Editing Tower block (section)

==History==
[[File:L-feuerwehr.png|thumb|Sliding ladder for firefighters in 1904]]

High-rise apartment buildings had already appeared in [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]]: the ''[[Insula (building)|insulae]]'' in [[Ancient Rome]] and several other cities in the [[Roman Empire]], some of which might have reached up to ten or more stories,{{sfn|Aldrete|2004|pp=79f.}} one reportedly having 200 stairs.<ref>[[Martial]], Epigrams, 27</ref> Because of the destruction caused by poorly built high-rise ''insulae'' collapsing,{{sfn|Aldrete|2004|p=78}} several [[Roman emperor]]s, beginning with [[Augustus]] (r. 30 BC – 14 AD), set limits of {{convert|20–25|m}} for multi-story buildings, but met with limited success,<ref>[[Strabo]], 5.3.7</ref><ref>Alexander G. McKay: Römische Häuser, Villen und Paläste, [[Feldmeilen]] 1984, {{ISBN|3-7611-0585-1}} p. 231</ref> as these limits were often ignored despite the likelihood of taller ''insulae'' collapsing.{{sfn|Aldrete|2004|pp=78–9}}  The lower [[storey|floor]]s were typically occupied by either shops or wealthy families, while the upper stories were rented out to the lower classes.{{sfn|Aldrete|2004|pp=79 ff.}}  Surviving [[Oxyrhynchus Papyri]] indicate that seven-story buildings even existed in [[Roman province|provincial]] towns, such as in third century AD [[Hermopolis]] in [[Roman Egypt]].<ref name="PapyrusOxyrhynchus">Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2719, in: Katja Lembke, Cäcilia Fluck, Günter Vittmann: ''Ägyptens späte Blüte. Die Römer am Nil'', Mainz 2004, {{ISBN|3-8053-3276-9}}, p. 29</ref>

In [[Egypt in the Middle Ages|Arab Egypt]], the initial capital city of [[Fustat]] housed many high-rise residential buildings, some seven stories tall that could reportedly accommodate hundreds of people. [[Al-Muqaddasi]], in the 10th century, described them as resembling [[minaret]]s, while [[Nasir Khusraw]], in the early 11th century, described some of them rising up to 14 stories, with [[roof garden]]s on the top story complete with ox-drawn [[water wheel]]s for [[irrigation|irrigating]] them.<ref name="Behrens-Abouseif 1992 6">{{citation|title=Islamic Architecture in Cairo|first=Doris|last=Behrens-Abouseif|year=1992|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|isbn=90-04-09626-4|page=6}}</ref><ref name="Joan D. Barghusen, Bob Moulder 2001 11">{{citation|title=Daily Life in Ancient and Modern Cairo|first1=Joan D. | last1 = Barghusen | first2 = Bob | last2 = Moulder|publisher=Twenty-First Century Books|year=2001|isbn=0-8225-3221-2|page=11}}</ref> By the 16th century, [[Cairo]] also had high-rise apartment buildings where the two lower floors were for commercial and storage purposes and the multiple stories above them were [[Renting|rented]] out to [[Leasehold estate|tenants]].<ref name="Mortada 2003 viii">{{citation |title=Traditional Islamic principles of built environment |first=Hisham |last=Mortada |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2003 |isbn=0-7007-1700-5 |page=viii}}</ref>

The skyline of many important [[Middle Ages|medieval]] cities was dominated by large numbers of high-rising urban towers, which fulfilled defensive but also representative purposes. The residential [[Towers of Bologna]] numbered between 80 and 100 at a time, the largest of which still rise to 97.2 m (319 ft). In [[Florence]], a law of 1251 decreed that all urban buildings should be reduced to a height of less than 26 m (85 ft), the regulation immediately put into effect.<ref name="Werner Müller 345">Werner Müller: "dtv-Atlas Baukunst I. Allgemeiner Teil: Baugeschichte von Mesopotamien bis Byzanz", 14th ed., 2005, {{ISBN|978-3-423-03020-5}}, p. 345</ref> Even medium-sized towns such as [[San Gimignano]] are known to have featured 72 towers up to 51 m (167 ft) in height.<ref name="Werner Müller 345"/>

