{{Shortshort description|Tall building; as opposed to a low-rise building}}

{{Redirect2redirect2|High-rise|Tower Block||High Rise (disambiguation){{!}}High Rise|and|Tower Block (film)}}

{{Distinguishdistinguish|Skyscraper}}

High-rise buildings became possible to construct with the invention of the [[elevator]] (lift) and with less expensive, more abundant building materials. The materials used for the [[structural system]] of high-rise buildings are [[reinforced concrete]] and [[steel]]. Most [[North American]]–style [[skyscraper]]s have a [[steel frame]], while residential blocks are usually constructed of concrete. There is no clear difference between a tower block and a skyscraper, although a building with forty or more stories and taller than {{convert|150|m|ft}} is generally considered a skyscraper.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/547956/skyscraper|title=skyscraper |work=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=19 September 2012}}</ref>

High-rise structures pose particular design challenges for [[Structural engineering|structural]] and [[Geotechnical engineering|geotechnical]] engineers, particularly if situated in a [[seismic activity|seismically active]] region or if the underlying soils have geotechnical risk factors such as high [[compressibility]] or [[bay mud]]. They also pose serious challenges to firefighters during emergencies in high-rise structures. New and old building design, building systems likesuch as the building [[Standpipe (firefighting)|standpipe]] system, [[HVAC]] systems (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), [[fire sprinkler]] systemsystems, and other things likesuch as stairwell and [[elevator]] evacuations pose significant problems. Studies are often required to ensure that pedestrian [[Wind engineering#Wind comfort|wind comfort]] and wind danger concerns are addressed. In order to allow less wind exposure, to transmit more daylight to the ground and to appear more slender, many high-rises have a design with [[Setback (architecture)|setbacks]].

* [[Emporis]] defines a high-rise as "A multi-story structure between {{convert|35–100|m}} tall, or a building of unknown height from 12–39 floors."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070818012446/http://standards.emporis.com/?nav=realestate&lng=3&esn=18727 Data Standards: high-rise building (ESN 18727)], Emporis Standards. Accessed online 16 October 2009.</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 residential tower block with its typical [[concrete construction]] areis 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.

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 in 2005 to carry out a 20-year process of demolition and replacement of dwellings with modern houses in the [[Aylesbury Estate]] in Southsouth 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.co.uk/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>

'''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.

[[Housing in Japan]] includes various traits coming from different eras. The word ''[[danchi]]'' now either means an employer-provided housing or has a meaning similar to "[[Public housing|projects]]". For modern hi-rises, there are two [[wasei-eigo|borrowed]] words to make a distinction:

* a large, modern apartment would be a "''Mansion''" (マンション). The "mansion" nickname is used for both residential towers and for individual condominium apartments (for being roomy, spacey enough to compare to detached houses).

}}</ref> Seoul proper is noted for its [[population density]], eight times greater than [[Rome]], though less than [[Manhattan]] and [[Paris]]. Its metropolitan area is the densest in the [[OECD]].<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Hankyoreh|url=http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/393438.html|title=Seoul ranks highest in population density among OECD countries|date=15 December 2009}}</ref>

{{Seesee also|Panelák|Plattenbau}}

Tower blocks in Northern Ireland were never built to the frequency as in cities on the island of [[Great Britain]], but taller high -rises are generally more common than in the Republic of Ireland. Most tower blocks and flat complexes are found in [[Belfast]], although many of these have been demolished since the 1990s and replaced with traditional [[socialSocial housing|public housing units]]. The mid-rise Divis flats complex in west Belfast was built in between 1968 and 1972. It was demolished in the early 1990s asafter the residents demanded new houses due to mounting problems with thetheir flats. [[Divis Tower]], built separately in 1966, still stands, however; and in 2007 work began to convert the former British Army base at the top two floors into new dwellings. [[Divis Tower]] was for several decades Ireland's tallest residential building, having since being surpassed by the privately owned [[Obel Tower]] in the city centre. In the north of the city, the iconic seven-tower complex in the [[New Lodge, Belfast|New Lodge]] remains, although so too the problems that residents face, such as poor piping and limited sanitation. Farther north, the four tower blocks in [[Rathcoole (Belfast)|Rathcoole]] dominate the local skyline, while in south Belfast, the tower blocks in Seymour Hill, Belvoir &and [[Finaghy]] remain standing.

