiss, calling the boom a "reckless experimentation," is worried London may loose its "distinctive character." She's not alone with this concern, as a number of prominent architects, including David Adjaye and David Chipperfield signed a petition back in 2014 that stated: "Most of the proposed towers are not vital to London's prosperity and financial wellbeing." Other critics have even gone as far to say "London is becoming a bad version of Dubai."
As the Daily Mail points out, more than 70 tall towers are currently under construction in London with many more on the drawing boards, including Piano's recently unveiled "skinny Shard" that is designed to become the city's fourth tallest building.
News via Daily Mail
