In addition to the other generic things that apply to tall buildings, in that tower specifically the empty floors are a workaround to a New York rule that attempts to restrict building size by restricting floor space. By having empty floors, they can move the upper floors higher up, thus making them more valuable to the super-rich buyers who want to have the highest apartment in NY etc.
Quick edit to add: this is in addition to other high-building requirements such as mass damping, wind, plant rooms etc. which could be implemented in ways that do not move the upper floors so far further up. They have made a virtue of necessity (in as much as it is ever necessary to build this kind of hideous monument to obscene wealth inequality).
OllyFunkster on July 11st, 2019 at 12:48 UTC »
In addition to the other generic things that apply to tall buildings, in that tower specifically the empty floors are a workaround to a New York rule that attempts to restrict building size by restricting floor space. By having empty floors, they can move the upper floors higher up, thus making them more valuable to the super-rich buyers who want to have the highest apartment in NY etc.
Very interesting article about it here:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/feb/05/super-tall-super-skinny-super-expensive-the-pencil-towers-of-new-yorks-super-rich?CMP=share_btn_tw
Quick edit to add: this is in addition to other high-building requirements such as mass damping, wind, plant rooms etc. which could be implemented in ways that do not move the upper floors so far further up. They have made a virtue of necessity (in as much as it is ever necessary to build this kind of hideous monument to obscene wealth inequality).
RedditSkippy on July 11st, 2019 at 13:50 UTC »
Mechanical voids to get extra height to the building. City zoning regulations just put restrictions on them.
https://ny.curbed.com/2019/4/10/18304673/nyc-cpc-votes-to-close-mechanical-void-loophole
rhaikh on July 11st, 2019 at 14:39 UTC »
This YouTube channel is super cool, they’ve talked about this building several times. Here is a video dedicated to it: https://youtu.be/HOFD2hGI7Wk