The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper

Book review by Deane Barker tags: buildings, infrastructure
An image of the cover of the book "The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper"

This book absolutely achieves what it sets out to do. It’s a glossy, illustrated love letter about how skyscrapers are built and managed. If that’s what you want, then this is your book.

It’s not very deep, but it doesn’t really try to be. The illustrations are well-done and helpful. There are chapters on planning, designing, building, safety, etc. The writing is clear.

The author has a long history in architecture, urban planing, and real estate. Years ago, I read her first book The Works which was similar in format, but discussed the inner workings of a big city like New York.

Again, this is not a deep book with much nuance, but if you like engineering and tall buildings (and I very much do), then you’ll enjoy this.

Book Info

Author
Kate Ascher
Year
Pages
208
Acquired
↓ Inbound link from – August (adjective) November 22, 2021
↓ Inbound link from – Floor Area Ratio November 7, 2021

This is a zoning code formula that compares the total floor size of a building (all floors together) to the lot size it’s built on. There are rules around this number. For example, if I want to build a 100-story building with each floor having 20,000 square feet of space, that’s a total of 2…

↓ Inbound link from – Rectilinear November 12, 2021

The word seems to be heavily used in architecture and engineering.

↓ Inbound link from – Stack Effect November 20, 2021

This is a naturally-occurring phenomenon of vertical structures where the building heats air which then rises and escapes through the top of the building. This creates a vacuum which draws new air in the bottom. Thus, air continues to come in the bottom of the building, and circulate out the top….