SCULPTING SKY THE LINE

ARE AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL HIGH-RISES EXPERIENCING A PIVOTAL RESET? WRITER AND NEW YORKER STEPHEN WALLIS EXPLORES AN EARLY-CENTURY SWING TOWARD TRADITIONALISM, PREWAR DETAILING, AND ALL-OUT ROMANCE IN TOMORROW'S LANDMARKS.

- STEPHEN WALLIS

THROUGHOUT THE PAST DECADE AND A HALF, New York City's skyline-altering luxury building boom has produced no shortage of eye-catching, unmistakably contemporary landmarks. Some are twisting or gridded or stacked like Jenga blocks, others are sleek and supertall, and nearly all are clad in shimmering expanses of glass (see Hudson Yards). But there is another side to this story.

Amid the futuristic never-seen-that-before, stretching-into the-clouds pyrotechnics, some of the city's most prestigious new apartment high-rises are being designed by architects who unabashedly look to the past. While far from dyed-in-the-wool classicists, these architects are embracing and reinterpreting traditional design language, materials, and craftsmanship in pursuit of a stronger expression of character and a distinctive sense of home in urban buildings. Though it would be an overstatement to declare a full-blown movement, there's no doubt these types of projects have momentum in New York and are beginning to gain traction, selectively, in other American cities.

"Some people explicitly want to be in the newfangled thing, but a lot of others just feel more comfortable in a more traditional setting. People value character and a sense of place," says Peter Pennoyer, one of the leading architects who has designed historically inspired, high-end residential buildings. That list also includes Steven Harris, William Sofield, Lucien Lagrange, and, most prominently, Robert A.M. Stern.