Image © NBBJ, 2008.

We need to stop referring to 20 story buildings as “towers”. It undermines the typology, and makes you feel like it should be something it isn’t. Although by definition, a tower is a structure whose diameter is smaller than its height, we know this can be applied to a significant amount of buildings we wouldn’t consider to be towers. A true tower has a slender proportion, and has a relentless vertical vector distribution.

As designers, let’s be honest with ourselves, and let these be what they want; tall midrise buildings with their own specific set of constraints, independent of a true high rise. No better or worse, just different.

We will see the Midrise become more prevalent in less dense cities in the near future as developers procure less capital from lenders. We should equip ourselves with the critical tools to make these projects effective as architectural solutions to urban or suburban insertions.

MS