Stephen avenue in Calgary has some structures that were built to prevent wind gusts between buildings[1]. The street has a lot of foot traffic and that area became windy after the two skyscrapers on either side were constructed. Not sure about the cost to the city, but they're interesting to look at and they seem to achieve their goal.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.google.ca/maps/@51.0456499,-114.0704853,3a,75y,72.01h,104.94t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sFrzPaV8XiAi_NIMsxxL1qQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.ca/maps/@51.0456499,-114.0704853,3a,75y,7...</a>
Las Vegas condo/hotel Vdara, one of the highrises in the City Center development, was designed by the same architect as the Walkie Talkie -- Rafael Viñoly -- and exhibits the same solar convergence phenomenon; affectionately called the 'Vdara Death Ray' [1][2][3].<p>In a 2013 interview with the Guardian [4], he claims there was not much he could do about the Vdara, as the customer specifically wanted an arc-shaped building; in fact the the City Center development has several sweeping arc forms, like in the neighboring Aria -- but the concavity of the Aria's highrises aren't oriented south to converge the midday sun [5], whereas the Vdara aims them right at the pool deck [2].<p>For both Vdara and the Walkie Talkie, he claims to have been aware of the phenomenon going into the design but lacked the ability to correctly calculate the impact. Further, if claims are true, for the Walkie Talkie he said: "(...) the original design of the building had featured horizontal sun louvres on its south-facing facade, but these are believed to have been removed during cost-cutting as the project developed." [4]<p>[1] <a href="https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/vdara-visitor-death-ray-scorched-hair/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/vdara-visitor-death-ray-s...</a>
[2] <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315978/Las-Vegas-hotel-death-ray-leaves-guests-severe-burns.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315978/Las-Vegas-ho...</a>
[3] <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-vdara-death-ray-hotel-is-still-burning-people-in-las-vegas-2016-6" rel="nofollow">http://www.businessinsider.com/the-vdara-death-ray-hotel-is-...</a>
[4] <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/sep/06/walkie-talkie-architect-predicted-reflection-sun-rays" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/sep/06/walkie-...</a>
[5] <a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/36.10834/-115.17640" rel="nofollow">http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/36.10834/-115.17640</a>
I always thought it would be interesting to set up a slightly convex mylar sheet at the base of the Vdara. Perhaps innocently as a 'shade' under the extra sun. The results of which would be an extended Schmidt-Cassegrain type mirror arrangement that would deliver somewhere around 10x the solar insolation into the unfortunate condo at the focal point of the sheet.<p>It would be irresponsible to say the least, and have terrible optics, but it appeals to my darker side.
I used to cycle past the Walkie Talkie building on my daily commute - the draughts were so strong that on windy days it almost took me off my bike. And I have actually seen it knock people over.<p>The worst thing about it though has to be the Skygarden at the top. It was built on some public space, so as part of the agreement, the builders had to include some 'public' space at the top. Unlike most public spaces I've been to however, you have to book in advance, are not allowed in groups over a certain size and have to go through full airport-style security. That's fitting however because when you're up there, the space has all the charm of an airport terminal. And, due to the way the girders are aligned, there's not even much of a view. Which is a stunning achievement really.<p>The best feature has to be the fancy restaurant which takes up most of 'public' space. It's at the top of one of the taller buildings in London, right in the middle of the City and <i>you can't see out</i>.
A popular 1960s mistake was the open-column lobby floor, where the entrance level is smaller than the building above it. The air hitting the building is forced through the open area of the entrance level. This worked out OK in Brasilia, where a breeze was welcome, but it was terrible in cold, windy locations.<p>Embarrassingly, MIT's Green Building was built like that.
I live next to a skyscraper (about 100m tall/330 feet - just barely meets the definition of skyscraper) that channels the wind past itself through this narrow chokepoint.<p>Anyone who rides their bike through the area during even moderate winds is blown off, and when heavy winds pick up the place is truly awesome.<p>I've gone there, covered in poofy jackets so I bounce when I land, and just let myself get blown away. It's tremendously fun. There's a large concrete gap where buses/trams go, maybe the width of a road (maybe 24 feet?) and the wind has picked me up on one side and set me down on another. (Occasionally requires jumping in the air first.) But if I want to get back home? I've got to wait hours, or walk in a large detour around the building.
Software engineering often gets criticized as being so error prone compared to "real" engineering. These buildings demonstrate, that when you combine marketing, egos, a desire for novelty, and ignorance of constraints you can get massive disasters, just like with software.
I think it would be cool to use some of these things deliberately. If you can design the building to generate 80mph winds, why not put a turbine in their path? If the building is going to focus the sun into a "death ray", point it at a Stirling engine.
My favorite one of these in the John Hancock Tower in Boston which had to have its entire facade replaced and was known as the Plywood Palace while the work was underway: <a href="http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/article/2014/07/29/plywood-palace-photograph-1974/" rel="nofollow">http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/article/2014/07/29/plywoo...</a>.<p>Even to this day the winds around the base of the JHT can be obscenely high. I used to walk past it often from Back Bay station to my apartment down Stuart St. and the block it occupies when it lightly rains or snows it feels like a Hurricane vs the blocks immediately before and after it.
Bridgewater Place in Leeds (UK) has had at least one death caused by the wind tunnel effect now and regularly has to have road closures around it when it gets gusty (though living in the UK, at least bad weather isn't often a problem /s)<p>edit: should have read the article before commenting, would you believe this is one of the first examples. Apologies for what turns out to be an entirely unnecessary comment.
The plaza and cathedral of Strasbourg (which you can see at the very beginning of one of the Sherlock Holmes movies starring R. Downey Jr.) has been engineered to channel wind around the cathedral, instilling a devilish, chilling feel and making the cathedral stand out as a safe haven.
> Non-reflective film has since been added, but not before the building earned a new nicknames like “Walkie-Scorchie”<p>You can always count on the Brits for coming up with great names for things.
Another wonderful side effect of the vast concentration of capital! Who cares about the peons outside as long as the CEO gets to be in the tallest building?
The fun bit about this is that some may get the same effect at home from their windows. I know my SW facing windows will reflect little X shapes onto the back lawn and when you cross one they are noticeably hot. it is almost useful in winter<p>So what I am saying is that while some sky scrapers/etc can cause issues its the design/surface of all window surfaces that cause issues. it just is a matter of scale
Doesn't need to be a skyscraper. Similar focus problems with the Disney Hall in Los Angeles:<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Concert_Hall#Reflection_problems" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Concert_Hall#Refle...</a>
The "Grande Arche" in Paris has some glass protection wall to minimize channel winds. Still a very windy place.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Arche" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Arche</a>
Come on.<p>If you have to talk about the cliche skyscraper that cooks eggs everyone knows about, it's not really a story, it's more news, a one off (OK there was also one in Las Vegas)<p>The wind thing is interesting perhaps. Is that an actual engineering issue?