 After a week in Paris with my New Years Eve comrades, it was time to part ways, some for Germany, others for various other parts of France. For me, it was off to the Benelux region, (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxombourg, but no Luxombourg…) Continue reading Europe Trip 11-12 – Within Benelux, but without the lux…  Bonne Année once again!  La bonne année!!! from Paris! Okay, after watching a documentary a while ago, it got me thinking, what are the 10 most recognisable landmarks in the world? Now, the documentary I watched was “Megastructures – The World’s Tallest Hotel”, where it documents the construction of the Burj Al Arab, located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (You know, the one that looks like a big sail and is currently only one of two hotels in the world to earn a 7 star status?) In that documentary, the designer for the building had to design an icon. A building or structure, that when drawn with a few simple lines, is instantly recognisable. (I am going only by man-made here) The architect of the Burj Al Arab gave three examples of landmarks that have achieved “icon” status. These were: The Pyramids in Egypt, The Sydney Opera House in Australia, and The Eiffel Tower in France. I did a few google searches to see what else could be on this “icon” list, and I ran into this forum located on skyscrapercity.com. Many arguments going around as to what should be on the top three list. After looking a few pages into this thread, it is clear that many people believe that these two are definiately on this list: Eiffel Tower, and The Statue of Liberty. Many other suggestions being thrown around were Big Ben, Taj Mahal, The Great Wall of China, Empire State Building, The Colosseum, Tiananmen Square and St. Basil’s Cathedral (The big red castle like building in Moscow, Russia). Although, almost undisputedly, this image is recognisable pretty much everywhere and by everyone… This list of ten most recognisable landmarks is pretty good and I could agree with this list: Great Pyramids, Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House, Taj Mahal, Saint Basil’s Cathedral, The Colosseum, Big Ben, Statue of Christ the Redeemer, Golden Gate Bridge and The Great Wall of China. This list of course doesn’t match what everyone says, but when you go up to a reasonably educated person, you show them pictures of those landmarks, chances are, they would know, if not all, most of them and identify what country they belong to as well. I would like to know what you think, so if you want to suggest anything, comment here. Note that this was a post from my blog at an older location: Posted July 28 2008
Circumstances were different in 1997, as the initial design was to have a 460 metre high building with 95 storeys, which upon completion, would have been the tallest building in the world. The architects, Kohn Pedersen Fox, had to come up with a new design to rival Tapei 101. The solution was to add 6 extra floors to the building, but that could not have been achieved, as the foundations that had already been placed were only built to hold a 95 storey building. Their solution was simple, and used the same, modular design, as used in the World Trade Centers that once stood in New York City. Essentaily, they’d have a series of 12 storey buildings stacked on top of each other. More problems aroused when a newspaper published an article about the initial design for circular void, and how the Japanese were making there mark on China. (Mori Building Co. being Japanese) KPF’s solution was to create a trapezoidal void instead and place a “hovering” observation deck through the void. The SWFC was only completed about a week ago, Sources from “Skyscrapers” by Herbert Wright (Published by Parragon, 2008) and the documentary “Megastructures: Shanghai Super Tower”. |
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The Shanghai World Financial Center, (SWFC) a building that stands 492 metres high, it is the world’s third tallest building located in China’s largest city, Shanghai. (Taipei 101 is second, and the Burj Dubai is first even though it is still under construction) Like the Taipei 101, it too, also has 101 floors but falls short 17 metres in height because of 101’s spire. The adjacent Jin Mao Tower is the world’s sixth tallest building and stands at 421 metres and has 88 storeys. Construction of the SWFC started in 1997 but the developers (Mori Building Corporation) were hit by the Asian Financial Crisis and construction didn’t resume again, until 2003.
although it’s interior is still yet to be completed. The official opening ceremony for the building I believe is to be early September, after Beijing’s Olympic Games. Once opened to the public, the building will have the highest public observation deck in the world at 474 metres high, while Taipei 101’s top floor is only 449 metres. Elevators that take you to various floors go at 10m/s and some run along the building’s edge. The SWFC is China’s tallest building, but Shanghai’s council and architects have plans for an even taller 580 metre tower called the Shanghai Center. Recently, the design was won by architects Gensler and their “Dragon” design. Construction of the Shanghai Center has already started and is foretasted to be completed by 2012.
