The Visual Integration of Tall Buildings: New Technologies and the City Skyline

A skyline is the urban signature that defines the city's identity and reflects its economic and global standing. Providing visual order and harmony among tall buildings is a key factor for ensuring aesthetically pleasing skylines. Currently, a new generation of skyscrapers, constructed with innovative technologies, building materials, and computerized lighting systems is re-forming the city skyline. These tall buildings are notable for their shape, lightness, transparency, colors, elegance, reflectivity, and iconicity. This article discusses the design process necessary for the successful visual integration of tall buildings into cities. It explains the dialectic and interdependent visual relationship among buildings and the city and the design studies required to achieve balanced, coherent, and attractive skylines.