Slight nitpick- there is a very large difference between off site prefabrication and modularity. Modularity is almost always used to the advantage of the builder, while prefabrication is a much more specialized process.

@calidude: I'd promote this if I could

The NYT building was my senior thesis building for engineering.

@deep_fryed: nice avatar.

@Channan: Bingo.

I see that the architect is counting on the long wave IR not going back out the window, thus creating a mini greenhouse effect- but holy cow, what about convection and infiltration losses?

@futurelegend: Well played, sir. Well played.

@the-hq: Agreed. this should have been a <25 minute endeavor

@Fingolfin: Agreed. Eutectic salts were used as a heat storage device (via latent phase change) in buildings for a long time. Too bad a good deal of them corroded through the pouches they were kept in.

@Apoc28: Not if he isn't pulling in a higher volume of water

I think the use of 'prone to shatering due to interior tension' in the article is slightly misleading. This merely implies that it is heat strengthened or fully tempered glass- the type is not the problem, it is the edge protection.

Hands down my favorite building of the last 30 years in Chicago. I'd bet money on there being more concrete cantilevers on the south facing facade to mitigate solar gain, but you cant even notice because of how seamless each floor is.

@Norbs: Color alone impacts the emissivity of the surface, and thus its insulation against radiant heat transfer.

@CSX321: They do, albeit in slightly different form. Instead of a black riser as you described, glass is typically used to allow the radiant heat to pass through into the building itself.

@Anonymoose: Engineering undergrad and first graduate degrees - architecture second graduate degree.

The architect in me thinks this is actually pretty cool from a purely artistic point of view, especially the black and white juxtaposition.