Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2003
Sky High: Vertical Architecture
Exhibition curators
Norman Foster, with Chris Abel and MaryAnne Stevens
"Significantly, where skyscrapers once consumed enormous amounts of the fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases, they are now increasingly designed to minimize energy consumption and will in future also generate a growing share of their own power from renewable sources. Many architects and urbanists now regard tall buildings not so much as forms created in opposition to nature, as they were once perceived, but as essential elements in a sustainable or ecologically friendly strategy for urban design. In particular, they are seen as an important part of the solution to out-of-control urban growth in both the developed and developing world, where the combination of vast megacities and a chronic shortage of open land is critical."
Chris Abel, from the exhibition book