The [[Hakka people]] in [[southern China]] have adopted [[communal living]] structures designed to be easily defensible in the forms of Weilongwu (围龙屋) and [[Tulou]] (土楼), the latter are large, enclosed and fortified earth building, between three and five stories high and housing up to 80 families. The oldest still standing tulou dates back from the 14th century.<ref>Knapp, Ronald G.. China's old dwellings. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2000. 266.</ref>

High-rises were built in the [[Yemen]]i city of [[Shibam]] in the 16th century. The houses of Shibam are all made out of [[Mudbrick|mud bricks]], but about five hundred of them are [[tower house]]s, which rise five to sixteen stories high,<ref name="Helfritz">{{citation|title=Land without shade|first=Hans|last=Helfritz|journal=Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society|volume=24|issue=2|date=April 1937|pages=201–16|doi=10.1080/03068373708730789}}</ref> with each floor having one or two [[apartment]]s.<ref name=Jerome>{{citation|title=The Architecture of Mud: Construction and Repair Technology in the Hadhramaut Region of Yemen |first1 = Pamela | last1 = Jerome | last2= Chiari | first2 = Giacomo |first3=Caterina | last3 = Borelli |journal=APT Bulletin|volume=30|issue=2–3 |year=1999 |pages=39–48 [44] |doi=10.2307/1504639 |jstor=1504639 }}</ref><ref name=UNESCO>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/192 Old Walled City of Shibam], [[UNESCO]] World Heritage Centre</ref> This technique of building was implemented to protect residents from Bedouin attacks. While Shibam has existed for around two thousand years, most of the city's houses date from the 16th century. The city has the tallest mud buildings in the world, some more than 30 [[meter]]s (100 [[foot|feet]]) high.<ref name="Shipman 154–62">{{citation |title=The Hadhramaut |first=J. G. T. |last=Shipman |journal=[[Asian Affairs]] |volume=15 |issue=2 |date=June 1984 |pages=154–62 |doi=10.1080/03068378408730145}}</ref> Shibam has been called "one of the oldest and best examples of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction" or "[[Manhattan]] of the desert".<ref name=UNESCO/>

The engineer's definition of high-rise buildings comes from the development of [[fire truck]]s in the late 19th century. [[Magirus]] had shown the first [[cogwheel]] sliding ladder in 1864. The first [[turntable ladder]] drawn by horses was developed in 1892 which had a length of 25 meters (82 ft). The [[extension ladder]] was motorized by Magirus in 1904. The definition of a maximum of 22 meters (72 ft) for the highest floor was common in the building regulations at the time and it is still so today in Germany. The common height for turntable ladders did later go to 32 meters (105 feet), so that 30 meters (98 ft) is a common limit in some building regulations today, for example in Switzerland. Any building that exceeds the height of the usual turntable ladders in a city must install additional fire safety equipment, so that these high-rise buildings have a different section in the building regulations in the world.

[[File:Y House.JPG|thumb|A residential block in [[Steinfurt]], [[Westphalia]], Germany, forming a "Y"]]

The residential tower block with its typical [[concrete construction]] is a familiar feature of [[Modernist architecture]]. Influential examples include [[Le Corbusier]]'s "housing unit", his [[Unité d'Habitation]], repeated in various European cities starting with his [[Ville Radieuse|Cité radieuse]] in Marseille (1947–52), constructed of ''[[béton brut]]'', rough-cast [[concrete]], as steel for framework was unavailable in post-war France. Residential tower blocks became standard in housing urban populations displaced by [[slum clearance]]s and "[[urban renewal]]".<ref>possibly by Jay Thakkar, "High Rise Residential Towers", (self-published, n.d.) https://www.academia.edu/32050381/High_Rise_Residential_Tower</ref> High-rise projects after [[World War II]] typically rejected the classical designs of the [[early skyscrapers]], instead embracing the uniform [[International Style (architecture)|international style]]; many older skyscrapers were redesigned to suit contemporary tastes or even got demolished - such as New York's [[Singer Building]], once the world's tallest skyscraper. However, with the movements of [[Postmodern architecture|Postmodernism]], [[New Urbanism]], and [[New Classical Architecture]], that established since the 1980s, a more classical approach came back to global skyscraper design, that is popular today.

