are balconies becoming extinct?

One of my best friends lives on the 23rd floor of a highrise.  His balcony, though somewhat scary to venture out on, offers incredible views of both the city and the mountains beyond.  According to the Washington Post, traditional balconies like his may soon be a thing of the past.

Luckily, something even cooler may be on the horizon.

The word ‘balcony’ in itself is obsolete,” said Hani Rashid, a principal of the New York architecture firm Asymptote.

He used the phrase “fly-away walls” to describe the retractable glass-curtain facade creating terrace-like space that his firm has designed for 166 Perry Street in New York. The 8-story residential conversion of a parking garage into 20 luxury apartments is near one of three glass condominium towers created by Meier in Manhattan’s West Village.

The reason for the switch is also somewhat practical:

Increasingly, luxury properties such as CityCenter’s Veer Towers, twin 37-story buildings designed by Jahn, are dropping the balcony to add value to the interior space of a condo or apartment.

“We’ve made more use of the balcony space in the closet and bathroom, which is more meaningful to the home buyer and gives the exterior face of the building a polished, unobstructed look,” Dennis said. He pointed out that developer MGM Mirage chose not to put balconies on any of the four high-rise buildings, which are expected to house 2,049 condominium units.

Read all about it here.

Technorati Tags: architecture, high rise, high rise living, las vegas condos, new york condos, luxury living, upscale housing