Vertical Europe

I Introduction 1 Point of departure, research question "Skyscrapers are in again" proclaimed the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper in 2009, reporting on The Invention of the European Tower, an exhibition at the Pavillon de l'Arsenal in Paris (Zitzmann 2009). Though its fortunes have changed over the years, the high-rise plays a prominent role in current debates about urbanity, urban development, and architecture, and it is a conspicuous feature of the modern cityscape. More high-rises have been built worldwide over roughly the past twenty years than ever before (Museum für Gestaltung Zürich and Janser 2011; Matzig 2017; Wood 2010). Particularly in Asia-and especially China and the Gulf region-metropolises are shooting toward the sky. But such projects are multiplying in Europe, too-where, with the exception of Frankfurt, most city centers have long lacked high-rises, with vertical accents being placed mainly by steeples, chimneys, and the towers of town halls. Now even small cities in rural regions are developing high-rise concepts and introducing measures to promote the construction of tall buildings (Ackermann 2011). This move toward a more verticalized cityscape is highly controversial, however. Opinions are sharply divided as to how high-rise architecture can or should be implemented in European cities. High-rise debates usually revolve not just around individual building projects but, more fundamentally, around questions of "desirable" urbanity and power in urban spaces. Vertical construction involves conflicts of interest and goes hand in hand with a variety of promises and difficulties. When the talk turns to high-rise construction today, references to population growth and the increasing urbanization of social life are usually not far behind. The stacking of space is supposed to generate additional room and put a stop to urban sprawl. Vertical construction is often billed as a strategy for preserving green areas and open spaces-a truly modernist leitmotif

IIntroduction7 1Point of departure, research question7 2Research design-Methodological approach, empirical material11 3Structure of the study16 IITheoretical points of reference19 1Simmel's concept of "spatial form" as a starting point19 2Tracing urban specificity20 3City, globalization, fields of observation34 4Architecture as "built society"38 5Contours of sociological high-rise research46 IIIVertical construction between globalized patterns and local specificity-Case studies of European metropolises53 1Formative constellations, translation dynamics53 2Paris62 2.1A ring road as a picture frame64 2.2"Delanoë a plus d'une tour dans son sac"77 2.3Opposing voices84 2.4 Images of Paris and the fixation on beauty88 2.5Omnipresent London and distance from the city's own history93 3London99 3.1The "patchwork" principle and an extraterritorial, surveilled center102 3.2Verticalization as a tour de force-Building practice and justifications111 3.3"The skyline of London is out of control"-Unease in the verticalized city120 3.4Global city, hierarchical interpretation, and dissociation from "the Continent"124 4Vienna129 4.1Fragile refortification of the center and the Danube as a social boundary134 4.2"Vienna is growing again"-Where high-rises (still) promise modernity143 4.3Cat-and-mouse games with UNESCO-Critique of Viennese building practice154 4.4Images of the city-Vienna between morbidity and regained centrality159 4.5Dominant East-West axis of perspective163 IVForms of use and symbolism of tall buildings167 1Local production of meaning-High-rises and urban specificity167 2The role and perception of "iconic" architects173 3"Monsters of the mere market"-High-rises, capitalism, and the logic of one-upmanship178 4Conclusion180 Notes183 Bibliography219 Acknowledgments251

Andrea Glauser ist Professorin für Kulturwissenschaft am Institut für Kulturmanagement und Gender Studies an der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien.