Skyscrapers and observation decks of Shanghai. The most beautiful skyscraper in the world: Shanghai Tower

Although I am a small fan of the skyscraper theme, but still, being in Shanghai for three days and not climbing one of the high-altitude monsters that are in abundance there is not very correct. So in the end, the highest observation deck on the planet was chosen as the "victim" - the 100th floor of a skyscraper with a loud name World Financial Center(上海环球金融中心, SWFC), in the Pudong area. But in local slang, his name is simpler - "opener", since it looks like a banal opener, only put on the priest and almost half a kilometer high - 492 m. .
Let's go to the "opener" from the nearest metro and climb to the very top, following the sequence of ascent at the same time. All views will be in the evening, so we got there, at such a time.

View from the "opener": near the spire of the Jin Mao skyscraper,
to the right - the TV tower "Pearl of the East", further - the bend of the river. Huangpu

But first, a map. The numbers show the highest buildings of Pudong, as well as, for orientation, a well-lit monument to the People's Heroes, on the other side of the river (No. 5). We will look at Shanghai from point number 1 (triangle). Historical Center and the former international settlements of the city are on the other side of the Huangpu. Interestingly, there are no bridges across Huangpu in this area, but only underground tunnels: one pedestrian and the rest automobile.

2. Let's look from the other side of the Huangpu for our trip. Look, on the right side of the picture, the three tallest buildings are grouped - the "opener", which stands out with its hole; in front of it is Jin Mao, from which the real high-rise construction in this area began, and the rightmost one is the Shanghai Tower, which will be No. 3 among skyscrapers in the world, after the final completion (632 m). To the left is the TV tower "Pearl of the East". It seems higher, due to the fact that it is noticeably closer to us than distant monsters.

3. The Shanghai Tower is still under construction, but already now it is significantly higher than the "opener" of the SWFC. 97 is the lower observation deck on the "opener" (below the hole), 101 is the upper one (above the hole), in fact it is on the hundredth floor, but the elevator shows the number 101 :)

4. We reach the light green line (No. 2 - which connects both airports) to the Pudong area, and go upstairs. It's already dark, unfortunately, regime time is over, but we will proceed from what we have.

5. Directly from the metro you can look around. If you turn back, you can see the direction where we should go and where the monsters we need rise - the "opener" is to the left of all. However, first you need to go to the second pedestrian level, from there it will be much more convenient to shoot and navigate.

6. We rise to the upper pedestrian level. Looking back at the base of the TV tower. We will now go from her, not to her.

7. All sorts of stock indices are floating on luminous screens, because Shanghai is the capital of Chinese finance. Life is seething, despite the fact that in China they go to bed early. But here is an exception.

8. We go over there, keeping to the right side of the road. Let's go for a walk :)

9. Once again, let's look towards the TV tower, and let's go.

10. We pass through some square with a luminous man, behind whom rises a dark monster of the Shanghai Tower under construction.

11. Three skyscraper peaks, ours is the leftmost one.

12. We go around Jin Mao. By the way, it turned out to be a discovery for me that beyond high skyscrapers in close perception they seem a little fake, toy - the human psyche softens objects that are too disproportionate in perception. Let's say, 25-30-storey buildings, if very close, are perceived as more massive than these monsters.

13. And here is our goal! Getting close:)
Please note that the "hole" at the top of the "opener" is no longer visible, but the windows down on the upper observation deck of the 100th floor have become clearly visible. We will return to them in frames #26-28.

