From Icons to Ecosystems: Rethinking the High-Rise with Antony Wood

Why do we need to keep building skyscrapers and what separates them marvels or monstrosities?Dr. Antony Wood, one of the world’s foremost experts on tall buildings, reveals why cities go vertical, what drives the global icon race, and how most towers fall short. From skybridges and carbon-sequestering timber to the 5% of skyscrapers that actually work, this conversation reimagines the high-rise as more than a symbol, but rather as a system for living, density, and urban ambition.Subscribe to Most Podern on:Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/3zYvX2lRZOpHcZW41WGVrpApple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/most-podern-podcast/id1725756164Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@MostPodernInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/most.podernLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/most-podernKeywordsskyscrapers, tall buildings, vertical urbanism, sustainable architecture, high-rise design, mass timber construction, urban density, carbon emissions, skybridges, public space in cities, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, Antony Wood, CTBUH, skyline architecture, mixed-use towers, high-rise housing, vertical infrastructure, future of cities, architectural sustainability, iconic skyscrapersChapters00:00 – Welcome + Guest Intro01:00 – Why Do We Build Tall?04:50 – Does Density Mean Height?07:20 – 94% of Skyscrapers Built After 200008:20 – Why Asia Builds Higher11:20 – The Global Icon Race13:40 – Vertical Access & Skybridges16:30 – How We First Built Tall18:00 – The Skyscraper Problem: 95% Are Bad21:20 – What the Best 5% Get Right24:30 – Defining 'Tall' (And 'Supertall')27:30 – Why the U.S. Isn’t Building the Tallest Anymore29:40 – The Shift from Office to Mixed-Use31:45 – What Singapore Got Right34:30 – Mass Timber: A Building Revolution38:10 – The Roadblocks to Mass Timber41:00 – Rethinking Land, Forests, and Verticality42:15 – Antony’s Top 5 Tall Buildings46:20 – How Height Changes Human Experience51:00 – Fighting NIMBYism with Better Towers53:40 – The Future of Tall Buildings56:00 – Where to Follow Dr. Antony Wood56:56 – What Moment Are We In?LinksDr. Antony Wood: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antony-wood/Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CUTBUH): https://www.ctbuh.org/

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The podcast about the Built Environment, with the minds shaping it, for the people living in it. Why does the built environment feel broken — and what would it take to fix it? Most Podern is about how the built world really works. We dig into the systems shaping architecture, urbanism, housing, and public spaces, and talk with the people actually building change: architects, planners, developers, and urban thinkers.