A New View of High-Rise Living

Living in the city, space is hard to come by and expensive. We had to convert our living room into a play area for the girls as we feel guilty they don't have enough space. Also, we seriously considered moving as we are not allowed to have a dog in our condo. All kids should grow up with a dog!

Submitted by Brina Bunt

By Penny Munoz

The New York Times is celebrating life in high-rises in a visual, interactive, online documentary called “A Short History of the Highrise.” The four-part documentary highlights the historical evolution through a collection of interactive archives.

The site includes a touching compilation of photographs, titled “Your Stories of Life in High-Rises,” which have been submitted by high-rise residents around the globe including: the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Asian Pacific.

Each photo includes a short description, providing the contributor with freedom of expression and creative liberty that breathes distinct life and emotion into every individual photograph. The entries powerfully depict the lifestyles of high-rise living in a thought-provoking experience that welcomes strangers into each other’s homes and lives.

While exemplifying architectural expertise from country to country, the photographs also illustrate the disparity between luxury and poverty in every part of the world. Following the fingertips of affluent first world infants on the window panes of their professionally decorated bedrooms, to the views of stray cats resting outside the windowsills of public housing, each photo sheds beauty into these lives in unique ways.

Depending on the route you take on the site, you can navigate by theme for a tour of the breathtaking peaks of Chinese cityscapes, the historical progression of city life in Europe, or a view of the contrast between high-rise and street level living in New York City. You can see the sunrise or sunset from the balconies of Sao Paulo and witness the fury of storms that light up the sky in Mumbai. Welcoming you into their everyday lives, you can see pictures of people’s pets adapting to the urban lifestyle, see the view from the rooms of children or browse the diversity of interior decorating between them all.

Entries from Toronto and Mississauga offer our online neighbours insight on our own urban experiences, including the everyday grocery struggle; carrying far too many items just to make one trip from the garage to the 18th floor (you know you’ve done it!)

A photo of the ‘Monroe’ towers shows a sinister storm moving in on the Mississauga sky. With so much culture and character, diversity and art in the city, it would be interesting to see what else contributors from our community could upload… If all else fails, doesn’t anyone have a cute cat they can photograph on the balcony of a Maple Leaf Square apartment?

More than just a collection of photographs, the site’s unique ability to evoke passion through each entry gives the documentary immeasurable value to viewers and contributors. Each photograph tells a story, the captions allow the viewer to feel the climate of that high-rise apartment, celebrating the authenticity of high-rise dwelling.

To see the photos, click here!