Shanghai Tower

Impossible Engineering - Skyscraper of the Future (Part 1)

          The Shanghai Tower (Chinese: 上海中心大厦;  literally: "Shanghai Center Tower") is a 632-metre (2,073 ft), 128-story megatall skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai.  As of 2015, it is the world's tallest building, by height to highest usable floor (Level 127, 587.4 m). It also has the world's highest observation deck within a building or structure (Level 121, 561.25 m), and the world's fastest elevators at a top speed of 20.5 m/s (74 km/h).  It is the world's second-tallest building by height to architectural top (behind Dubai's Burj Khalifa, 828 m) and the world's third-tallest structure (behind Tokyo Skytree, 634 m).

 

 

Designed by international design firm Gensler and owned by the Shanghai city government, it is the tallest of the world's first triple-adjacent super-tall buildings in Pudong, the other two being the Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center. Its tiered construction, designed for high energy efficiency, provides nine separate zones divided between office, retail and leisure use.

 

 

Construction work on the tower began in November 2008 and topped out on 3 August 2013. The exterior was completed in summer 2015, and work was considered complete in September 2015. Although the building was originally scheduled to open to the public in November 2014, the actual public-use date slipped considerably. The observation deck was opened to visitors in July 2016; the period from July through September 2016 was termed a "test run" or "commissioning" period.

Impossible Engineering - Skyscraper of the Future (Part 2)

          Shanghai Tower isn’t just a skyscraper — it’s a vertical city, a collection of businesses, services and hotels all in one place, fitting a population the size of Monaco into a footprint the size of a football field. Within its walls, residents can literally work, rest, play and relax in public parks, looking up through 12 stories of clear space. Not just one, however, but eight of them, stacked on top of each other, all the way to the 120th floor. When complete, the structure will dominate Shanghai’s skyline, towering over its neighbours as a testament to China’s economic success and the ambitions of the city’s wealthy elite. 

 The Shanghai Tower,  The Jin Mao Tower and The  Shanghai World Financial Center

 The Shanghai Tower,  The Jin Mao Tower and The  Shanghai World Financial Center

The Shanghai Tower is the world's second-tallest building.