The world’s second-tallest building is also the most beautiful
The world’s second-tallest building is also the most beautiful
Get high in Shanghai
Although dozens of metres short of Dubai’s skyscraping Burj Khalifa, the Shanghai Tower has been adjudged the world’s best megatall in the Emporis Skyscraper Award.
Towering 632 metres tall, the Shanghai skyscraper’s spiral, cylinder form —whose double-skin façade is evocative of a thermos bottle — impressed judges for a second year in a row. The building has made “extraordinary” strides in energy efficiency.
The tower, a collaboration between US-based Gensler Architects and Chinese architect Jun Xia, took seven years to build and cost USD2.4 billion. Besides its lofty height, the tower is famous for running the world’s fastest elevators, conveying people at speeds of 20 metres per second.
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Its viewing platform is perched 561 metres high.
At 284 metres, the D1 Tower in Dubai impressed judges this year to rank as Southwest Asia’s best and the world’s seventh best. The 80-storey structure features a design by UAE-based firm Holfords & Associates.
Established in 2000, the Emporis Skyscraper Award is given to skyscrapers with a minimum height of 100 metres. Of the 300 skyscrapers that qualified in the past year, the Evolution Tower in Moscow and the Il Dritto (The Straight One) in Milan were ranked third and second best, respectively.
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Source: Property Report