As the world's tallest tower is launched in Chicago, Edel Morgangets high anxiety about life at the top.
On the same day I received a press release from the Sandyford Action Group complaining about the number of "landmark" blocks of 32-storey buildings proposed for the area, Irish developer Garrett Kelleher was throwing a party for the global press in Chicago to launch plans for his 150-storey spire.
Chicagoans, who've had tall buildings since the late 19th century, are probably taking Kelleher's plans for the world's tallest residential skyscraper, at 2,000ft, in their stride (although some are sceptical it will be built given the downturn in the US property market). For those of us who were agog at Sean Dunne's proposal for a 36-storey tower in Ballsbridge, however, it is hard to imagine how people conduct their lives at such soaring altitudes.
Although, in a recent Irish Times readers' poll, 82 per cent said high rise is the future for Dublin, I wonder how high Irish people are really willing to go? Thirty storeys? Fifty storeys? Or 150 storeys perhaps?
A structural engineer recently said in an interview with this paper that we are probably afraid of tall buildings because we haven't really had a chance to experience them in the public realm. I couldn't help imagining how someone like me, who has lived most of their life in two-storey suburbia - and gets vertigo just looking out of the attic window - would fare if given a chance to experience skyscraper life. Perhaps the local authorities should organise for us all to have a stint in a skycraper as part of an ingenious exchange-trip initiative to convert the masses. That way, when come back down to suburbia from 2,000ft, we are less likely to bat an eyelid at teensy weensy 30-storey buildings proposed for Dublin .
Unlike many new apartment developments here, at least when the 1,193 luxury condominiums in the Chicago Spire go on sale in the new year, the estate agent's claims of "unparalleled views" from the penthouse can't be disputed. But will the brochure be completely honest about commuting times to and from the upper floors? Or gloss it over with an all-purpose "within easy reach of local amenities"?
I have some questions about living in a super-tall building. For a start, I'm guessing you'd have be super-organised. Under normal circumstances, arriving home from the supermarket to discover you have forgotten an essential item of the weekly shop can be heartbreaking. But what if you had to commute back down over 100 floors to the lobby, out to the supermarket and back again ? Could it be enough to send you screaming back to the suburbs or might you end up becoming a Howard Hughes-like figure and just stay in? The latter might not be such a bad option in more salubrious developments such as the Chicago Spire, which will have a six star concierge service, cinema, golf simulator, children's entertainment area and a luxury spa.
Living in such a tall building could be useful if only to find out who your real friends are, that is, those who could be bothered to make the journey past the 100th floor to see you. And you might come across fewer good Samaritans willing to bring you right to your door when you've had a skinful.
With children in tow would it be a case of "are we there yet? Are we there yet?" all the way to the top. And what if the lift breaks down? Which I realise is unlikely, as most modern skyscraper buildings have several. But in a worst case scenario, would it be a case of oxygen mask, backpack, and Bovril to negotiate the stairs?