Other contemporary styles and movements in high-rise design include [[Organic architecture|organic]], [[Sustainable architecture|sustainable]], [[Neo-Futurism|neo-futurist]], [[Structuralism (architecture)|structuralist]], [[High-tech architecture|high-tech]], [[Deconstructivism|deconstructivist]], [[Blobitecture|blob]], [[Digital architecture|digital]], [[Streamline Moderne|streamline]], [[Novelty architecture|novelty]], [[Critical regionalism|critical regionalist]], [[Vernacular architecture|vernacular]], [[Art Deco]] (or ''Art Deco Nouveau''), and [[neohistorist]], also known as [[Revivalism (architecture)|revivalist]].

Currently, the tallest high-rise apartment building in the world is the [[Central Park Tower]] on [[Billionaires' Row]] in [[Midtown Manhattan]], towering at {{convert|1,550|ft}}.

===Streets in the sky===
{{Redirect|Streets in the sky|the third studio album by UK rock band The Enemy|Streets in the Sky}}
[[File:Park Hill deck.JPG|thumb|right|"Street in the sky" at Park Hill]]
Streets in the sky is a style of [[architecture]] that emerged in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s.<ref name= SIS>{{cite web|title=Intersection Fields III: Michiel Brinkman vs. Peter and Alison Smithson| date = 3 May 2016 | url=http://www.hiddenarchitecture.net/2016/05/intersection-fields-iii-michiel.html|website=www.hiddenarchitecture.net|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171201033445/http://www.hiddenarchitecture.net/2016/05/intersection-fields-iii-michiel.html | archive-date=1 December 2017}}</ref> Generally built to replace run-down [[terraced house|terraced housing]], the new designs included not only modern improvements such as inside [[toilet]]s, but also shops and other community facilities within high-rise blocks.<ref name=intute>{{cite web|url=http://www.intute.ac.uk/hottopics/2006/11/streets-in-the-sky/ |title=Streets in the Sky |publisher=Intute.ac.uk |date=1 November 2006 |access-date=8 August 2010}}</ref> Examples of the buildings and developments are [[Trellick Tower]], [[Balfron Tower]], [[Broadwater Farm]], [[Robin Hood Gardens]] and [[Keeling House]] in London, [[Hunslet Grange]] in [[Leeds]] and [[Park Hill, Sheffield]], and Castlefields and [[Southgate Estate]], [[Runcorn]]. These were an attempt to develop a new architecture, differentiated from earlier large housing estates, such as [[Quarry Hill, Leeds|Quarry Hill flats]] in Leeds.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/image_galleries/image_gallery_quarry_hill_gallery.shtml Quarry Hill] at BBC Online</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm/frm/42007/sec_id/42007 |title=Social Engineering Through Architectural Change |publisher=Newenglishreview.org |access-date=8 August 2010}}</ref> [[Alison and Peter Smithson]] were the architects of [[Robin Hood Gardens]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://designmuseum.org/design/alison-peter-smithson |title=Alison and Peter Smithson, Design Museum |publisher=Designmuseum.org |access-date=8 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124011148/http://designmuseum.org/design/alison-peter-smithson |archive-date=24 November 2010}}</ref> As another large example, in 2005 it was decided to carry out a 20-year process of demolition and replacement of dwellings with modern houses in the [[Aylesbury Estate]] in south London, built in 1970.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fletcher |first=Martin |title=Demolition of the Aylesbury Estate: a new dawn for Hell's waiting room? |website=The Times / The Sunday Times |date=20 October 2008 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/demolition-of-the-aylesbury-estate-a-new-dawn-for-hells-waiting-room-jglhxhw396s |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://aylesburytenantsfirst.org.uk/ |title=Aylesbury Tenants First |publisher=Aylesbury Tenants First |access-date=8 August 2010}}</ref> The [[Hulme Crescents]] in [[Manchester]] were the largest social housing scheme in Europe when built in 1972 but lasted just 22 years. The Crescents had one of the worst reputations of any British social housing schemes and were marred by numerous design and practical problems.<ref name="parkinson">Parkinson-Bailey, p.195</ref>

