No. of Recommendations: 2
This is engineering. Apparently, if steps are not taken, a high rise condo in NYC is in danger of falling down. Lots of cracks and spalled concrete already. And at least some people involved aren't willing to entertain what will fix it because it will change "the look" of the building. Sure, I get that may not be ideal. But sometimes you simply have to accept that what you want isn't going to work. It all started because they wanted pure white concrete, which meant changing the formulation of the concrete. It, apparently, is weaker than gray concrete that we all know and love.
nytimes.com - Park avenue condo towerBut unlike many other supertall towers that are tiered or taper toward the top, 432 Park is rectangular, making it less aerodynamic.
The developers believed that their boxy design would work, thanks to a series of open-air floors that allow wind to pass through.
But the rapid appearance of cracks, the emergence of new ones and past breakdowns in the counterweight system all point to the building facing unexpected stress from wind, said Scott Chen, a forensic engineer in Melbourne, Australia, who studied the building. 