Architect
country:USA
website: www.ctbuh.org/People/AntonyWood/tabid/141/language/en-GB/Default.aspx
Bio
Antony Wood has been Executive Director of the CTBUH since 2006, responsible for the day-to-day running of the Council and steering in conjunction with the Board of Trustees, of which he is an ex-officio member. Prior to this, he was CTBUH Vice-Chairman for Europe and Head of Research. His tenure has seen a revitalization of the CTBUH and an increase in output and initiatives across all areas.
Based at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Antony is also an Associate Professor in the College of Architecture at IIT, where he convenes various tall building design studios. A UK architect by training, his field of specialism is the design, and in particular the sustainable design, of tall buildings. Prior to joining the Council and IIT, Antony was an Associate Professor/Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Nottingham in the UK from 2001–2006, where he ran the third and fifth year programs respectively, and was an active member of various research teams. The design research output of his various academic collaborations can be seen here; at the Illinois Institute of Technology and University of Nottingham. Whilst at Nottingham, he also founded the Tall Buildings Teaching and Research Group.
Prior to becoming an academic, Antony worked as an architect in practice in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and the UK, between 1991–2001. It was during this time that he developed his passion for, and professional background in, tall buildings. Tall Buildings/large projects he has been involved in these countries include the £120 million, 11 No. mixed office/residential tower project of SV City, Bangkok (completed 1995), the £70 million 4 No. 44-story condominia project of Kuningan Persada, Jakarta (1997) and the prestigious £200 million Kuala Lumpur Central International Railway Terminal, Malaysia (completed 2001).
He is the author of numerous book and papers in the field of tall buildings, sustainability and related areas, some of which are highlighted below. He is an associate editor of two journals: the CTBUH Journal, and the Journal of the "The Structural design of Tall and Special Buildings", produced by John Wiley & Sons, He was also editor of the two CTBUH special editions of this latter journal produced in 2007 and 2008. Antony has been Conference Chair and/or chair of the scientific committee at several recent CTBUH conferences: including Mumbai (2010), Chicago (2009), Dubai (2008), Chicago (2006) and New York (2005). He has also presented at numerous conferences, and regularly lectures, around the world.
Antony is Chair of the CTBUH Tall Buildings and Sustainability working group, a member of the CTBUH Height Committee, and a member of the CTBUH Awards Committee. He has previously worked on research projects/proposals in conjunction with Arup, the University of Greenwich Fire Safety Engineering Group, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Department of Building Services Engineering and the US-based National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He has supervised numerous PhD students.
He is currently engaged in several books, including "The CTBUH Guide to Sustainability for Tall Buildings in Urban Environments"; "The Encyclopedia of the Skyscraper"; "New Paradigms in High Rise Design"; and "Pavements in the Sky: The Use of the Skybridge in Tall Buildings". Antony contributes regularly to media outlets and has given many media interviews.
Photo credits:
Photos 1, 5 + profile ©Antony Wood
Photos 2, 3, 4 ©CTBUH
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Interview Date: 22-11-2010
Our mission is to study and report on all aspects of the planning, design, construction and operation of tall buildings. As such we organize conferences and congresses, publish a quarterly magazine, maintain a terrific Web site and a buildings database, maintain a vast network of tall buildings developments, teach tall buildings studio’s and many many other things. An extensive overview of what we do can be found on our Web site at www.ctbuh.org.
High Rise buildings play a major role in the shaping of a city’s skyline. How can a tall building or a group of tall buildings affect the icon and the daily life of city? Do tall buildings, as landmarks, contribute to the tourism of a city?
Our home base Chicago is a perfect example of a city which sells itself as a City of Architecture. And it truly is. There are not that many cities in the world in which you can read many decades of architectural styles just by walking around a few blocks in the city centre. It has a very active Architecture Foundation organizing many walking tours and even boat tours, which are often listed as the #1 thing to do while in town. Also, the skyline of Chicago is often being used as a backdrop on advertisements and even in logo’s of companies. As such, the skyline is a great selling point of the city of Chicago.
Since Frank Lloyd Wright’s utopian design for the Mile High Skyscraper a lot of progress has been made. Before the world financial crisis and the completion of Burj Khalifa, there had been serious plans for a super-tall building more than 1km high. Do you think that a building in such great heights is financially efficient and morally right?
Tall buildings represents a piece of the office and residential market which is willing to pay a premium for features like views, location, amenities and an iconic address. Developing supertall buildings presents a certain risk as often it is very difficult to assess the construction costs beforehand. However, most supertall projects create great indirect gains by representing the city or even the country as an icon. An example of indirect gains is the airtime that the opening of the Burj Khalifa created on the world stage. It represents Dubai as a whole as the ultimate luxury travel destination, both for pleasure and business.
CTBUH is continuously expanding in Asia and India. Do you believe that these two rapidly growing markets can reverse the global financial economic crisis and which way can this be done?
Although the development of tall buildings is certainly tied into global economics, this topic is a bit out of the scope of what we are doing. I could only guess how Asian economic development will influence the global financial situation. For us it is just fascinating to see that the economic development of certain Asian markets seems to go hand in hand with a growing urbanization, and a vast development of tall buildings in its wake.
In recent years attention turns to green urban regeneration. Do you think that it is imperative for the city or it’s just a new fashion with economic outcomes and covertly interests?
The green movement in (tall) buildings is about doing things more sensible than we have done in the past. It’s part of a growing awareness that resources are not inexhaustible and that as a whole, we’re using more resources than the earth can sustain in the long run as reflected by the ecological footprint. As tall buildings are very visible elements in the urban landscape and as such have the ability to set the example, we think the role and impact of tall buildings on the urban environment is a major concern. Tall buildings and sustainability can take shape on a very practical level, where you look at the building materials, or use smart technologies which bring down the usage of energy or even create it. But we also examine the level of creating urban densities and as such minimize on transport tall buildings have a role to play.
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