The German Architecture Museum awards the International Highrise Award every two years. This year, Benjamín Romano won with his “Torre Reforma” in Mexico City. However, the prize also attracts criticism, most recently from Stefan Forster in the “Welt” newspaper. We asked museum director Peter Cachola Schmal why he still thinks building vertically is […]

The German Architecture Museum awards the International Highrise Award every two years. This year, Benjamín Romano won with his “Torre Reforma” in Mexico City. However, the prize also attracts criticism, most recently from Stefan Forster in the “Welt” newspaper. We asked museum director Peter Cachola Schmal why he still considers vertical construction to be relevant.

Baumeister: Mr. Cachola Schmal, do you believe that building upwards has a future in urban areas?

Peter Cachola Schmal: The high-rise building is the building form of the future. Only vertical construction will use less space. In all the dynamically growing cities of the world, this growth will only be possible vertically; further expansion is out of the question if we want to keep these metropolises under control. Due to rapid population growth, the largest cities in the world will be in Africa in the future, and the Nigerian city of Lagos could become the frontrunner with up to 100 million inhabitants. Of course, Europe will not grow as dynamically as Africa or East and Southeast Asia, although we will also have to contend with strong population growth here – mainly due to migration. Vertical structures could be a potential solution here. On the other hand, we have not yet found an answer to the phenomenon of vertical cash investments – i.e. high-rise buildings that are primarily used for luxury residential units. This justifiably generates criticism, because uninhabited residential towers like those in London cannot benefit the city. We will have to deal with this issue more, especially in Frankfurt, and find tax or legal answers to it.

The Highrise Award attracts a great deal of media interest, but sometimes also criticism. Why is it still in keeping with the times?

Only a few high-rise buildings over 100 meters are built here in Europe, so some might consider it an irrelevant building form for us. What is exciting, however, is that half of the 36 nominations worldwide this year were designed by European architects. This means that our architects definitely have global relevance. They also plan with European specialist engineers and products. So we benefit from global development. In this respect, the search for the best and most innovative solutions is even in our own interests. And we are drawing attention to developments in the most advanced metropolitan areas that will also reach us a few years later, such as hybrid mixed-use developments.

Some participants in the debate emphasize that high-rise buildings will not solve the problems of affordable housing. Is the price being misunderstood here?

Unfortunately, this urgent question is rarely answered in terms of design, whether in low-rise or high-rise construction, here or elsewhere. In this respect, the high-rise price is the wrong addressee. Affordable housing is very important to us and we are addressing it with another, more targeted competition, the “Housing for All” competition. The winning project will also be built. But even in high-rise construction, sometimes something surprising happens in this area. Last time, we awarded a special prize for social housing to the city of Singapore, which demonstrated in three experimental projects how it is possible to build 1,000 apartments for families in large complexes in a humane and climate-friendly way, which were also impressive in terms of design.

Why do the Germans in particular have such a hard time with the type of high-rise building?

Unfortunately, we Germans are not only struggling with high-rise construction at the moment. A melancholy and a new desire for doom is spreading in this country, even though – or precisely because – we are in the best economic situation we have ever had. We are completely convinced that the future will not be any better for our children. A wave of restoration and clinging is making itself felt, architecture is consequently becoming more conservative, we demand security and no experiments. What’s more, high-rise living in Germany is still mainly associated with the large social housing estates of the 1970s. Nobody wants to go back there. Now, at the other end of the spectrum, there is expensive high-rise living, which generates downright envy. Neither suits us. The digital technological challenge is hardly being recognized, let alone tackled, and instead the venerable “European city” is to be cemented. We have lost a positive view of the future. But this is what all major construction projects stand for – a legacy for the future. Where in Germany are new airport terminals, new major ports, new infrastructure hubs, new satellite cities currently being built, where are we tackling the challenges?

Peter Cachola Schmal, born in Altötting in 1960, has been Director of the German Architecture Museum (DAM) in Frankfurt am Main since April 2006. The “Best Highrises 2018/19” exhibition is currently running here, presenting the winning projects of the Highrise Award.