Gateway Tower: Contextualism of the Supertall Skyscraper

Abstract

Supertall and Megatall structures, buildings defined as being 300 meters (984 feet) or taller and 600 meters (1968 feet) or taller, respectively, by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, are one of the most challenging building typologies to design and study. A great number of different factors affect their construction and the general outcome of the design. It is typical for these special typologies to meet a series of challenges along their timelines. New York City has certainly made its own contributions to the field of high-rise and super tall designs having started the race to have the tallest building in the world with the historic Chrysler Building being the first man-made structure in the world to surpass 1000 feet in height in 1930 only to be followed less than a year later by the Empire State Building to claim the title of tallest building in the world for nearly 40 years until the construction of the Former World Trade Center towers in the 1970s. Since then, a number of new constructions have forever changed the skyline with more to come in the near future. These constructions progressively follow the ever-changing needs of those who built them.