Developers are calm about this trend, despite the fact that the presence of at least a small open terrace or balcony has always attracted buyers of apartments in big cities. But ever since Ludwig Mies van der Rohe used a curtain glass wall for the residential towers of Lake Shore Drive 860-880 in Chicago (1949-1951), the idea of a completely sleek façade for an expensive residential building has gained more and more supporters among the designers. But since the elegant exterior of the building can also serve as a lure for potential tenants, developers do not oppose this trend.
Hani Rashid, head of the Asymptote workshop in New York, believes that even the very word "balcony" is out of date. In his design for an 8-storey 20-apartment apartment building at 166 Perry Street in New York, he used fly-away walls: the solid, floor-to-ceiling glazing of the outside wall of his building's living room can be completely removed with the push of a button. Rashid admits that it is very pleasant to be able to leave the apartment for fresh air, without being among the street noise and hustle and bustle; but balconies, in his opinion, are more often used by residents for storing bicycles and for growing indoor plants, which greatly spoils the appearance of buildings.
Sometimes the balcony is simply not suitable for specific climates: Helmut Yan's 37-story Veer Towers, which will soon appear in the center of Las Vegas, lack such details due to the strong winds characteristic of the Nevada desert. The problem of air currents that can carry furniture off the balcony and create unpleasant sensations for a person is also relevant for very tall buildings anywhere in the world.
At the same time, the balcony can block the view from the window of your own apartment, or the apartment from below. And as compensation for the lack of "external" area of the apartment, buyers are offered an enlarged bathroom or dressing room.
Jean Nouvel's two Manhattan apartment buildings - 40 Mercer Street and 100 Elevens Avenue - also lack balconies, but the innovative panoramic glazing of the apartments in these buildings has made them very popular despite the high prices.
However, there are also compromise options. Richard Mayer in On Prospect Park (also in New York) balconies are covered with greenish glass panels, giving the impression of a sleek façade. The very appearance of such a solution proves that the functional role of the balcony has not yet been fully played, which means that it is still too early to attribute this architectural element to the signs of yesterday.
