If you believe the prophets of our urban future, we could all be living and
working in towering skyscrapers come the middle of next century. It’s just as
well, then, that somebody is trying to make them pleasant places to be. The
Skyscraper Bioclimatically Considered by Ken Yeang (Academy Group, £29.95,
ISBN 1 85490 431 0) is really a design guide for architects of the highest
risers, but contains visions of new communities in the sky that boggle the
brains of lay readers. Everything from the effects of wind and sunshine to the
number of car parks and elevators is covered in an accessible fashion, and
beautifully illustrated—although the technical diagrams may puzzle
some.
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
The world's fastest spider tops 3.5 metres per second
2
Babies are born with the neural foundations for maths
3
Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse
4
The race to understand how and when Thwaites glacier will collapse
5
Our verdict on The Selfish Gene: An unpopular piece of popular science
6
We’ve uncovered a master gene that switches on human development
7
Humans sleep the least of all apes – is it the secret to our success?
8
US government wants to have a useful quantum computer by 2028
9
The most detailed survey of the universe ever conducted starts now
10
I’m the first person whose life was saved by CRISPR base editing