The ideal of Streets in the Sky often did not work in practice. Unlike an actual city street, these walkways were not thoroughfares, and often came to a dead end multiple storeys above the ground. They lacked a regular flow of passers-by, and the walkways and especially the stairwells could not be seen by anyone elsewhere, so there was no deterrent to crime and disorder. There were no "eyes on the street" as advocated by [[Jane Jacobs]] in her book ''[[The Death and Life of Great American Cities]]''. The [[Unité d'Habitation]] in [[Marseille]] provides a more successful example of the concept, with the fifth floor walkway including a shop and café.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.academyofurbanism.org.uk/streets-in-the-sky-the-urban-idiot/ | title=Streets in the sky|author=The Urban Idiot|date=17 January 2018|publisher=Academy of Urbanism}}</ref>

=== Towers in the park and microdistricts ===
[[File:Flemington_aerial.jpg|thumb|center|700px|[[Debney Estate|Debney Meadows]] (Flemington Estate) (1962–1965) in [[Melbourne]].]]
[[File:Moscow, Maly Chertanovsky Pond (31330935432).jpg|thumb|250px|A panel housing [[microdistrict]] (''П-44'' series) ([[Chertanovo Severnoye District]] of Moscow) (Late Soviet era) is built with a similar idea in mind]]

'''[[Towers in the park]]''' is a [[Morphology (architecture and engineering)|morphology]] of [[modernist]]<ref name="GLOBE">[https://web.archive.org/web/20140809132351/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-garden/architecture/how-to-rejuvenate-urban-towers-in-the-park/article624757/ "How to rejuvenate urban 'towers in the park{{'"}}], ''Globe and Mail'', John Bentley Mays, May 12, 2011</ref> high-rise apartment buildings characterized by a high-rise building surrounded by a swath of landscaped land; e.g., the tower does not directly front the street.

It is based on an ideology popularised by [[Le Corbusier]] with the [[Plan Voisin]], an expansion of the [[Garden city movement]] aimed at reducing the problem of urban congestion. It was introduced in several large cities across the world, notably in [[North America]],<ref name="GLOBE" /> [[Europe]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Your Broadwater Farm {{!}} Tottenham Regeneration |url=https://tottenham.london/explore/broadwater-farm/your-broadwater-farm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922181755/https://tottenham.london/explore/broadwater-farm/your-broadwater-farm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=22 September 2020 |access-date=2021-12-28 |website=tottenham.london}}</ref> and [[Australia]]<ref>Frykholm, H. (2023). ‘A Village Stood on End’: Anthropology and the Interior of the Modernist Tower. Fabrications, 33(2), 359–377.</ref> as a solution for housing, especially for [[public housing]], reaching a peak of popularity in the 1960s with the introduction of [[Prefabricated building|prefabrication technology]].

By the early 1970s, opposition to this style of towers mounted, with many, including urban planners, now referring to them as "[[ghetto]]s".<ref>Tall Buildings, Toronto Star, August 27, 1973, C3</ref> Neighbourhoods like [[St. James Town]] were originally designed to house young "swinging single" middle class residents, but the apartments lacked appeal and the area quickly became much poorer. From its early days of implementation the concept was criticised for making residents feel unsafe, including large empty common areas dominated by [[gang]] culture and crime. The layout was criticised for normalising anti-social behaviour and hampering the efforts of essential services, particularly for [[law enforcement]].<ref>[https://theintercept.com/2016/10/06/in-the-chicago-police-department-if-the-bosses-say-it-didnt-happen-it-didnt-happen/ OPERATION SMOKE AND MIRRORS] by Jamie Kalven 6 October 2016</ref>

The history of [[microdistrict]]s as an urban planning concept dates back to the 1920s, when the Soviet Union underwent rapid [[urbanization]]. Under the [[Soviet urban planning ideologies of the 1920s]], residential complexes—compact territories with residential dwellings, schools, shops, entertainment facilities, and [[green belt|green spaces]]—started to prevail in urban planning practice, as they allowed for more careful and efficient planning of the rapid urban expansion. These complexes were seen as an opportunity to build a collective society,<ref name="van Dijk">Ir. M.H.H. van Dijk, IsoCaRP Congress 2003, ''Planning and politics''</ref> an environment suitable and necessary for the new way of life.<ref name="Gentile">Michael Gentile, Dept. of Social and Economic Geography, [[Uppsala University]], ''Urbanism and Disurbanism in the Soviet Union''[http://www.student.uu.se/studorg/europe/inblick/?p=/2articles/04/gentile.html]</ref>