14. The TV tower is moving away, we are walking away from it.

15. Almost reached our goal.

Reference.
The Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) was built in 2008, with a significant delay due to the 1997-1998 crisis. The height is 492 m, the observation deck (upper) at 472 m is the highest on the planet, at the Dubai Burj Khalifa it is 20 m lower.
built a tower Japanese Mori Building Corporation. The project's lead designer is David Malott of New York-based Kohn Pedersen Fox.
* * *
In 2003, changes were made to the project, in particular, the developer Mori Group increased the height of the building to 492 m and the number of floors to 101, from the original 460 and 94, respectively.
Also, in 2005, the shape of the window at the top of the building was changed to reduce air resistance. Initially, a rounded window 46 m in diameter was supposed. However, this design caused great protests from the Chinese, including the mayor of Shanghai, who believed that it was very similar to rising Sun on the flag of Japan. The round hole was replaced with a trapezoidal one, which reduced the cost of construction and simplified the implementation of the project.
Investors wanted to increase the height of the building by adding a spire to it to break the Taipei 101 (509.2 m) height record, but architect William Pedersen and developer Minoru Mori opposed adding a spire to the building, explaining that such majestic building as SWFC, existing sizes are sufficient.
The building area is 377,300 m², there are 31 high-speed elevators and 33 escalators. ()

16. So what? Let's go inside!

First you need to buy a ticket to the observation deck, at the ticket office on the floor below.
They are not cheap, especially for China - 150 yuan (750 rubles). But okay, art requires sacrifice :)

17. Then we are shown a film about the history of the building, after which we are imbued with a view of how Pudong will look like in 2 years, in 2015. The completed Shanghai Tower made an ambivalent impression - from many projections it looks very much like a penis. It seems that I already know in advance what her informal nickname will be :)

18. Then we pass through the frame, we and things shine through, then they lead the group to the elevator. The elevator to the observation deck has only the 2nd and 3rd floors, and the 94th and 95th; to get to other floors, you need to use other elevators, where authorization is by cards. The ascent takes about a minute.

19. The elevator itself from the inside has a very cosmic design, to match the height.

20. And now, we reach the 95th floor. There you need to climb with your legs to the 97th, where the lower observation deck is located. You can, of course, explore the city from here, but we are now moving on.

21. Let's look down at the Huangpu River and the Bund.

22. And on close standing Jin Mao, to its upper levels 340-380 m.

24. And here we are at the very top, at an altitude of 472 m. There is only one floor above us. The observation deck here is made very competently - the windows are not made vertical, but beveled at an angle down, which makes it much more impressive to look at.

25. But that's not all. Under our feet - after all, we are now just above the "hole" - there is a row of windows, and you can also look straight down. A very interesting technique - as if you are standing over an abyss. But the glasses sometimes glare and some of them are slammed by visitors (although they are constantly wiped by a special attendant).

26. Here it is, one of the windows under your feet. Now we will try to fit in to shoot down.

27. Here is a view to one side. The skyscraper here is not very high.

28. And here is the whole view of Jin Mao: a 421-meter monster can be removed from top to bottom. But the glass still shines.

Jin Mao, reference.
Like the Petronas skyscrapers in Malaysia, the main proportion of this building is the number 8, which in Chinese culture is associated with well-being. The 88 floors (93 if you count the belvedere floors) are divided into 16 segments, each one 1/8 shorter than the sixteen-story base. The skyscraper is built on an octagonal concrete central frame surrounded by eight huge composite columns and eight external steel columns.
Three sets of 2-story high steel beams connect the columns to the framing on six floors, providing additional security. The base of the building rests on 1,062 strong steel pillars that go into the ground to a depth of 83.5 m, which compensates for the poor quality of the topsoil.

The outer wall is made of glass, stainless steel, aluminum and granite and is covered with a lattice structure made of aluminum alloy pipes. Official opening building was held on August 28, 1998, the date was also chosen with the number 8. ()

29. But all visitors immediately go to look at this classic Shanghai view - the Huangpu bend and the Vaitan embankment. In the foreground is the spire of Jin Mao.

30. Classics of the genre. Object No. 5 of the scheme (the monument to the People's Heroes) is visible in the middle of the frame on the other side of the river - exactly along the spire of Jin Mao. To the left of it is the colonial Bund (The Bund), a cluster of "comprador" architecture from the time of China's humiliation and international settlements. There were banks and trading companies of Great Britain, France, USA, Russia, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the consulates of Great Britain and Russia.

31. Let's get a little closer to the Vaitan waterfront area. The backlight is very beautiful and stylish - then I will show you a walk along this embankment during twilight. I must admit that Shanghai in general is noticeably more beautiful than Beijing, which, in my opinion, is mostly dull and too strict.

