Penthouse Syndrome

There is an undeniable pull to high-rise homes: an intrinsic, almost primal draw to seeing the world from above, to inhabiting a space that holds you aloft, at once contained within its height and unbound by the vastness beyond. Penthouse Syndrome examines this condition, where elevation shapes architecture and the very experience of dwelling. At such heights, space behaves differently; patterns of habitation shift in response to an ever-present horizon. Vertical living alters our relationship with scale, redefining thresholds of access and intimacy. Beyond these considerations, the residences showcased in this volume serve as both inspiration and provocation. They lay bare the intricate negotiations architects and designers undertake to reconcile the structural and emotional complexities of being unmoored from the city below. In doing so, they reveal something fundamental about the nature of domesticity and, more simply, how we long to live.