Stefan Al
Stefan Al, is an architect, urban designer, professor and the author of SUPERTALL. As a designer he has worked on masterplans and mixed-use buildings across the globe, including the 2000-feet tall Canton Tower, briefly the world's tallest tower. In addition, he served as an advisor to various city governments and expert to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. SUPERTALL is about the new generation of skyscrapers — why they're here, how they’re made, and what they do to cities and people. Stefan's work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and TED Talks. Over the years, he has published eight books on subjects related to architecture and urban design, which have been widely praised. He is committed to train the next generation of designers, having served as a professor at Virginia Tech, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Hong Kong. A native of The Netherlands, he is a licensed architect in New York. He holds a PhD in urban planning from the University of California, Berkeley.
7 Books Written
Most consumer products come primarily from the Pearl River Delta, the "factory of the world" with the largest industrial region on earth. The delta has attracted millions of poor rural residents to settle in factory towns in hopes for a better life. "Factory Towns of South China" opens a window on these walled compounds, exposing the gritty establishments, crowded dormitories and monotonous labor
The Las Vegas Strip has impersonated the Wild West, with saloon doors and wagon wheels; it has decked itself out in midcentury modern sleekness. It has illuminated itself with twenty-story-high neon signs, then junked them. After that came Disney-like theme parks featuring castles and pirates, followed by replicas of Venetian canals, New York skyscrapers, and the Eiffel Tower. (It might be noted t
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy floods devastated coastal areas in New York and New Jersey. In 2017, Harvey flooded Houston. Today in Miami, even on sunny days, king tides bring fish swimming through the streets in low-lying areas. These types of events are typically called natural disasters. But overwhelming scientific consensus says they are actually the result of human -induced climate change and irre
Supertall: How the World's Tallest Buildings Are Reshaping Our Cities and Our Lives
by Stefan Al
Rating: 3.9 ⭐
We are living in a new urban age, and its most tangible expression is the “supertall”: megastructures that are dramatically bigger, higher, and more ambitious than any in history.Cities around the world are racing to build the first mile-high building, stretching the limits of engineering and design as never before.In this fascinating work of urban history and design, TED r
The Dreams Devourer
by Stefan Al
A day that began seemingly like many others, will turn for Thomas Sharp into an extraordinary adventure in rediscovering himself.Along with the memories however, the newfound memory will bring with it, the terrible revelation of a disturbing, invisible the Dreams Devourer.An exciting journey to the border between dream and reality, rediscovering those values whose importance is too oft
A sweeping history of humanity’s most fundamental creation—the home—and its effects on the land, cities, and people themselves.From tiny pit–houses in the Levant and Mesoamerica thousands of years ago to soaring skyscrapers in Dubai, New York, and Shanghai today, Dwelling on Earth takes readers on a swift and absorbing tour of the evolution of human habi