32. Pleasure boats are moving along Huangpu. According to Chinese custom, they are hung with iridescent lanterns in incredible amount. The Chinese are passionate about winking and transfusions of light - even their TV tower is constantly blinking and shimmering.

33. Ships to Huangpu, even closer.

34. View down to the subway, as we walked here - frames #6-10.

35. And on the base of the TV tower.

36. In opposite side the evening view is very ordinary - up to the port and the Yangtze delta, mid-rise areas extend from the north, interspersed with skyscrapers of 30-45 floors. Shanghai is large in area. And along the avenue, which departs from the middle of the frame to the right (Century Avenue), we will pass in the afternoon, and I (perhaps) will later make a post about ordinary Shanghai high-tech based on these motives.

37. The residential complex is close, the roofs are highlighted with segments.

39. Then, after viewing, you can go down to the 95th floor, where there are also observation windows and many souvenir stalls. As always on top, it's not cheap.

40. We go downstairs and go home, it's time to hurry - it's already late in Chinese, around 9 pm. The metro here closes at about 22.50, the Chinese go to bed early. We go past Jin Mao.

* * *
And a couple of daytime shots.

41. Here is the view from the bus window - the "opener", Jin Mao and the Shanghai Tower are visible in the distance.

42. Also from the bus - to the top of the Shanghai Tower being completed. It can be seen how the central frame-skeleton is being built, and the "pulp" is already strung around it.

In general, the experience of acquaintance with high-rise entities turned out to be very interesting. It would be foolish to let him go.
So I recommend to those who go to Shanghai.

Shanghai - amazing city! We can say that this is the city of Chinese records. It is here that the route of the fast train, which I wrote about a few months ago when I first visited Shanghai. Shanghai is also constantly fighting with Guangzhou for the palm in terms of the number of permanent residents (according to the latest data, about 30 million people live here). And, of course, this is an amazing city modern architecture. And it is here that the highest skyscraper in Asia (and the second tallest in the world) is located - Shanghai tower (Shanghai Tower), where your obedient servant climbed with pleasure to visit the highest observation platform and ride the fastest elevator in the world.

In common this architectural ensemble Nicknamed "Corkscrew and Opener". You can see them from almost anywhere in the city center and from some more remote areas, so it’s simply impossible not to notice them. According to the original project, the “opener” should have had a round hole, but the Chinese protested (they say it looks too much like the flag of Japan), so now they have what they have. I think Japanese architects were only too happy to change the shape of the object.

But we will still talk about the "corkscrew", which rises 632 meters above the ground. When you stand below and lift your head up, you can hardly believe that the building was built with simple modern people. Last time, I also paid attention to this building (and to neighboring ones), but then I didn’t know that it was the highest skyscraper in Asia, so I wasn’t very interested, and when I later found out this fact, I bit my elbows and hastily planned a new trip .

All three of Shanghai's tallest buildings are next to each other. In addition to the Shanghai Tower, this trio includes the already mentioned “opener”, which is also the Shanghai World Financial Center (492 meters), as well as the Jin Mao Tower (421 meters). I, as a native inhabitant of the swamp of St. Petersburg, from such numbers and heights my head begins to spin!

Naturally, I ran to the box office and bought a ticket. For reference: in terms of rubles, climbing the tower will cost more than 1500 rubles, the price includes a visit to the museum and a visit to two viewing platforms: 546 meters and 552 meters above ground level.

The upward journey begins from the basement, where a small museum is located, which tells about the tallest buildings in the world, as well as the construction and features of a particular Shanghai tower.

The tallest skyscrapers in Asia built on this moment, as well as a future list of tallest buildings along with those that are currently in the project.

Tallest skyscrapers in the world. Suddenly, 9 of them I saw with my own eyes.

The exposition, of course, is very interesting: 3d models of buildings in the form of holograms, text that appears on the glass, like in the most fantastic films, but I wanted to go upstairs so much that I decided to look at the museum carefully on the way back. Attention, spoiler: the way back is not through the museum, so you won’t be able to see anything after. My impatience often plays tricks on me.

