A view of the Manhattan skyline. Photo © David Sundberg
New York’s iconic skyline has long served as an inspiration for developers and urban planners in East Asia. Now, this creative flow is showing signs of reversing — and Manhattan is becoming increasingly similar to cities like Hong Kong. New-York based architects have built skyscrapers, airports, and public parks in East Asia’s rapidly growing cities. The lessons learned in places like Singapore and Tokyo are finding their way back into new projects in Manhattan. “East Asian cities are good testing ground because people are much more open for experimentation and innovation in many ways,” said architect Mustafa Abadan, a design partner at SOM.