Architecture

Twisting Shanghai Tower declared world's best new skyscraper

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The Shanghai Tower has an elegant design that twists a full 120 degrees to mitigate the effects of punishing winds
Connie Zhou
The Shanghai Tower has an elegant design that twists a full 120 degrees to mitigate the effects of punishing winds
Connie Zhou
Reaching a total height 632 m (2,073 ft), the US$2.4 billion mixed-use Shanghai Tower is a very impressive building
Connie Zhou
Second place for the Emporis Skyscraper Award was awarded to Moscow's Evolution Tower, by RMJM and Kettle Collective
Igor Butyrskii
The Evolution Tower reaches a total height of 246 m (807 ft)
Igor Butyrskii
Milan's Il Dritto skyscraper came third place in the Emporis Skyscraper Award
Boris Kauffer
Designed by Arata Isozaki & Andrea Maffei Associati, Il Dritto reaches a height of 210 m (688 ft) and its glass facade curves slightly to one side
Boris Kauffer
SOM's Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Central Plaza came fourth in the Emporis Skyscraper Award
Lv Hengzhong
Comprising identical twin towers, Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Central Plaza rises to 303 m (994 ft)
Lv Hengzhong
Abode318, by Elenberg Fraser, Disegno Australia was awarded fifth place in the Emporis Skyscraper Award
Wang-Hsin Pei CC BY 2.0
Abode318 is located in Melbourne, Australia, and rises to 187 m (613 ft)
Wang-Hsin Pei CC BY 2.0
Sixth place for the Emporis Skyscraper Award went to Icon Bay, by Arquitectonica. Based in Miami, it reaches 139 m (456 ft). The building's undulating facade is inspired by the rippling waves of the bay
Robin Hill
D1 Tower, by Holfords & Associates, came seventh in the Emporis Skyscraper Award. The Dubai building serves as a luxury hotel and resort and rises to 284 m (931 ft)
Alan Millin
Eighth place for the Emporis Skyscraper Award went to NYC's 432 Park Avenue. Designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, it rises to 426 m (1,397 ft) and is modeled after a trashcan
Royce Douglas
Citygate Tower came in at ninth place in the Emporis Skyscraper Award
Lukas Dostal
Citygate Tower by Querkraft Architekten rises to 110 m (360 ft) and features a color design based on the psychological concept of Eva Heller
Lukas Dostal
Toronto's ÏCE II came tenth in the Emporis Skyscraper Award. The building was designed by architectsAlliance and sports an extensive green roof. It rises to a total height of 234 m (767 ft)
Edvard Mahnic
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Gensler's Shanghai Tower, the world's second-tallest building, has been declared the world's best skyscraper by information specialist Emporis in its annual skyscraper awards. The mixed use megatall skyscraper reaches a total height of 632 m (2,073 ft) and twists a full 120 degrees to mitigate the effect of the punishing winds at such heights.

Lauded by Emporis for its elegant design and energy-efficiency, the US$2.4 billion Shanghai Tower is a very impressive building.

The foundations alone required an entire fleet of trucks pouring concrete for 63 hours straight. A total of 106 Mitsubishi-designed elevators travel at speeds of up to 20 m (65 ft) per second in order to allow move people around the mammoth structure in a reasonable time.

A double-layered glass skin improves the building's insulation and wind turbines power all the external lighting. Rainwater is also collected and used for air-conditioning and heating systems.

Making use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) software from Autodesk, the design team was able to analyze wind resistance and seismic loads of progressive iterations of the building's design and eventually achieve what Gensler estimates is a design that used 32 percent less materials than a conventional tower of the same size.

The Evolution Tower reaches a total height of 246 m (807 ft)
Igor Butyrskii

Moscow's Evolution Tower (pictured above), by RMJM Edinburgh and Kettle Collective is the second place runner-up. This building twists too, but does so more dramatically. As it rises, each of the neo-futurist's skyscraper's 53 floors twists a full 3 degrees compared to the preceding floor.

Its design was partly inspired by Moscow's iconic Saint Basil's Cathedral (though we can't see the resemblance) and it reaches a total height of 246 m (807 ft).

Head to the gallery to see the remaining eight runners-up for the Emporis Skyscraper Award, including an NYC skyscraper modeled after a trashcan and another in Austria with an unusual multicolored facade.

Source: Emporis

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4 comments
Mihai Pruna
Proud to have played a very small part in this!
Bob Flint
They will certainly give window washers a challenge....
odbdux
These buildings have novel shapes but they are unkind to people who inhabit them. Day after day individuals must overcome the fear of working in buildings that appear to lack stability.
rpark
... I'm sorry, but the Shanghai Tower looks like a gel dildo.