And here I am with a crowd of other tourists get into the elevator. And we are going up at a speed of 18 meters per second. Ears lays more abruptly than in an airplane! Even though the elevator only reaches its peak speed at the 40th floor and keeps it up to 75, then gradually slows down, it still feels like you are about to be launched into space. The fastest elevator in the world is impressive! The brain can not believe that in less than a minute we find ourselves almost 550 meters above ground level, amazing!

Well, up there, you instantly stick your nose to the glass to see Shanghai at a glance from the height of a very strong bird. The river is the most largest river throughout Eurasia, the same Great River Yangtze! In the right corner is a bizarre building with two balls - a huge Shanghai TV tower, which is included in the top 5 highest TV towers peace! Well, the houses ... Ordinary skyscrapers. Impressive and huge Shanghai from such a height looks almost like a toy.

Even the huge building of 492 meters of the world financial center it doesn't look that impressive from here.

Well, Jin Mao (closing the thirty tallest buildings in the world) is completely lost in the surrounding landscape.

What can we say about the usual quarters, which from here look more like a bizarre children's designer than impressive residential complexes, which invariably have to look up from the ground.

Climbing more than 500 meters above the city level was my Christmas gift to myself, and I am very pleased with this gift! The Shanghai Tower is amazing and a must see if you are in Shanghai!

Everyone Have a good day and conquer new and new heights!

In Shanghai, the magnificent Shanghai Tower was completed. Not yet opened, but it seems they should be any day. This is the most beautiful skyscraper I have ever seen. Magnificent graceful building 632 meters high.

01. The Shanghai Tower was designed by the American architectural bureau Gensler.

02. Construction began in 2008 and ended in 2015. According to the original project, the skyscraper was supposed to be 580 meters high, but later the tower was increased to 632 meters. It has 121 floors. By the way, despite the fact that the construction is completed, the tower has not yet been opened, final preparations are underway.

03. The tower is located in the center of Shanghai's financial zone, which is called Lujiazui. The skyscraper housed office space, entertainment and shopping centers, luxury hotel and cultural spaces. The tower also has underground floors with parking and exits to metro stations.

04. Shanghai tower - the second in the list of the most tall buildings peace. Only the Dubai Tower is higher, it rises 828 meters above the ground.

05. Chinese scientists opposed the construction of the tower, fearing that a large number of skyscrapers on the banks of the river will lead to soil subsidence. “The problem of flooding has always been one of the most acute for Shanghai. Today, when the building density of the city is close to a critical level, it is impossible to exclude the possibility that the land on which the city is built will sag and Shanghai will be under water,” said oceanology professor Weng Pingxian in 2008. But so far, nothing bad has happened.

In 2014 Vitaly Raskalov raskalov_vit and Vadim Makhorov dedmaxopka made their way to the construction site of the Shanghai Tower and climbed onto a construction crane. They made a video of their ascent to a height of 650 meters, which at one time made a lot of noise.

Such views open from the height of a skyscraper. These are the Jin Mao Tower (left) and the Shanghai World Financial Center (right).


Photo by Vadim Makhorov

This is what it looks like on a cloudy day.


Photo by Vitaly Raskalov

06. The Shanghai tower consists of nine cylindrical sections stacked on top of each other. The entire skyscraper has double walls, in the space between which atriums are located at the level of the joints of the sections.

07. Flowers and trees are planted in each atrium.

The empty space between the walls of the skyscraper keeps interior spaces cool in summer and warm in winter. The walls themselves are transparent, due to this, daylight enters the building, and people save on lighting. The only problem is that there will be no normal view from the window. Because of the outer shell, you will not see anything but the structure.


Gensler Photos

08. The twisted structure of the tower levels the force of the winds and allows the building to withstand gusts up to 51 m / s (this is a hurricane wind).

09. The skyscraper has the fastest elevators in the world, the cabins for which were designed by Mitsubishi designers. Thanks to technology developed specifically for the Shanghai Tower, they rise at a speed of 64 km/h.


Gensler Photos

10. A spiral chute that runs the entire height of the building collects rainwater. It is used for heating and air conditioning systems.


