22 August 2022

Structural Design of Iconic Tower, Egypt: Culmination of a Concrete Optimization Process

Tarek Hassan, Yehia El-Ezaby & Charles Malek, rector Dar Al Handasah Consultants (Shair and Partners)

This paper presents an overview of a process of optimizing concrete mixture for tall buildings, culminating in the design of the Iconic Tower, the key...

22 August 2022

The World’s Highest Pools: A Deep Dive

S. Isaac Work & Shawn Ursini, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

Tall building design has diversified and adapted to accommodate increased demand for distinctive amenities at a range of heights. Swimming pools are a classic feature...

15 March 2022

Towards an Urban Troposphere

Jeffrey A. Kenoff & Peter Gross, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

Over the past 30 years, the tall building has seen unprecedented global support. With advanced innovation and many regions around the world discovering increasing growth...

15 December 2021

Designing Holistic Well-Being in the Age of Hybrid Working

Ferdinand Cheung, LWK + PARTNERS

The rise of the hybrid mode of working means that people with vastly different backgrounds, knowledge, skills, and individual needs are working alongside and collaborating...

15 December 2021

Overcoming Carbon, Climate, and Societal Challenges in Cities

Daniel Safarik, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)

The tall building, the city, and by extension, urban life, are all facing unprecedented challenges, in multiple aspects—carbon, climate, and societal. The planet’s rapid urbanization...

11 October 2021

Tall Excellence

CTBUH Journal 2022 Issue III

As the first in-person CTBUH International Conference after the Covid-19 shutdowns in 2020, the 2022 program contains an exuberant and exciting roster of presenters and...

17 September 2021

Sustainable Tall Building Design Exemplars

Will Miranda & Daniel Safarik, CTBUH

Some 97 cities worldwide, including most of the world’s megacities with a population of 10 million or more, have signed onto the C40 Cities Climate...

01 March 2021

Comparative Study on the Development Trends of High-rise Buildings Above 200 Meters in China, th

Jiaqi Qu, CTBUH; Zhendong Wang, Tongji University; Peng Du, Texas Tech University,

Since 2006, the number of completed high-rise buildings over 200 meters have increased rapidly. Although there were some short-term cyclical troughs, the overall trend has...

01 March 2021

Cost Analysis of Vertical Greenery in Urban Complex

Nannan Dong, Tongji University; Fang Huang, Brearley Architects & Urbanists

Vertical greenery has become an important technological means to improve the ecological environment condition in urban high-density areas, especially in central areas of Chinese cities....

30 January 2020

Determinism, Integration, and Articulation Lead Up to a Landmark

Brian Lee, Thomas Kinzl, Inho Rhee & Ronald Johnson, SOM

Completed in 2019, the Tianjin Chow Tai Fook (CTF) Finance Centre is currently the seventh-tallest building in the world, tied with the Guangzhou CTF Finance...

30 January 2020

Tall Building Predictions for 2020

CTBUH Research

The combined brains of the CTBUH editorial and database staff boldly predict what might happen across the global skyscraper industry in 2020. Check out our...

30 January 2020

Tall Buildings’ Lower Public Spaces: Impact on Health and Behavior

Yu Ye, Zhendong Wang, Nannan Dong & Xihui Zhou, Tongji University

Tall buildings unquestionably need to improve their impact on the urban habitat. A human-focused approach to measuring the social impact of tall buildings’ ground conditions,...

12 December 2019

Interactive Study on Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2019

CTBUH Research

The year 2019 was remarkable for the tall building industry, with 26 supertall buildings (300 meters or taller) completed, the most in any year. This...

28 October 2019

Aesthetics of Chinese Tall Buildings

Richard Lee, C.Y. Lee & Partners Architects/ Planners

While Western aesthetics dominate the world at this time, the rise of the East has led China to reexamine its Eurocentric view towards aesthetics. China...

14 March 2019

Skybridges: A History and a View to the Near Future

Antony Wood & Daniel Safarik CTBUH

As many architects and visionaries have shown over a period spanning more than a century, the re-creation of the urban realm in the sky through...

14 March 2019

Study of a Three-Dimensional and Multi-Functional Urban High-Rise Complex in the High-Density Environment

Linxue Li & Miaomiao Hou & Qi Zhang, Tongji University

Facing the challenges of urban form and space quality in a high-density environment, the paper puts forward the development trend of three-dimensional and multi-functional design...

07 March 2019

Analysis of Multiple Network Accessibilities and Commercial Space Use in Metro Station Areas

Lingzhu Zhang, Yu Zhuang

Against the background of the rapid development of the Shanghai Metro network, this paper attempts to establish an analytical approach to evaluate the impact of...

31 January 2019

China Zun: Beijing’s New Icon, 2018’s Tallest

Wuren Wang, CITIC HEYE Investment Co. Ltd.

At 528 meters, China Zun was the tallest building completed in 2018, and became the new tallest building in Beijing. It is the anchor of...

31 January 2019

Interactive Study on Tall Buildings in Numbers: 2018 Year in Review

CTBUH Research

In 2018, 143 buildings of 200 meters’ height or greater were completed. This is a slight decrease from 2017’s record-breaking total of 147, and it...

12 December 2018

Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2018

CTBUH Research

The astronomical growth in tall building construction observed over the past decade continued in 2018, though the total number of completed buildings of 200 meters’...

01 September 2018

Developments of Structural Systems Toward Mile-High Towers

Kyoung Sun Moon, Yale University School of Architecture

Tall buildings which began from about 40 m tall office towers in the late 19th century have evolved into mixed-use megatall towers over 800 m....

01 September 2018

Load Transferring Mechanism and Design Method of Effective Detailings for Steel Tube-Core Concrete Interaction

Yuanqi Li1, Tongji University, State Key Laboratory of Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering; Jinhui Luo, Tongji University; Xueyi Fu, CCDI

Two novel types of construction detailings, including using the distributive beam and the inner ring diaphragm in the joint between large-section CFT columns and outrigger...

01 July 2018

The Preliminary Research on the Relationship between Carbon Emissions and Typical Floor Design

Dong Zhixin, Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.; Chen Yi, Tongji University

The greenhouse effect caused by human activities is becoming increasingly serious. The building industry, which is directly related with carbon emissions, has the responsibility and...

30 April 2018

Cyclone-Glazing and Façade Resilience for the Asia-Pacific Region: Market and Code Study

Angela Mejorin, Dario Trabucco, CTBUH; Reisuke Nakada, Malvinder Singh Ruprai & Ingo Stelzer, Trosifol World of Interlayers

This paper summarizes the Stage 1 results of the CTBUH Research Division’s project “Cyclone-Glazing and Facade Resilience for the Asia-Pacific Region.” The project was possible...

30 April 2018

Taking the Corporate Campus Vertical

Jonathan Ward, NBBJ; Jiemin Ding, TJAD; Tim Etherington, Gensler

The Tencent Seafront Towers bring a novel concept – the “vertical campus” – to Shenzhen. In housing the corporate headquarters of the fourth-largest internet company...

01 March 2018

Designing the High-Rise Building from the Inside/Out

Timothy Johnson & Jonathan Ward, NBBJ

For over 100 years, the tall building has largely advanced in technological innovation; however very little has been done in the terms of understanding the...

05 February 2018

2017: Skyscraper History’s Tallest, Highest- Volume, and Most Geographically Diverse Year

This 2017 Tall Building Year in Review / Tall Buildings in Numbers data analysis report shows that more buildings of 200 meters’ height or greater...

05 February 2018

Applying Ancient Structural Principles To a New Prefabricated Steel System

Derry Yu, Ivan Kong & Michael Lu, New World China Land Limited

Numerous ancient timber structures located in high seismic zones of China are still standing today, long after experiencing strong earthquakes over hundreds of years. One...

01 December 2017

Designing High Performance MEP Systems for Supertall Buildings: A Review of Challenges and Opportunities

Craig Burton, Interface Engineering, Inc.

The design and construction of supertall buildings has grown dramatically in recent years. This area of practice has traditionally fallen within the purview of a...

01 December 2017

Sustainable Design and Its Cost: Case Study of Nanning China Resources Tower

Stephen Y. F. Lai, Rider Levett Bucknall Limited

Sustainability is becoming more and more important in our everyday lives. Thus, it is apparent that more sustainable initiatives are incorporated in a building design...

01 September 2017

Multi-Dimensional Hybrid Design and Construction of Skyscraper Cluster

Aaron J. Wang, CapitaLand China Corporate

Designed by star architect of Moshes Safdie, Raffles City Chongqing includes a total of 6 mega high-rise towers 250 to 380m tall, a sky conservatory,...

01 September 2017

Site | Structure | Architecture – Projects that Create Change

Leo Chow & Mark P. Sarkisian, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

China’s rapid growth has created great opportunities for design and construction of projects that not only transform sites but cities. This work combines local, national,...