Most of the aforementioned high -rise flats in the city were built by the [[Northern Ireland Housing Trust]] (NIHT) as part of overspill housing schemes, the first such development being the pair of point blocks in East Belfast's [[Cregagh]] estate. These eleven-story towers were completed in 1961 and were the first tall council housing blocks on the island of Ireland.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Glendinning|first1=Miles|last2=Muthesius|first2=Stefan|year=1994|title=Tower Block: Modern Public Housing in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland|publisher=Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art|isbn=9780300054446|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWuBQgAACAAJ|page=288}}</ref> The NIHT also designed the inner city Divis Flats complex. The six -to -eight story-storey deck -access flats that comprised most of the Divis estate were of poor build quality and were all demolished by the early 1990s.{{sfnp|Glendinning|Muthesius|1994|page=367}} Similar slab blocks were built by the NIHT in East Belfast (Tullycarnet) and Derry's [[Bogside]] area, all four of which have been demolished.

[[Belfast Corporation]] constructed seven tower blocks on the former Victoria Barracks site in the New Lodge district. While the Corporation built some [[mid-rise]] flats as part of [[Slum clearance in the United Kingdom|slum clearance]] schemes (most notably the now demolished Unity Flats and the 'Weetabix Flats in the Shankill area), New Lodge wouldwas be theirits only high -rise project in the inner city; there withwere three more in outlying areas of the city during the 1960s, two being in Mount Vernon in North Belfast and one being in the [[Clarawood]] estate, East Belfast. The [[Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast|Royal Hospital]] built three thirteen-story towers for use as staff accommodation, prominently located adjacent to the M2 Motorway at Broadway. Belfast City Hospital also constructed a high -rise slab block which since privatisation has been named Bradbury Court, formerly known as Erskine House. Queens University Belfast built several eleven storey towers at theirits Queens Elms student accommodation. Of the three sixteen-story point blocks of [[Larne]] Borough Council in the late 1960s, only one remains.<ref>Riverdale Flats, Larne (1) http://www.geograph.ie/photo/2313893</ref>

In Canada, large [[multi-family buildings]] are usually known as ''apartment buildings'' or ''apartment blocks'' if they are rented from one common landowner, or ''condominiums'' or ''condo towers'' if each dwelling unit is individually owned; they may be called ''low-rise'' (or ''walk-up''), ''mid-rise'', ''high-rise'', or ''skyscraper'' depending on their height. Tall residential towers are a staple building type in all large cities. Their relative prominence in Canadian cities varies substantially, however. In general, more populated cities have more high-rises than smaller cities, due to a relative scarcity of land and a greater demand for housing.

In the United States, tower blocks are commonly referred to as "midrise" or "highrise apartment buildings", depending on their height, while buildings that house fewer flats (apartments), or are not as tall as the tower blocks, are called "lowrise apartment buildings". Specifically, "midrise" buildings are as tall as the streets are wide, allowing five hours of sunlight on the street.<ref>{{cite web|title=Avenues and Mid-Rise Buildings Study|url=http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=7238036318061410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD|website=City of Toronto|access-date=15 February 2016}}</ref>

The government's experiments in the 1960s and 70s1970s to use high-rise apartments as a means of providing the housing solution for the poor broadly resulted in failure. Made in the [[tower in the park]] style, all but a few high-rise [[Public housing|housing projects]] in the nation's largest [[city|cities]], such as [[Cabrini–Green]] and [[Robert Taylor Homes]] in Chicago, [[Penn South]] in Manhattan, and the [[Desire Projects]] in [[New Orleans]], fell victim to the "[[ghetto]]fication" and are now being torn down, renovated, or replaced. Another example is the former [[Pruitt–Igoe]] complex in [[St. Louis]], torn down in the 1970s.

Deck access is a type of flat that is accessed from a walkway that is open to the elements, as opposed to flats that are accessed from fully enclosed internal corridors. Deck -access blocks of flats are usually fairly low-rise structures. The decks can vary from simple walkways, which may be covered or uncovered, to decks wide enough for small vehicles. The best -known example of deck-access flats in the UK is [[Park Hill, Sheffield]], where the decks are wide enough to allow electric vehicles; however, the design is inspired by French Modernist architect [[Le Corbusier]], particularly his [[UniteUnité Dd'Habitationhabitation]] in [[MarseillesMarseille]].<ref>BBC 'English Heritage' documentary about Park Hill flats.</ref>

[[File:Brocker 000308 173001 518483 4578 (36776424576).jpg|thumb|An apartment with a [[pergola]] and [[solar panel]]s in [[the Bronx]], [[New York City]]]]