Gensler Photos

11. At the base of the tower is a podium platform that houses shops and public areas.


Gensler Photos

12. The tower looks very cool, especially from the old areas.

13. In the meantime, the Shanghai Tower has not been opened, you can climb the neighboring skyscraper - the Shanghai Financial Center, whose height is 492 meters. I already wrote that at the top there is an observation deck where you can climb if you have a lot of money for a ticket. If you don’t have money, but you want to look at the city, you can go up to the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel, which is located on the 87th floor. Go to the hotel entrance. It is located around the corner, to the right of the entrance to the observation deck. There you go up to the 87th floor in the hotel lobby and admire the views. You can have a coffee with a view of the city. Perfect place, I recommend.

14. View from the 87th floor

15. Not the best, but it will do)

16. And these are the views from the 81st floor, from my room.

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In 2015, it will give way to the first Chinese and second world position to the Pingan International Financial Center under construction in the city of Shenzhen, and after 2016 it will become the 4th in the world, taking into account also India Tower in Mumbai.

Original taken from masterok in Skyscrapers of Shanghai: Shanghai Tower

I have already told you about the two skyscrapers in this picture. Here is the Shanghai World Financial Center, and here is Jin Mao. But now we'll talk about this twisted highest of the three.

The construction of the 121-story Shanghai Tower in China, which began in 2008, was completed earlier this year, and finishing work is now underway.

Here's how the construction went:

The Shanghai Tower is an ultra-tall building, currently the tallest in Chinese city Shanghai, in the Pudong area. After the tower is completed, this building should become the tallest building in China, surpassing in height even such buildings as the Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center. According to the project, the height of the building will be about 650 meters, and the total area will be 380,000 m². The construction of the tower should be completed in 2014. When completed, the tower building will be the third tallest building in the world, behind only the Burj Khalifa in the UAE, whose height is 828 meters, and the Tree of Heaven in Tokyo, which is 634 meters high. In August 2013, the tower building was completed to roof level.

According to Fang Qingqiang, chief engineer of the project, the Shanghai Tower will house offices, shops, a five-star hotel, exhibition and conference halls, as well as recreation and entertainment areas.

With the completion of the construction of the main structures of the building, work began to attract businessmen to the development of this complex, said Gu Jianping, president of the Shanghai Tower developer company. The new building will help meet the strong demand for comfortable and luxurious office space, he said, while Shanghai is actively developing into an international financial center and free trade zone.

A skyscraper designed by the large American company Gensler. The spiral-curved tower, even at its unfinished 580-meter form, is already actually the tallest building in China, surpassing the previous record holder, the 492-meter high-rise of the World Trade Center located next door.

However, even after commissioning next year, the Shanghai Tower will not long take the lead in the race of Chinese skyscrapers: in 2016, it is planned to complete the construction of the 660-meter Pingan International Financial Center in Shenzhen. In addition, the construction of the Sky City Tower in Changsha, 838 meters high, has recently begun, but a few days later, due to lack of necessary permits, it was frozen.

IN last years construction of skyscrapers on an unprecedented scale has unfolded throughout China. The Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and the Urban Environment predicts that by 2020, China will have six of the ten tallest buildings in the world.

When completed in 2014, the spiral megastructure, along with the neighboring Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center Tower, will complete the grand ensemble of three skyscrapers.

Shanghai Tower nominated for LEED Gold certification. The Shanghai Tower is built from nine cylinders stacked one on top of the other. The inner volume forms the building itself, while the outer façade creates a shell that rises up, rotating 120 degrees and giving the Shanghai Tower a curved appearance. The space between the two layers of the façade is created by nine sky garden atriums.

Just like in many other towers, the atrium of the Shanghai Tower traditionally houses restaurants, cafes and shops surrounded by lush landscaping in tandem with big amount entrances to the tower and metro stations under the building. The interior of the Shanghai Tower and the transparent exterior skins create a visual connection between the interior of the tower and the urban fabric of Shanghai.

The tower will have the fastest elevators in the world, specially designed for it by Mitsubishi using innovative technologies. The double-height elevator cabins will carry the building's occupants and visitors skyward at 40 mph (17.88 m/s). The façade's cone, texture, and asymmetry work together to reduce the building's wind load by 24 percent. This will save building materials in the amount of $58 million USD.