08 August 2017

Frontiers in High-Rise Outrigger Design

Hi sun Choi & Leonard M. Joseph, Thornton Tomasetti; SawTeen See, Leslie E. Robertson Associates; Rupa Garai, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

In 2012, CTBUH published the first Outrigger Design for High-Rise Buildings Technical Guide. In 2016, the CTBUH Outrigger Working Group felt it would be beneficial...

08 August 2017

Micro-MACRO Living in the Global High-Rise

Mimi Hoang & Ammr Vandal, nARCHITECTS

What housing models should dense urban cities pursue to address population rise, housing shortages, and changes in demographics? As cities seek to address large discrepancies...

08 August 2017

Ten Significant Tall Buildings, and the Significant Women Behind Them

Leading Women in Tall Buildings

Recently, there has been a growing and overdue recognition in the architecture discipline that women are under-represented, not just in terms of leadership positions held,...

02 June 2017

An Analytical Approach to Measuring the Degree of Urbanity of Urban Building Complexes

Shuchen Xu, Yu Ye & Leiqing Xu, Tongji University

The importance of designing urban building complexes so that they obtain ‘urban’ power, rather than become isolated from the surrounding urban context, has been well...

02 June 2017

Capturing the Underlying Structure of a ‘Segment-line’ City

Michelle Xiaohong Ling, South China University of Technology

Analyzing morphological evolution over a long period of time is deemed an effective way to identify problems occurring in the process of urban development, in...

02 June 2017

Indoor Environmental Quality Improving and Energy Saving Potential of Phase-Change Material Integrated Facades

Qian Jin, Tongji University

The conflict between indoor environmental quality and energy consumption has become an unneglectable problem for highrise office buildings, where occupants’ productivity is highly affected by...

02 June 2017

The Spatial Performance of Multi-Level Shopping Clusters

Wang Haofeng & Rao Xiaojun, Shenzhen University; Zhang Yupeng, Shanghai Construction Design & Research Institute Co.,LTD.

With the intensification of urban development in Chinese cities, mixed land use in urban centers extends vertically into 3-D and expands its scale from a...

02 June 2017

Transport and the Megacity: Improving Vitality with Connectivity

John Prevc, Future Spaces Foundation

There is no easy answer to ensuring the world’s rapid urban population growth is managed sustainably and in a manner that promotes economic growth, social...

01 March 2017

Engineering of Guangzhou International Finance Centre

Michael Kwok & Alexis Lee, Arup

The Guangzhou International Finance Centre (IFC) is a landmark building that symbolizes the emerging international strength of Guangzhou, China’s third largest city. It is also...

01 March 2017

Foundation Differential Settlement Included Time-dependent Elevation Control for Supertall Structures

Xin Zhao, Tongji University; Shehong Liu, Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.

Due to the time-dependent properties of materials, structures, and loads, accurate time-dependent effects analysis and precise construction controls are very significant for rational analysis and...

01 March 2017

Impact of Air-side Economizer Control Considering Air Quality Index on Variable Air Volume System Performance

Sang-Hyeon Cho, Joon-Young Park & Jae-Weon Jeong, Hanyang Univeristy

The objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of a modified air-side economizer in improving indoor air quality (IAQ). An air-side economizer, which...

01 March 2017

Raffles City in Hangzhou China - The Engineering of a ‘Vertical City’ of Vibrant Waves

Aaron J. Wang, CapitaLand Limited

This mixed-use Raffles City (RCH) development is located near the Qiantang River in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, located southwest of Shanghai, China. The...

01 February 2017

From Unseen to Iconic: Contextual Designs For China’s Large-Scale Mixed-Use Complexes

Quanhong Li, CallisonRTKL

As the high-rise phenomenon moves from first- to second- and third-tier cities in China, high-density vertical urban developments are shaping the future identities of these...

01 February 2017

Fusing History and Height in Modern China

Albert Chan, Shui On Group

Albert Chan is the Director of Development Planning and Design at Shui On Land, based in Shanghai. Shui On Land is the developer of several...

10 January 2017

Interactive Study on Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2016

Jason Gabel, Annan Shehadi, Shawn Ursini & Marshall Gerometta, CTBUH

CTBUH has determined that 128 buildings of 200 meters’ height or greater were completed around the world in 2016 – setting a new record for...

01 January 2017

Goldin Financial Global Centre, Hong Kong, China

Situated in Hong Kong's Kowloon Bay, the new central business district in the east part of Kowloon Peninsula, Goldin Financial Goldin Centre stands as the...

01 January 2017

International Youth Cultural Centre, Nanjing, China

Located in the west of Nanjing Jianye Business District along the banks of the Yangtze River, the Nanjing International Youth Cultural Centre development rises as...

17 October 2016

21st Century Vertical Lifestyles - Intergenerational, Integrated Communities

Stephan Reinke, Stephan Reinke Architects Limited

How does the 21st Century youth culture of social media integrate and merge with an ever increasing tech savvy senior population? As our cities and...

17 October 2016

A Cultural Brand’s Journey Toward Building A Better New World

David Ho, New World Development Company Limited

New World Development Company Limited (NWD) has been a listed property developer in Hong Kong for nearly half a century. With businesses encompassing property development,...

17 October 2016

Affordable Housing Under Shaping Dense Vertical Urbanism

Elena Generalova, Viktor Generalov & Natalia Potienko, Samara State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Rapid urbanization causes major problems of urban sprawl and social stratification, and at the same time it opens up new opportunities of shaping dense vertical...

17 October 2016

Alternatives to Supertall Super-Density: Human-Scaled Neighborhoods Within the Megacity

Albert Chan, Shui On Group

The explosive urban growth of China has defied almost every prior notion of human scale. Considering the fact that the nation has more than 150...

17 October 2016

An Integrated Solution to Enable Safe Evacuation of Tall Buildings

Zhen Jia, Murilo Bonilha, Bill Li & Geeta Bora, United Technologies Corporation

Implementing real-time, efficient, and intelligent tall building egresses that ensure human safety in cases of emergencies can be extremely difficult. Most current egress strategies are...

17 October 2016

Are China’s Future Tall Buildings About to Enter a New Age?

Francis Au, Pak Hung Lai & Jim Sheerin, Arcadis

Greater China has experienced unprecedented economic growth, resulting in the development of some of the world’s tallest and most iconic buildings. Many view these engineering...

17 October 2016

Cities to Megacities: Perspectives

CTBUH 2016 Conference Speakers

The CTBUH 2016 International Conference is being held in the three cities of the Pearl River Delta, the world’s largest “megacity,” projected to have 120...

17 October 2016

City Hubs

Keith Griffiths, Aedas

Our lives are adapting to a convenient, vibrant, and connected live-work dynamic, and our cities must change and respond to those new requirements. Much of...

17 October 2016

City of Dreams, Macau: Maintenance Design in Ultra-Complex Structures

Isabella Pallavicini, Gianpaolo Apollonio & Luca Rizzotti, Fly Service Engineering

The issue of developing a safe and efficient access strategy considering the context of a complex shape is addressed. In these cases, all envelope and...

17 October 2016

Climate-Responsive Exterior Enclosure Design

Keith Boswell & Michael Duncan, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

In this paper, three different solutions in three different regions of China illustrate best practices for the design and execution of optimized building enclosure systems....

17 October 2016

Coupling of Urban-Value & Mega High-Rise: Ping An Finance Center

Fang Xie & Xia Ai, CCDI Group

If the city is seen as a giant business, what is driving its market value? The height of the building is clearly one of the...

17 October 2016

Density Our Strength: The Linear City in Practice

Stefan Krummeck & Ben MacLeod, Farrells

Hong Kong is unique as a linear city. More than 7 million people reside, mainly in high-rise buildings, in a series of highly dense coastal...

17 October 2016

Design to Fabrication: Fifth Hotel City of Dreams, Macau

Viviana R. Muscettola, Zaha Hadid Architects

This paper presents the unique collaboration among architects, engineers and contractors for the 5th Hotel at the City of Dreams in Macau. Our methodology centers...

17 October 2016

Designing a Bamboo Shaped Suptertall Tower in Hefei

Guoyong Fu, Dennis Poon, Yi Zhu & Zheng Gui Ma, Thornton Tomasetti

The Evergrande International Financial Center, located in Binhu New Area CBD in Hefei, Anhui Province, China, consists of one iconic108-story, 518m tall tower, one single...

17 October 2016

Do We Need 700 Meter High-Rise Buildings?

Jovi Chu, Shum Yip Land Company Limited

Through analysis of dense urban high-rise building complexes as well as research on the relationship of those structures to a city’s social organization, this paper...

17 October 2016

Engineering Properties of Composite Mega-Columns with Separately Encased Hot Rolled Steel Profiles

Congzhen Xiao & Chen Tao, China Academy of Building Research; Fei Deng, Tsinghua University; et al

This paper presents an experimental study on the behavior of composite mega-columns with separately encased steel profiles. Ten scaled composite columns were designed, including six...

17 October 2016

Exploring Geometry and Form in Tall Buildings

Chris Wilkinson, Wilkinson Eyre Architects

Using four tower designs on four continents – the Guangzhou International Finance Center in China, the Crown Sydney Resort Hotel in Australia, 45 Bay Street...

17 October 2016

Extending the Public Realm Into the Sky

Claude Bøjer Godefroy & Julian Chen, Henning Larsen Architects

The design of tall buildings in our megacities is going through an exciting paradigm shift: globally, we are observing new trends towards greater numbers of...

17 October 2016

Façade Construction in China: Journey to Lean Design

Allan Chung, Gensler; Ivan Mutis, Illinois Institute of Technology

There is a recent trend in the construction industry to implement “lean concepts,” a management strategy based upon the Toyota Production System philosophy. While the...

17 October 2016

From Icon to Community: The Repositioning of the Mega Tower in the City Context

Bryant Lu & Guymo Wong, Ronald Lu & Partners

Historically, mega-towers were frequently labelled “egocentric displays of power,” becoming iconic symbols of a city or an individual. In today’s age of global hyper-urbanization, supertall...

17 October 2016

From Meadows to Megacities: Creating Urban Density in the Pearl River Region

Travis Soberg, Goettsch Partners

The Greater Pearl River Delta region emerged as a result of China’s 1979 reform policies. Within the last 20 years, the GPRD has grown from...

17 October 2016

Green Work Space in High-Rise Building Through Openness and Connection

Zhaoming Wang & Xia Ai, CCDI Group

Five years ago, CCDI put forward the concept of outdoor green work space in the high-rise building. These buildings vertically grew and interconnected with structural...

17 October 2016

Grounded Development an Essential Protocol for Tallness

Francisco Gonzalez-Pulido, JAHN

Tallness is superficial, unless it is literally and physically rooted to the dynamics of context and culture. Tallness has become relevant as our instrument to...

17 October 2016

High Intensity Urban Order

Patrik Schumacher, Zaha Hadid Architects

Density via high-rise structures remains a primary agenda in our era of urban concentration. It is crucial to understand the societal forces that drive concentration:...

17 October 2016

How Big is Too Big? The Implications of Building Tall

May Wei, CallisonRTKL

Advances in technology and engineering have made it feasible to build truly awe-inspiring structures. But as the push to densify increases the pressure to build...

17 October 2016

How High Could Beijing Reach?

Long Ma, Jing Huang & Cheng Hou, BIAD

Can we still save our city? How high can buildings in Beijing arise? Beijing has so many ancient buildings; can they coexist harmoniously with skyscrapers?...

17 October 2016

Humanizing the Giants

Swinal Samant, National University of Singapore

The rise in sustainable skyscrapers and large-scale mixed-use buildings has seen the proliferation of atria and sky-courts worldwide due to their ability to simultaneously contribute...

17 October 2016

ICC – Rising High for the Future of Hong Kong

Tony Tang, Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited

Standing at 484 meters, Sun Hung Kai’s ICC is the tallest building in Hong Kong and currently the 7th tallest in the world. ICC does...

17 October 2016

Integrated Transport Networks, Communities and the Design of Mixed-Use Developments

David Zaballero, Arquitectonica

The paper examines the importance of integrated public and private transportation in mixed-use developments within the city and how this affects and improves our lives....

17 October 2016

Intelligent Advances in Ping An Tower

Wai Ming (Thomas) Tsang, Ping An Financial Centre Construction & Development

This paper presents client requirements on both functional and aesthetic aspects for four mega-scale gates on the Ping An Financial Centre (PAFC) north tower. The...

17 October 2016

Jobsite Safety Management: Potential of Navigated Inspection

Pin-Chao Liao, Xiaoyun Wang & Xinlu Sun, Tsinghua University; Youssef Khalife, United Technologies Corporation

Unsafe behaviors are one of the most critical leading indicators of construction accidents; therefore, timely identification of unsafe behaviors, and understanding the rationale behind them,...

17 October 2016

Major Issues for the Implementation of an Effective Cost Management for Super High-Rise Buildings

Stephen Lai & Wei Qing Wang, Rider Levett Bucknall

Developers of super high-rise buildings in China often engage international designers for preliminary and schematic design, while Local Design Institutes in China are responsible for...

17 October 2016

Mega Size Mixed-Use Projects: Redefining Vertical Urbanism

Dennis Poon & Larry B. Giannechini, Thornton Tomasetti

As the draw to urban centers increases drastically with financial growth and global influence, emerging markets seek to develop salient markers of success and hope....

17 October 2016

Megacities: Setting the Scene

Daniel Safarik, Shawn Ursini & Antony Wood; Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

The rise of the megacity presents unprecedented opportunities to understand the human urbanization phenomenon, and to observe the effects of multicore, polycentric cities growing together...

17 October 2016

Mixed Use Tall Buildings – The Challenges and Benefits of Vertical Urbanization

Samuel So, Colin Dowall & Michael George, JLL

China is the global epicenter of mankind’s mass urbanization and the exploding growth of global cities. China is the unrivaled leader in the development of...

17 October 2016

New World Centre Remodeling – Sustainable Building Design and Next-Generation Mixed-Use Developments

Jeff Tung, New World Development Company Limited

As one of the most concentrated metropolises in the world, Hong Kong developers and architects face some unique challenges on sustainable building design. The Hong...

17 October 2016

Next-Generation Supertall Tower Form Determinants: A Study of the Tianjin CTF Finance Centre

Brian Lee, William Baker, Inho Rhee & Ronald Johnson, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

This paper puts forth the elements of an integrated design approach to mixed-use supertall towers that is based on rationally creative strategies that encourage efficiency,...

17 October 2016

Overcoming MEP and VT System Design Challenges in Three of the Tallest Buildings in China

Vincent Tse, Herbert Lam, Kenneth Li & Michael Sung, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff

This paper will address the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and drainage, and vertical transportation system (MEP/VTS) design challenges encountered during the design development of three unique,...

17 October 2016

Raffles City Chongqing Conservatory: Studies For a New Bridging Building Type

Jeffrey Huggins, Safdie Architects

One of the outgrowths of dense vertical urbanism is the challenge of interconnecting tall buildings at multiple levels in the sky. In order to have...

17 October 2016

Research and Design of a Complex Connected Structure Consisting of Three Super High-Rise Towers

Da-sui Wang, Wen-wei Jiang, Ming-guo Liu & Qi Yu, ECADI

Currently under construction, Golden Eagle Plaza is slated to be the highest rigid-connected building in the world. The building consists of three supertall towers of...

17 October 2016

Shenzhen Shum-Yip Tower One: A Case Study – A-E Integration – A Broad New Vision

Charles Besjak, Gary Haney, Preetam Biswas & Chung Yeon Won, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Conventional legacy systems in the design of supertall towers employ belt trusses, outriggers, and perimeter-bracing to achieve the required tower performance at the expense of...

17 October 2016

Shifting Urban Gravity, from “Central to Core” Business Districts

Tim Blackburn, Swire Properties

In the age of the multi-million inhabitant city, the concept of a single, concentrated Central Business District is increasingly becoming unsustainable. As we are seeing...

17 October 2016

Shifting Urban Gravity, from “Central” To “Core” Business Districts

Tim Balckburn, Swire Properties

In the age of the multi-million inhabitant city, the traditional concept of a single Central Business District (CBD) is becoming increasingly unrealistic. As we are...

17 October 2016

Singularly Slender: Sky Living in New York, Hong Kong, and Elsewhere

Carol Willis, The Skyscraper Museum

This paper highlights a new 21st-century skyscraper typology – the very tall and slender residential tower – and analyzes the economic, engineering, and urbanistic forces...

17 October 2016

Skyscrapers and Skylines: The Case of China

Jason Barr & Jingshu Luo, Rutgers University-Newark

Since 1978, when China instituted economic reforms, cities have embraced skyscraper construction. Despite the importance of these structures, little is understood about what has been...

17 October 2016

SOM and China: Evolving Skyscraper Design Amid Rapid Urban Growth

Scott Duncan & Yue Zhu, SOM

China’s rapid urban and economic growth has challenged designers, engineers, and planners to innovate and collaborate to meet the needs of a changing country. Skidmore,...

17 October 2016

Structural Design Challenges of Minmetals Capital Tower, Shenzhen

SawTeen See, Zhaohui Ding, Edward Roberts & Ma Ge, Leslie E. Robertson Associates

Steel braced frames combined with a concrete services core are widely used in tall building design. To meet the special architectural design challenges in the...

17 October 2016

Structural Performance Upgrading and Optimization of Supertall Residential Buildings

Jiemin Ding, Xin Zhao & Yue Yang, Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.; Liwei Ye, Xiamen Fukang Economic Development Co. Ltd.

Due to huge investment amounts, supertall residential buildings are commonly developed as luxury properties whose building performance requirements are high. Typical requirements include large interior...

17 October 2016

Superdensity: A New Model for Vertical Urbanism

David Tickle, HASSELL; Richard Palmer, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff

Hong Kong has been, for decades, one of the world’s most fascinating urban experiments. In one year alone (following the 2nd world war) the city...

17 October 2016

Tall Buildings and Polycentricity

Greg Yager, Carolien Gehrels & Maren Striker, Arcadis / CallisonRTKL

Dwindling land reserves, water and food shortages, climate change, diminishing air quality, environmental degradation – these are all among the intractable challenges we face in...

17 October 2016

Tall Versus Old? The Role of Historic Preservation in the Context of Rapid Urban Growth

Kate Ascher & Sabrina Uffer, BuroHappold Engineering

As cities aspire to become global metropolises, older low-rise structures are getting torn down to make room for new, often tall, buildings and neighborhoods. What...

17 October 2016

Tencent Seafront Tower – A Case Study on Façade Engineering as Functional Patterns

CK Dickson Wong, Hugh Brennand & Vincent Ng

A methodology that façade engineers commonly use to understand and detail a façade element is to break it down into “functional patterns” – principles that...

17 October 2016

Tencent Seafront Tower: Practice on Binding Buildings

Ping Sun, Shenzhen Tongji Architects

This paper compares the differences between a binding building and a link building, defining the concept of a “Binding Building.” It analyzes the architectural and...

17 October 2016

The Continuous City

Paul Whalen, Grant Marani, Bina Bhattacharyya & Chen-Huan Liao, Robert A.M. Stern Architects

A high-density urban habitat must engage the public in a walkable setting that unfolds as a coherent but multifaceted experience. In our work at a...

17 October 2016

The Design Strategy for Functional, Efficient, Curved Super High-Rise Buildings

Yu Wang, Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tsinghua University

This paper explores the corresponding design strategies of skyscrapers curved figures. It discusses the stacked functions in a single building and presents the methods of...

17 October 2016

The Façade Lighting of Ping An Finance Center

Yuanhuan Meng, Panli Deng, Yongqiang Chao & Linbo Wang, Beijing Fortune Lighting System Engineering Co., Ltd.

Our Company, as the general contractor of the façade lighting engineering for this project, created a series of optimization designs in the process of implementation...

17 October 2016

The Haikou Tower - Signifier and Signified

Martin Henn, HENN

When designing the “Haikou Towers,” our aim was to go beyond an architecture of mere function or form, but to construct an architecture of meaning....

17 October 2016

The Impact of Tech Companies in Rethinking the High-Rise Workplace

Jonathan Ward, NBBJ; Chao (Ivan) Wan, Tencent

Tencent, one of the world’s largest internet companies, is creating a high-rise headquarters in Shenzhen, China that overcomes the challenges of the traditional tall building....

17 October 2016

The Largest Megalopolis in the World: Assessing the Urbanization of the Pearl River Delta

Peter Kindel, Ellen Lou & Lingyue Anne Chen, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

With the world’s urban population expected to increase by roughly 2.5 billion people by 2050, developing an understanding of megalopolises is critical to understanding and...

17 October 2016

The New Super Skinny Skyscraper Trend: Some Wind Engineering Considerations

Stefano Cammelli, Sara Bisio & Yiqing Wang, BMT Fluid Mechanics Ltd.

A new and almost unprecedented model for skyscrapers is currently being explored within the Manhattan real estate market: these are the so-called super slender ultra-luxury...

17 October 2016

The Practice of TOD in the Urban Eco-Renaissance-CADRE Skyscraper & New GZ North Railway Station

Huijing Huang, Guangzhou Design Institute

The scarcity of land in the downtown area, in addition to the deterioration of urban environments, has led to urban sprawl and a lack of...

17 October 2016

The Roots of Tall Buildings: Connecting the City

Peter Brannan, Arquitectonica

This paper investigates the integration of tall tower, mixed-use developments and how they connect with the city and the public when they meet the ground....

17 October 2016

The Space Between: Urban Spaces Surrounding Tall Buildings

James Parakh, City of Toronto Planning Division

This paper is intended to introduce the upcoming CTBUH technical guide titled “The Space Between,” which investigates the importance of publicly accessible spaces surrounding tall...

17 October 2016

The Vertical Renewal of the Megacity

Enfang Liu, Jianing Pan, Dapeng Sun & Youlong You, Shanghai Institute of Architectural Design and Research

This paper elaborates the positive effect and unique advantages of supertall high-rise buildings along with their inherent problems throughout the urbanization of Shanghai, a megacity,...

17 October 2016

The Way for a Super Complex to Make a City More Convenient and Beautiful

Hang Xu, Parkland Real Estate Development; Marianne Kwok, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

Today’s super high-rise buildings not only present the height of buildings, but also play more important roles of integrating into the development of cities, coexisting...

17 October 2016

Towards a Forest City

Stefano Boeri, Stefano Boeri Architects

Shijiazhuang, the capital of the Hebei province in northeastern China, is a metropolis of three million people. It forms part of the immense developing megalopolis...

17 October 2016

Transparency in Urban Environment

Luke Leung, Yue Zhu, Stephen Ray & Adri Jevtic, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

A generation of tall buildings has been dominated by International Style with full height glazing that is often vision glass. Large glass was intended to...

17 October 2016

Transport and the Megacity: Improving Vitality with Connectivity

John Prevc, Make Architects

The world’s urban population already accounts for more than half of the total population and is predicted to rise to 66% by 2050. Given that...

17 October 2016

Unpacking Composite Construction: Global Trends

Terri Boake, University of Waterloo

There has been a marked shift away from the use of steel as the primary structural system that had long been the Western standard for...

17 October 2016

Using Parametric Simulation and GIS to Design a Stormwater Solution for a Chinese Sponge-City

Christopher Drew, Patrick Keeney & Xi Yi, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

One of the predicted effects of climate change in Central China is an increase in precipitation and in extreme rainfall intensity. In 2015, the Chinese...

17 October 2016

Utilization of BIM and Façade Optimization via Computer Technology in a Super High-Rise

Christopher King, New World Development Company Limited; Guan Ting, Gehry Technologies; Yawu Su, China Construction 8th Engineering Division

Tianjin Chow Tai Fook Finance Centre (TJCTF) is a mixed-use development with a total gross floor area (GFA) of 389,980 square meters. This 530-meter-tall building...

17 October 2016

What’s Next?: How Do We Make Vertical Urban Design?

Winy Mass, MVRDV

It seems sometimes as if the further away from the ground we rise, the more architectonic and less urban our buildings become. Skyscrapers have always...

17 October 2016

Wind Induced Structure Responses Study on RCCQ Project

Xiangdong Du, Jon Galsworthy & Greg Thompson, RWDI; Aaron Wang, CapitaLand China

The Raffles City Chongqing project is one of the largest developments in the world. Located between Chao Tian Men Square and Jiefangbei in Yuzhong District,...

16 October 2016

Debating Tall: Regional Governments for Megacities?

James Parakh, City of Toronto Planning Department; Thomas Wright, Regional Plan Association of New York

The 2016 CTBUH Conference, “Cities to Megacities,” explores the phenomenon of already large cities merging together to form megacities, in parallel with many cities and...

01 September 2016

Evolution of Seismic Engineering and Design of Ultra Tall Buildings in China Innovations and Sustainability

Aaron J. Wang, CapitaLand Management

With the booming of construction and property industries in China, the demand for high-rises and mega-scale buildings with more integrated building functions, open- and tailor-shaped...

01 September 2016

The Structural Design of “China Zun” Tower, Beijing

Liu Peng, Cheng Yu & Zhu Yan-Song, Arup

The “China Zun” tower in Beijing will rise to 528 meters in height and will be the tallest building in Beijing once built. Inspired by...

01 June 2016

Exploring Synergistic Effect in Metro Station Areas: A Case Study of Shanghai, China

Yu Zhuang & Lingzhu Zhang, Tongji University

In the process of exploring sustainable development, major cities in China are expanding metro systems as a strategy to reduce the negative environmental and social...

01 June 2016

High-Rise Urban Form and Environmental Performance - An Overview on Integrated Approaches to Urban Design

Feng Yang, Tongji University

High-rise as a building typology is gaining popularity in Asian mega-cities, due to its advantages in increasing volumetric density with limited land resources. Numerous factors...

01 June 2016

Pedestrian Distribution in High-Rise Commercial Complexes

Leiqing Xu, Tongji University; Zhengwei Xia, Changzhou Institute of Technology

One of the key problems in the design of high-rise commercial complex is how to guide reasonable pedestrian distribution in commercial space. In this study,...

01 June 2016

Research on the Effect of High-Rise Commercial Building Construction on Land Value of Shanghai in the 1920s

Le Sun, Tongji University

When the tall office building first appeared in the street of Chicago in the end of Nineteenth Century, this building type has become a commodity...

01 March 2016

The Evolution of Outrigger System in Tall Buildings

Goman Wai-Ming Ho, Arup

The structural efficiency of tall buildings heavily depends on the lateral stiffness and resistance capacity. Among those structural systems for tall buildings, outrigger system is...

04 February 2016

The Other Side of Tall Buildings: The Urban Habitat

Daniel Safarik, CTBUH

A growing number of tall buildings recognized by the CTBUH, through its international awards programs and research, are noteworthy not so much because of their...

19 January 2016

Interactive Study on Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2015

Jason Gabel, Marty Carver & Marshall Gerometta, CTBUH

CTBUH has determined that 106 buildings of 200 meters’ height or greater were completed around the world in 2015 – setting a new record for...

01 December 2015

Deep Foundations for High-Rise Buildings in Hong Kong

James Sze, Arup

Hong Kong is a renowned small city with densely placed skyscrapers. It is no surprise that heavy duty or even mega foundations are built over...

01 December 2015

Numerical Simulation of Temperature Gradients for the Mass Concrete Foundation Slab of Shanghai Tower

Jian Gong & Xiaoping Wu, Shanghai Construction Group; Weijiu Cui & Yong Yuan, Tongji University

Crack control remains a primary concern for mass concrete structures, where the majority of cracking is caused by temperature changes during the hydration process. One-time...

26 October 2015

Base Instincts

Tom Ford & Russell Gilchrist, Gensler

Recent development has included significant advancement in the development of tall buildings. While the design achievement and skyline contributions have been significant, there has been...

26 October 2015

Context, Climate, Culture – Investigating Place in Tall Building Design

Robert Goodwin, Perkins + Will

Should a tower in Moscow look like one in Dubai? Once one entered a city and marveled at the unique magic of its architecture –...

26 October 2015

Dense Urbanism: The High-Rise Tower as a Building Block for the Public Realm

Moshe Safdie & Jaron Lubin, Safdie Architects

Though the skyscraper has been with us for a century, we are yet to discover how to deploy it as an effective building block for...

26 October 2015

Designing a Non-coplanar Exoskeleton Supertall Tower that Transforms the Skyline of Chengdu

Dennis Poon, Yi Zhu, Paul Fu & Jianhai Liang, Thornton Tomasetti

The city of Chengdu is quickly becoming the center for high-rise development in southwest China. The focal point of this new vertical landscape will be...

26 October 2015

Developing Tall Buildings and Urban Spaces, in Japan and Elsewhere

Hiroo Mori, Mori Building Co., Ltd.

Skyscrapers and their surrounding developments are critical factors in determining a city’s global competitive advantage relative to other cities. These building projects are in fact...

26 October 2015

Global Cyclical Resurgence and Clustering of Office Skyscrapers

Sofia Dermisi, University of Washington

Skyscraper development has been linked with financial extremes; this paper explores this relationship by analyzing global construction trends for office skyscrapers with a height of...

26 October 2015

Guiyang World Trade Center: An Essay on the Concrete Tube Structure

Scott Duncan, Brant Coletta & Rami Abou-Khalil, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Yuping Luo, Zhongtian Urban Development Group Co., Ltd

The acute global concern about resource depletion is driving a reconsideration of the tall-building typology. Expectations for energy and material efficiencies are always increasing –...

26 October 2015

High-Density, Mixed-Use Developments and the Guiyang Riverside Theatre Project

Greg Yager, RTKL

Guiyang Riverside Theatre project illustrates the strategies necessary to create responsible and profitable high-density, mixed-use developments that capture the full potential of a site, specifically...

26 October 2015

High-rise construction in Russia: Asian way vs. Middle-Eastern way

Elena Shuvalova, Lobby Agency

A new period of flourishing of high-rise construction in Russia began in the 2000s. The data of this study show that 64% of the tallest...

26 October 2015

ICC Hong Kong: Exemplary Performance

Patrick Leung & Howard Yeung, Sun Hung Kai Properties

The International Commerce Centre (ICC) is a landmark skyscraper located in Hong Kong. It is the tallest building in Hong Kong, with office spaces, fine...

26 October 2015

Integrated and Intelligent Buildings: An Imperative to People, the Planet and the Bottom Line

Kelly Romano, Mead Rusert & Hayden Reeve, United Technologies Corporation

With the impact of urbanization, larger cities, operating pressures and the rise of megatall skyscrapers, today’s new and existing buildings are increasingly being engineered as...

26 October 2015

Interconnectivity of Design and Construction for Complex Towers in Relation to Movement Issues

Mark Lavery, Tim Kelly & Anil Hira

As the trend for complex architectural forms continues, the relationship between design and construction has become ever more interdependent. Where this interdependency was once limited...

26 October 2015

It’s Not About the Skyline, It’s About the Base Condition

Terri Boake, University of Waterloo

The rapid densification of cities is a fairly recent phenomenon and seems in many cases to be progressing without regard to important already established urban...

26 October 2015

Macro-Policy to Micro-Implementation: Responses to China’s Inward Migration in Guiyang’s City Center

Thomas Balsley, Thomas Balsley Associates; Daniel O'Shaughnessy & Collin Koop, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Yuping Luo, Zhongtian Urban Development Group Co., Ltd

Investment in China’s interior has shifted as a result of the 12th Five-Year Plan’s imperative towards medium-size western cities and away from the major coastal...

26 October 2015

Mediating Scale, Performance and Iconicity: A 21st Century Supertall Tower for Guiyang

Yuping Luo, Zhongtian Urban Development Group Co., Ltd; Charles Besjak, Daniel Cashen & Colin Koop, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

A series of challenging site constraints prompted an innovative structural solution for the Guizhou Culture Plaza Tower (GCP), through which a new performance-based expression was...

26 October 2015

New Developments on Stainless Steel Façades with Regard to Reflectance, Corrosion and Aesthetics

Joern Teipel, Outokumpu

Stainless steel is a key material in modern skyscraper architecture, exploiting the material’s sustainability, functionality and aesthetics. After an outline on some general features of...

26 October 2015

Novel High-rise Typologies – Towards Vertical Urbanism

Martin Henn & Moritz Fleischmann, HENN Architekten

How can we translate the urban qualities of the horizontal city into the vertical tower? Here, we present four projects that embody design strategies to...

26 October 2015

Ping An: Insurance and Tall Buildings

Wai Ming (Thomas) Tsang, Ping An Financial Centre Construction & Development; Stephen Yuan, Ping An Casualty & Property Insurance Company of China, Ltd.

The Ping An Finance Center in Shenzhen will become one of the most significant tall buildings in China and the world when completed in 2016....

26 October 2015

Raffles City Chongqing: A Skyscraper City within a Development

Andrew Luong, Michael Kwok, Patrick McCafferty, & Penny Cheung, Arup

Raffles City Chongqing is a comprehensive mixed-use development with an overall gross floor area of approximately 1,100,000 square metres. The development encompasses a transportation hub,...

26 October 2015

Shanghai Tower: Building a Green, Vertical City in the Heart of Shanghai

Jianping Gu, Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd.

The Shanghai Tower establishes a new paradigm for tall buildings and vertical urbanism. Innovation and new technology play a strong role in the superlative aesthetic,...

26 October 2015

The ASeismic Design and Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of a 350m High Braced Steel Frame

Ziguo Xu, Chongcui Ren & Congzhen Xiao, China Academy of Building Research

Using nonlinear time history analysis to investigate the seismic performance of tall building structures has been more widely implemented in recent years as china new...

26 October 2015

The Construction of a High-Rise Development Using Volumetric Modular Methodology

Phillip Gardiner, Irwinconsult

The SOHO Tower is a 29-level modular building in Darwin, in the far north of Australia, a cyclonic region. The building was designed to incorporate...

26 October 2015

The Inevitability of Global Adaptation: Eastern and Western Developers Practicing Internationally

Samuel Luckino & Peter Brannan, Arquitectonica

For architecture and engineering firms serving development clients who build large-scale urban projects in various corners of the world, the effort is often facilitated by...

26 October 2015

Three-dimensional Exterior Bracing Systems for Tall Buildings

Rupa Garai, Mark Sarkisian, Neville Mathias & Andrew Krebs, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

The use of outriggers with and without belt trusses has become an expedient of choice for harnessing the three dimensional potential of tall buildings to...

22 October 2015

Tall Buildings as Extensions Of Urban Infrastructure and Vitality

Peng Du, CTBUH; Zhendong Wang, Tongji University; Elie Gamburg, KPF

This paper reviews the 2014 Network 3D High-Rise Design Studio, which was undertaken by the College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP), Tongji University, with...

01 September 2015

Innovative Technologies and Their Application on the Construction of a 100-Plus-Story Skyscraper

Ye Haowen, China State Construction Engineering Corporation

Experience on the construction of several 100-plus-story skyscrapers including Guangzhou West Tower, Guangzhou East Tower, and Shenzhen’s KK100 is described considering the increasingly strong development...

01 September 2015

The New Structural Design Process of Supertall Buildings in China

Bao Lianjin, Chen Jianxing, Qian Peng, et al., ECADI

By the end of 2014, the number of completed and under-construction supertall buildings above 250 meters in China reached 90 and 129, respectively. China has...

24 August 2015

Climate Change in Hong Kong: Mitigation Through Sustainable Retrofitting

Kevin Wan, Gary Cheung & Vincent Cheng, Arup

Recent reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have raised public awareness of energy use and its environmental implications. There are more than...

24 August 2015

World’s Highest Observation Decks

CTBUH Research

Perhaps no element of a tall building is more closely related to the pure pleasure of standing high in the sky and taking in the...

01 June 2015

Genesis of a Vertical City in Hong Kong

Stephen S. Y. Lau and Qianning Zhang, National University of Singapore and Tongji University

A vertical city with multifunctional land use turns out to be the most viable solution for an urban condition characterized by increasing density due to...

01 June 2015

Research on Vertical Space System of Mixed-Use Complex

Zhendong Wang and Yinpu Wang, Tongji University

As the predominant mode of vertical urban development in China, mixed-use complexes provide the optimal case for the research of sustainable and vertical urbanism. This...

01 June 2015

Townscape in a High-rise: Imageability and Accessibility of Vertical Malls in Hong Kong

Zheng Tan, Tongji University

The increasing integration of public space and consumerism in Hong Kong has yielded new urban forms. The emergent vertical malls in Hong Kong and other...

01 June 2015

Urban Density and the Porous High-Rise: The Integration of the Tall Building in the City

James von Klemperer, Kohn Pedersen Fox

As the skyscraper matures as a building type, its role in actively connecting to, and reinforcing, major threads of urban fabric becomes increasingly more important....

01 March 2015

Structural Health Monitoring of Shanghai Tower Considering Time-dependent Effects

Qilin Zhang, Bin Yang, Tao Liu & Han Li, Tongji University; and Jia Lv, East China Architectural Design & Research Institute Co.

This paper presents the structural health monitoring (SHM) of Shanghai Tower. In order to provide useful information for safety evaluation and regular maintenance under construction...

31 December 2014

Interactive Study on Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2014

Daniel Safarik, Antony Wood, Marty Carver & Marshall Gerometta, CTBUH

An All-Time Record 97 Buildings of 200 Meters or Higher Completed in 2014 and 2014 showed further shifts towards Asia, and also surprising developments in...

06 November 2014

Dream Deferred: Unfinished Tall Buildings

CTBUH Research

Without big dreams, there would be no tall buildings. Conceiving, financing, designing, and constructing a skyscraper is no simple feat, even under the best of...

06 November 2014

From Block to Blob and Back Again

Ben van Berkel, UNStudio

United Network Studio (UN Studio) is a Dutch architecture firm founded in 1988 by Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos, which in the 2000s established...

06 November 2014

The Competition for the Tallest Skyscraper - Implications for Global Ethics and Economics

Christopher Michaelson, University of St. Thomas

An iconic skyscraper has aesthetic significance that may have meaning for other aspects of human experience – serving, for example, as an expression of cultural...

06 November 2014

The Emergence of Asian Supertalls

Jonathan Hsu & Cynthia Chan, CBRE Asia-Pacific Headquarters

Within Asia, a high density of tall buildings is viewed as being synonymous with being a successful financial hub. It is widely believed that constructing...

16 September 2014

“C.I.T.I.E.S.” of the Future: Sinar Mas Center as Exemplar

Toon Ming Chua, Sinar Mas Group - APP China; Eric Schall, SOM

In a rapidly transforming environment, vertical urbanism seems to be the direction most developed and developing nations are pursuing as a result of the demands...

16 September 2014

A Balancing Act for the Curtain-Wall Design

Joe Theodore Khoury, ALT Limited

This chapter provides a general overview of designing the curtain wall system of a high-rise structure. The past years have borne witness to the transformation...

16 September 2014

A Hypothesis in Future Development of High-Rise Buildings in China

Wen Wu, ISA Architecture

The so-called infinite challenge to building height is in fact only a matter of technology, having gradually deviated from people’s consideration concerning the sustainable exploitation...

16 September 2014

A New Level of Integration of Design and Construction Solutions

Dr. Hongyu Li & Frankie Nip, AECOM

The Dazongli mixed use development in the center of Shanghai city encounters an array of challenges which result from existing buildings on site and city...

16 September 2014

A New Skyline Vision: CTF Towers in Guangzhou and Tianjin

Wing Ip (David) Ho, Chung (Eddie) Yuk Fai, Hung (Annie) Lo & De Ming (Derry) Yu, New World Development

This paper presents the thinking behind the design of the two supertall towers of Chow Tai Fook Enterprise– the Guangzhou CTF Finance Center and the...

16 September 2014

A Review of the Structural Performance Monitoring Project

Song Weining, Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd.

Through a comprehensive discussion of the systematic application of structural performance monitoring in construction, operation and maintenance of the Shanghai Tower, the author illustrates that...

16 September 2014

Advantages of Early Design Consultant and Contractor Coordination

The Ping An Finance Center required a tremendous effort to coordinate design/engineering and construction trades. This began very early in the design process and will...

16 September 2014

Analysis of Pile Foundations and Load Tests

Jiangbin Wu, Weidong Wang, Yuting Huang, Xiangjun Wang & Shubo Nie, East China Architectural Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd.

This chapter describes the pile design and the static loading tests of the megatall Suzhou Zhongnan Center tower and its deep basement. Large-diameter and super-long...

16 September 2014

Application of Performance-Based Fire Safety Design

Youdi Shen, Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd.

It is well known that fire problems in super high-rise buildings are common issues throughout the world. Fire technology covers fire prevention, fire suppression, and...

16 September 2014

Belt Truss Stiffness Analysis and Optimization

Li Cao & Guangjing Sha, Zhongnan Construction Group Co., Ltd.; Xin Zhao & Kun Ding, Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.

Megastructures have come into widespread use in supertall buildings in recent decades, due to their high efficiency in satisfying diversified building performance requirements. Belt trusses...

16 September 2014

Beyond Icons: Developing Horizontally in the Vertical Realm

James Robinson, Hongkong Land Limited; Antony Wood, CTBUH

If the horizontal growth of cities is considered unsustainable in terms of land use, infrastructure, energy use and pollution creation, then cities need to grow...

16 September 2014

Building Services as A Force for Achieving Sustainable Vertical Urbanism in China

Malcolm Laverick, AECOM

The introduction of vertical urbanism, with its necessary increase in population density per square kilometer of ground surface area, has a significant impact upon the...

16 September 2014

Case Study: China Zun Tower, Beijing

Robert Whitlock & Li Lei, Kohn Pedersen Fox; Luo Nengjun, CITIC Heye Investment Co. Ltd.; Liu Peng, Arup

China Zun Tower will be the flagship building of Beijing’s comprehensively planned 30-hectare central business district core. The 528-meter-tall tower will stand far above its...

16 September 2014

China Zun: Shaping the Future Skyline of Beijing

Weiping Shao, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design

Due to the site location, China Zun has been a high-profile project from the very beginning. The new height of 528m would make the China...

16 September 2014

Comparative Study of Zhongnan Center Under Earthquake and Wind

Weiguo Chen & Guangjing Sha, Zhongnan Construction Group Co., Ltd.; Xin Zhao, Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.

A comparative study of seismic action and wind loading was conducted for the structural design of the Suzhou Zhongnan Center. The analysis parameters, design methodology...

16 September 2014

Construction Technology and Management Innovation

Zhenfeng Gao & Duanxue Shi, Shanghai Construction Group Co., Ltd.

This project adopts a double glass curtain wall system. A vertical atrium is formed between internal and external curtain walls which cause the external curtain...

16 September 2014

Core Structural Design and Optimization

Guangjing Sha, Zhongnan Construction Group Co.; Xin Zhao & Fang Xu, Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd., Ltd.; Tao Shi, Department of Civil Engineering, Tongji University

Due to its excellent lateral stiffness and space flexibility, the megaframe-core wall structure is widely applied in supertall buildings. The efficiency of the central service...

16 September 2014

Cost Planning and Control

Kenneth Kwan, Rider Levett Bucknall Ltd.

This chapter looks at the major cost drivers of tall buildings such as the overall design planning, foundation and substructure, structure, façade, architectural works, interior...

16 September 2014

Curtain-Wall System Design

Zhijun He, Jiemin Ding & Jiupeng Li, Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.

A unique flexible suspended curtain wall support structure (CWSS) was ultimately developed to suit the exterior curtain wall system of Shanghai Tower. Because of the...

16 September 2014

Design and Environmental Protection Measures During Excavation

Qiping Weng, R.B. Liu, Weidong Wang & Z.H. Wu, East China Architectural Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd.

The total foundation pit area of the Suzhou Zhongnan Center is 26,260 square meters and is divided into two areas: one area consists of five...

16 September 2014

Design Challenges of the 3 Tallest Buildings in North/ East/ South China

Kam Chuen (Vincent) Tse, Lung Wai (Herbert) Lam, Sheung Lai (Eddie) Leung & Leung Wing (Daniel) Ho, Parsons Brinckerhoff

This paper describes the MEP and VTS design challenges of the tallest buildings in three major cities in China; namely, Beijing, Suzhou and Guangzhou. The...

16 September 2014

Design for Vertical Habitation

Jun Xia, Elizabeth Michalska, Wendy Wong & Raymon Chen, Gensler

This chapter describes the main principles behind the architectural design of the building. Its architectural expression and functional organization achieve not only iconic landmark status,...

16 September 2014

Designing a High-Performance Sustainable Megatall

Sai Yau (Vincent) Cheng, Chun Kuen (Jimmy) Tong & Wai Ho Leung, Arup

This chapter summarizes the characteristics of high-rise development and related considerations on building energy during design. The chapter introduces the Shenzhen Ping An Finance Center...

16 September 2014

Designing a Megatall for Lateral Stability and Settlement

Dennis Poon, Yi Zhu, Guoyong (Paul) Fu & Zhenggui Ma, Thornton Tomasetti

As a megatall building, Suzhou Zhongnan Center will need an efficient lateral system to withstand high wind and seismic loads. A unique “Core-Outrigger-Megaframe” lateral system...

16 September 2014

Designing China’s Tallest: DNA of the Ping An Finance Center

David Malott, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

The Ping An Finance Center is the next generation of the prototypical Asian skyscraper: megatall, hyper-dense, and highly connected. Encoded in the design of PAFC...

16 September 2014

Economical & Efficient Structural Solutions

Dennis Poon, Yi Zhu, Steve Pacitto & Steve Zuo, Thornton Tomasetti Inc.

With the completion of the Ping An Finance Center (PAFC) in 2016, one of the tallest towers in China and the world will be unveiled....

16 September 2014

Elevator Systems and Elevator Evacuation Design

Xiaomei Lee, Frederick Liu & Liming Zhou, Gensler; Steve Edgett, Edgett Williams Consulting Group, Inc.

Because supertall and megatall buildings are a very recent phenomenon, there are no specific building codes written for them. For any building over 50 stories,...

16 September 2014

Emerging Urbanization and High-Rise Design Philosophy in China

Junjie Zhang, ECADI

This paper analyzes the latest exploration of international urbanization developments, as well as the development of China’s urbanization strategy and policy background. It compares the...

16 September 2014

Engineering Contractor Management

Jian Zhong & Zhengkai Huang, China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Second Installation Company

Megatall high-rise projects face difficulties that require innovative solutions in terms of material coordination, allocation of labor resources, large massing, complex multi-system engineering, noise control,...

16 September 2014

Greenland Group’s Perspective on Commercial Space in High-Rise Buildings

Zhaohui Jia, Jing Hu & Min Tang, Greenland Group

This article will focus on the hybrid development trend of commercial spaces in Ultra High-Rise buildings during the urbanization process in China. The case studies...

16 September 2014

High-Performance Floor System Design

Xin Zhao, Kun Ding, Fang Xu & Rong He, Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.

The floor system is important part of a supertall building structure. It not only supports the vertical load, but also connects the lateral-load resisting system...

16 September 2014

Introduction of MEP Technologies

Zhenghong Liu, Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd.

This chapter explains that, in addition to Shanghai Tower’s peculiar height and unique architectural style, the project also targets a Green 3-Star and a LEED...

16 September 2014

Key Aspects of Construction Management

Tak Hung Yung, Shenzhen Ping An Finance Center Construction & Development Co., Ltd.

In general, construction management embraces topics such as programs, progress, quality control, and construction methods, all of which somehow correlate to each other. During the...

16 September 2014

Key Construction Technologies

Yuqi Zhou, Ruohui Sun, Gang Xue & Qiang Zuo, China Construction First Division Group Construction & Development Co., Ltd.

This chapter introduces the key technologies for the structural construction of the Ping An Finance Center from six perspectives regarding the deep foundation pit, large...

16 September 2014

Learning From 50 Years of Hong Kong Skybridges

James Robinson, Hongkong Land

Hongkong Land was instrumental in developing Hong Kong’s famous network of skybridges between buildings. CTBUH Editor Daniel Safarik spoke to James Robinson, Executive Director of...

16 September 2014

Learning from Hong Kong: Why High Density TODs Spell the Future for Asia’s Most Populous Cities

Bryant H.Y. Lu, Andy K.M. Leung & Anthony M.C. Cheung, Ronald Lu & Partners

The paper utilizes examples in Hong Kong and Shanghai to demonstrate why high- density Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs) spell the future for Asia’s most populous cities....

16 September 2014

Making the World’s Greenest Tall Building

Jihong Han & Hongwu Fan, Shanghai Research Institute of Building Sciences

Shanghai Tower is poised to become the world’s tallest green building after receiving the Chinese 3-star green building design label and the U.S. LEED-CS Gold...

16 September 2014

MEP Design Challenges

Kam Chuen (Vincent) Tse, Lung Wai (Herbert) Lam, Ho-Yin (Vincent) Leung & Yong Mao, Parsons Brinckerhoff

The Suzhou Zhongnan Center is a megatall building of a mixed-used nature, including international Grade-A offices, a seven-star hotel, an observation deck, deluxe apartments, small-office...

16 September 2014

Multi-Constrained Outrigger Optimization

Moukui Xu & Muyuan Yang, Zhongnan Construction Group Co., Ltd.; XinZhao, Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.; Xiang Jiang, Department of Civil Engineering, Tongji University

The outrigger system has been widely employed as an innovative and efficient structural lateral-load resisting system in supertall buildings in recent decades. The optimization of...

16 September 2014

Performance Based Design and Optimization

Jiemin Ding, Xin Zhao, Kun Ding & Fang Xu, Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.

Performance-based structural design often includes performance requirements for safety (structural safety, fire safety, earth quake resistance and so on), health, serviceability, energy efficiency and environmental...

16 September 2014

Ping An Finance Center: The Development and Construction of a Megatall

Wai Ming (Thomas) Tsang, Shenzhen Ping An Financial Center Construction & Development

The extraordinary megatall tower adopts extraordinary shape-optimization techniques and requires unprecedented levels of coordination to achieve its unique form.

16 September 2014

Power, Elevator and Customer-Oriented Sustainability Strategies

Tony Lau, J. Roger Preston Limited

Being a world-class skyscraper with international corporate tenants, reliable power supply, expedient elevatoring service and customer-oriented sustainability pose formidable challenges on a building like PAFC....

16 September 2014

Practical Application of BIM Technology

Bin Zhao, Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd.

Using Shanghai Tower as an example, this chapter introduces the effective applications of BIM technology in project design and construction along with the positive results...

16 September 2014

Project Management Outline and Challenges

Wing Kan (Ken) Wong, Wai Ming (Thomas) Tsang & Qi Ming (Andy) Liang, Shenzhen Ping An Finance Center Construction & Development Co., Ltd.

Design requirements between skyscrapers of 600 meters and 300 meters high are different, including construction costs, construction speed, construction technology, quality control and assurance, and...

16 September 2014

Property Management: Moving Towards Sustainable Vertical Urbanism

Xiaobo Chen, Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd

As the highest tower in Shanghai, and at the forefront of a new generation of supertall towers nationwide, Shanghai Tower will anchor the city’s Lujiazui...

16 September 2014

Relationship Between Periods and Structural Heights

Congzhen Xiao, Peifu Xu & Jianhui Li, China Academy of Building Research

Natural vibration period is an important parameter for a high-rise building; based on four hundred and fourteen high-rise buildings that are existing or have passed...

16 September 2014

Research on a Vertical Space System of the Mixed-use Complex

Zhendong Wang, Yinpu Wang & Qiang Hu, Tongji University

As the key method and important way to realize the vertical urban development in China, the mixed-use complex becomes the real case for the research...

16 September 2014

Rethinking Skyscrapers in China and Elsewhere

Hayano Yosuke & Cheng Ye, MAD Architects

The rapid process of urbanization in China is more striking and archetypal than anywhere else in the world, and the practical problems arising from it...

16 September 2014

Seismic Action Reduction in Supertall Building Design

Chunhe (Henry) Li & Yiyuan Zhang, Buro Happold

Per building design practice in China, structural engineer will carry on more detailed analysis in design development stage when schematic design is approved. For a...

16 September 2014

Shanghai International Financial Center: Future City Vision

Sergio Valentini & Francisco Gonzalez-Pulido, JAHN

JAHN’s Archi-Neering –integrated design approach- is broadly displayed in the future Shanghai International Financial center, in Pudong, which consist of 3 towers physically connected by...

16 September 2014

Shanghai Tower: Building a Green, Vertical City in the Heart of Shanghai

Jianping Gu, Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd.

The Shanghai Tower establishes a new paradigm for tall buildings and vertical urbanism. This paper provides an overview of the strong role that innovation and...

16 September 2014

Shaping the Environment of the Urban Complex from the Urban Point of View

Peter Kok, Shum Yip Land Company Limited

This paper begins with a discussion of the relationship between “architecture, environment and people” and suggests that the shaping of the environment in urban-complex projects...

16 September 2014

Stainless-Steel Cladding

Dr. Jörn Teipel & Gert Weiss, Outokumpu EMEA GmbH

Especially during the last 20 years, stainless steel has become an approved and much-valued cladding material for sophisticated architecture. This chapter introduces the embossed stainless...

16 September 2014

Structural Design Challenges

Yi Zhu, Dennis Poon, Paul Fu & Zhenggui Ma, Thornton Tomasetti

Built on soft soils, Suzhou Zhongnan Center relies on concrete bored piles with post-grouting to support the massive tower. An efficient lateral system, namely the...

16 September 2014

Study on Lateral-Load Resisting Efficiency of Mega-Frame Structures Above 450M

Jiemin Ding, Honglei Wu, Yue Zhang & Xin Zhao, Tongji Architectural Design (Group)

Super high-rise buildings will cost large natural resources and social energy which results in their sustainable development as one of the most important issues including...

16 September 2014

Sustainability Strategy

Li Jun Cao, Environmental Market Solutions, Inc.; Hai Tao Li, Zhongnan Group

This chapter explores methodologies and approaches for achieving sustainable design for megatall buildings, through the review of various sustainable design elements that will be implemented...

16 September 2014

Sustainable Vertical Urban Agglomeration

Enfang Liu, Jianing Pan, Dapeng Sun & Ying Liu, ISA Architecture

This paper, with the project case designed by Institute of Shanghai Architectural Design & Research (Co. Ltd.), from the agglomerate character of the development of...

16 September 2014

Suzhou Zhongnan Center: Rising Above Engineering Challenges

Dong Shen, Zhongnan Group

Suzhou is only 30 minutes by train from Shanghai, but has a rich history and identity all its own, soon to be augmented by the...

16 September 2014

Taipei 101: Tall Building Operation Towards Sustainability

Cathy Yang, Taipei Financial Center Corporation

To take TAIPEI 101 TOWER as an example that will showcase the various aspects of managing a tall building, satisfying tenant requirements, stakeholders expectations, and...

16 September 2014

Tall Building Seismic Design Case Study per China and U.S. Codes

Shaw (Xiaozhe) Zhang, Jorge Rivera, Aldrin Orue & Lin Han, KPFF Consulting Engineers

A sound structural design for buildings is important to make a seismic resilient society, especially for future cities with an increasing population density. A technologically...

16 September 2014

The Application and Management of BIM

Fang Xie & Jiang Qian, CCDI Group

BIM is increasingly being used in the architecture and engineering industries. Its three-dimensional representation, digital information management, as well as the platform model-sharing mode, brings...

16 September 2014

The Construction Supervision Process

Yadong Li, Haochuan Lang, Jing Sun & Xiangdong Xu, Shanghai Jianke Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd.

This chapter summarizes innovative management methods in the construction supervision process of Shanghai Tower, outlining the implementation process and application results. It includes key steps...

16 September 2014

The Core Concept Behind the Bund Finance Center

Yang Wu & Lynn K. Lin, Bund Finance Center

Only architecture infused with culture can give a city its soul. We underpin sustainable concepts with a respect for history and culture to avoid ending...

16 September 2014

The Evolution of Building Evacuation Design in China

Fang Li, James Antell & Martin Reiss, RJA Group

As a result of the events of September 11th and other natural and man-made disasters, building owners, designers and fire officials have become increasingly aware...

16 September 2014

The Making of a Vertical Intelligent Community Through Information Systems

Qi Hu, Jiankun Information and Technology Co., Ltd.

Shanghai Tower is devoted to creating a vertical intelligent community. From the detailed demands of the stakeholders, the owner’s team clarified the direction of intelligent...

16 September 2014

The Parametric Design of Shanghai Tower’s Form and Façade

Jun Xia & Michael Peng, Gensler

The Shanghai Tower was only made possible by using innovative design ideas, integrated technology, and advanced tools. This paper is centered around the project as...

16 September 2014

The Passive Design of High-Rise Envelope

Jie Zhang & Jia Yin, Shanghai Elite Façade Consultants

From the perspective of the application of the high-rise envelope technology, this paper attempts to quantify the effectiveness of passive measures, and provide the adequate...

16 September 2014

The Payoff for Investing in the Human Experience

Benedict Tranel & Xiaomei Lee, Gensler

In this chapter, Shanghai Tower is introduced along side The Tower at PNC Plaza, to posit that economic propositions for double-façade design solutions must go...

16 September 2014

The Public Meaning of Skyscrapers: Shenzhen Stock Exchange and CCTV

David Gianotten, Rem Koolhaas & Sylvia Chan, OMA

Through the designs of Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, the paper illustrates the potential of skyscrapers in creating public meaning. This...

16 September 2014

The Structural Health Monitoring System

Qiusheng Li & Yinghou He, City University of Hong Kong; Wang Hui & Kailin Ju, Hunan University

A sophisticated and comprehensive structural health monitoring (SHM) system was designed to monitor the Ping An Finance Center (PAFC)’s continuous static and dynamic response to...

16 September 2014

Unique Structural Design Aspects

Yi Zhu, Dennis Poon, Qing (Steve) Zuo & Paul Fu, Thornton Tomasetti Inc.

This chapter discusses the unique structural solutions for the 632m tall Shanghai Tower. An innovative “Core-Outrigger-Mega Frame” lateral system is adopted to meet China’s conservative...

16 September 2014

Urban Density and the Porous High-Rise: The Integration of the Tall Building in the City

James von Klemperer, Kohn Pedersen Fox

As the skyscraper matures as a building type, its role in actively connecting to, and reinforcing, major threads of urban fabric becomes increasingly more important....

16 September 2014

Urban Mega-Structure – Vertical Landscape of Hangzhou Civic Center

Linxue Li & Jie Wu, Tongji University

Based on the design practice of Hangzhou civic center, the paper defines the “Urban Megastructure”, a new typology for the urban high-rise known as super...

14 September 2014

Towards Sustainable Vertical Urbanism

Daniel Safarik, CTBUH

The survival of humanity on this planet relies on a radical repositioning of our cities. In the face of unprecedented global population growth, urbanization, pollution...

01 September 2014

Innovative High Efficient Construction Technologies in Super High Rise Steel Structure Buildings

Lixian Dai & Biao Liao, China Construction Steel Structure Corporation

The super high rise building construction is characterized by a large quantity of engineering works and structural components, high demanding of construction technology and complex...

11 June 2014

Highest Helipads

CTBUH Research

In this installment of Tall Buildings in Numbers, CTBUH considers how helipads are used on skyscrapers, and which are the highest in the world. The...

01 June 2014

Case Study: Pearl River Tower, Guangzhou

Richard Tomlinson II, William Baker, Luke Leung, et al. Skidmore Owings & Merrill

SOM’s design for the 71-story Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou, China, was selected in a 2005 competition. The 309-meter-tall high-performance building was designed with energy...

01 June 2014

Structural System Selection and Highlights of Changsha IFC T1 Tower

Zhou Jianlong, Lu Daoyuan, Huang Liang, et al.

This paper presents the determination of the structural system of the Changsha IFC T1 tower with 452 m in architectural height and 440.45 m in...

01 March 2014

Relationship between Natural Vibration Periods and Structural Heights for High-rise Buildings in China

Peifu Xu, