Aylmer to Zazzoo and Beyond: June 2011

Quite a few posts back, I said we get into the issue of the phenomenal amount of building construction going on in China today.

Just as many of New York City’s (one of my 2 hometowns) most iconic landmarks rose in breathtakingly brief succession a century ago,...


New York City 1931

New York City 2011

Shanghai has been growing faster than anywhere else in the World since the early 1990s, even at one point, a quarter of the world’s cranes were in use there. By contrast to the restrictions and limitations of European and American cities, Shanghai, with its seemingly boundless possibilities has become something of a construction free-for-all, a playground for some of the most celebrated names in architecture. The result has been some of the world’s most ambitious building projects – from China’s next tallest building to brand-new futuristic cities.

The following were chosen as the top 10 of China's Modern Architectural Wonders. (click here for photos and details)

1- The Commune, Beijing

2- International Airport, Beijing

3- World Financial Center, Shanghai

4- National Swimming Center 'Water Cube', Beijing

5- Central Chinese Television CCTV, Beijing

6- Linked Hybrid, Beijing

7- Dongtan Eco City, Dongtan

8- Olympic Stadium 'Bird's Nest', Beijing

9- Donghai Bridge, Shanghai/Yangshan Island

10- National Grand Theater 'The Egg', Beijing

China's tallest building is found in Shanghai. We did not visit Shanghai but here are some photos anyway.

The Oriental Pearl Tower (Chinese: 东方明珠塔; pinyin: Dōngfāng Míngzhūtǎ, Official Name: 东方明珠电视塔) is a TV tower

The Jin Mao Tower used to be the China's tallest building.

It was climbed by the Frenchman, Alain "Spiderman" Robert.

The building's anchor tenant is the five-star, 555-room Shanghai Grand Hyatt hotel which occupies floors 53 to 87

This the Hyatt's famous barrel-vaulted atrium which starts at the 56th floor and extends upwards to the 87th. Lined with 28 annular corridors and staircases arrayed in a spiral. It also has the world's longest laundry chute which runs down the full length of the tower to the basement, and incorporates buffers to slow down the laundry during its descent.

It was the world's highest hotel, in terms of distance above the ground, until the Park Hyatt Shanghai.

was built in the tallest building in China, right next door, the Shanghai World Financial Center 上海(秀仕)环球金融中心.

The original design had a round hole in the top but the final result was a rectangular opening which looks to me like a giant hand grip or bottle opener.

Here a worker puts the finishing touches on the roof of the building.

The World Financial Center boasts the world's highest observation deck.

There are two observation decks (both are shown above).

The 97th floor observation deck has a glass roof.

The 100th floor observation deck has a glass floor.

It is China's tallest building and ranks currently as the third tallest in the world.

Shanghai Tower: China’s Next Tallest Building

Soon the tallest building in China will be added to the Shanghai skyline it is currently under construction. Standing 632m tall, Shanghai Tower will dwarf the neighboring Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center upon completion in 2014

The super-tall, 128-story Shanghai Tower by Gensler, the designers of supertall Burj Dubai, will be, for a moment at least, China's tallest building. It will also be highly green, featuring atriums and lush gardens in the tower, wind turbines on top, and a large green space below. The architect Marshall Strabalakicker claims the tower's highly efficient double glass insulation, the first to be used in a super tall building, will make the spiraling tower “function much like a giant thermos bottle."

For more on Shanghai and its buildings click these links:

more Shanghai here and here and here

If you are interested in more about the tallest buildings in the world click here:
World's Tallest Buildings data base

Below are more buildings from various parts of China.

Originally billed as the world's first “zero energy skyscraper,” the Pearl River Tower (above right) is set to be at least the world's most energy efficient supertall building. Architects SOM began designing with the greenest technologies it could incorporate and then scaled back to meet the right mix of budget and sustainability. In the process, a micro-turbine co-generation plant was nixed (along with the possibility of “zero energy” use). What remains is an innovative wind turbine system built into four tunnels in the building (refined in Chicago's Clean Technology Tower), along with solar built into the facade, automated louvers, and a double skin. Though the building cost $15 million, or 10% more to build than a conventional Chinese skyscraper, the payback time is just under 5 years, say the architects. A radiant cooling system, for instance, meant the architects could remove HVAC equipment, allowing five more floors of rentable space and canceling out the cost of the system. In a larger sense, it's unlikely that the architects' greening efforts will be able to cancel out the impact of the client that will be using the building: the China National Tobacco Company.

Shanghai-Tomorrow Square (left and center)
Bank of China, Hong Kong (right)

Guangdong Olympic Stadium (above) Guangdong Stadium, located in China's third largest city, opened in 2001 and can seat 80,000 to watch soccer and track and field events.

Longgang City Center, Shenzhen, China (center)

Jiushi Tower, Shanghai (left)

The China Millennium Monument (above left)

Bob the Lost Dog Building.

French artist (and G-shock designer) Ricard Aurele's plans a contemporary art museum building which is a gigantic yellow dog (80 meters, 240 ft) that was planned for the shanghai skyline for the world expo 2010.

This is China's Drive-In Car Museum.

China Insurance Group headquarters in Shenzhen's Central District (above)

Institute of Design, Hong Kong (above right)

New station in Guangzhou (below)

The Vanke Center, Shenzhen, Steve Holl's Horizontal Skyscraper

Lifted and snaking above the ground like a cubist flying dragon, the lyrical headquarters for Vanke, one of China's leading real estate developers, allows public space below (where rainwater is recycled) and maximizes views and sun exposure while keeping its many functions within a connected complex that also includes shops, residences and a hotel. Its ample roof space – the anti-skyscraper is as long as the Empire State Building is tall – means room for a large solar installation and skylighting. China's green building superstar Steven Holl even incorporated “floorlights” to capture light emenating from beneath. The building's in competition with the Parkview Green in Beijing to become the country's first LEED Platinum project. But will it be able to overcome the concerns that a number of commenters had when I first wrote about it: "We don't want the building population to look inwards, we want them to look outwards... This means street-level, street-oriented spaces."

Read more at China Green Buildings. (below 3 pics)