Transparent inner and outer shells of the building bring inside the premises maximum amount natural light, thereby saving on electricity.

The outer shell of the tower insulates the building, reducing energy consumption for heating and cooling. The tower's spiral parapet collects rainwater, which is used to heat the tower and the air conditioning system. Wind turbines located directly under the parapet generate power on site for the upper floors of the building.

Architects: Gensler

Owner, Developer . Contractor: Shanghai Tower Building & Development Co., Ltd.

Local Design Institute: Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tongji University

Civil Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti

Mep Engineer: Cosentini Associates

Landscape architect: SWA

Plot area: 30,370 square meters. Building area: 380,000 square meters above ground level; 141,000 square meters below ground level

Floors of the building: 121 floors

Height: 632 meters

Area: 0.0 sq.m.

Release year: 2014

Photos: Courtesy Gensler

Opposite the historical "heart" of Shanghai in the new quarter of Pudong, the giant tower of Jin Mao rises dominating the sky over the financial and commercial center of the city.

He is still the most high skyscraper in China and fourth in the world: 400 m high, 88 floors. The imposing building houses various offices on 52 floors, with total area 123 thousand m 2, they employ 10 thousand people. The last 35 floors house a high-class hotel with 555 rooms. Here you can see one of the most impressive interiors in the world - a round atrium with a diameter of 27 meters, rising in a spiral of 142 meters to the roof of the tower.

Like the Petronas skyscrapers in Malaysia, the main proportion of the Jin Mao Tower building is the number 8, which in Chinese culture is associated with well-being. The 88 floors (93 if you count the belvedere floors) are divided into 16 segments, each one 1/8 shorter than the sixteen-story base. The skyscraper is built on an octagonal concrete central frame surrounded by eight huge composite columns and eight external steel columns.

From the top of the tower, a dizzying view of the abyss going down opens up - to the observatory, located on the 21st floor. The speed with which two elevators take visitors from the ground floor to the observatory, offering an amazing journey to the horizon, is amazing: less than a minute. The top of the steel tower is topped with a glass dome that allows light to enter the hotel during the day.

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The offices are served by 60 elevators and 18 escalators. Jin Mao's architecture has traditional Asian roots: the rectangular, tapering shape pays a certain homage to Chinese history and culture. The Jin Mao skyscraper, along with other high-rise buildings in Shanghai, emphasizes the role of this city in the steadily developing economy of the PRC.

Three sets of 2-story high steel beams connect the columns to the framing on six floors, providing additional security. The base of the building rests on 1,062 strong steel pillars that go into the ground to a depth of 83.5 m, which compensates for the poor quality of the topsoil. At the time of the construction of the building, they were the longest steel poles used in above-ground construction. The pillars are covered with a 4 m thick layer of concrete extending 19.6 m underground. The earthen wall surrounding the foundation is 1 m thick, 36 m high, 558 m long and consists of 20,500 m² of reinforced concrete.

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Each floor of "Jin Mao" is divided into sixteen elements, and the foundation itself is made of an octagonal shape. At the same time, the foundation is surrounded by 16 columns (8 composite and 8 steel). Additional strength of the building is given by 3 rows of steel beams, they connect the columns with the frame for six floors. Each set of beams has a height equal to 2 floors. "Jin Mao" has an innovative confrontation system hurricane wind and earthquakes. Tests have shown that the building can withstand wind gusts up to 200 km/h and an earthquake up to 7 on the Richter scale. The shock-absorbing system of fastening of steel columns and the pool on the 57th floor allow the Tower to easily "swing", deviating from the central axis by 75 cm without damage. Outside, the skyscraper is clad in granite, with tinted glass reflective panels used for decoration. Also, steel and aluminum elements are contained in the outer part of the building - they represent a crate.

The outer wall is made of glass, stainless steel, aluminum and granite and is covered with a lattice structure made of aluminum alloy pipes.

The official opening of the building took place on August 28, 1998, the date was also chosen with the number 8. Since 1999, the building has been fully operational.

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According to experts, the construction of the task could cost the customer $530 million. Over $121,000 is currently being spent on the maintenance of the Tower of Success.

Here are the views you can see from the observation deck of the skyscraper.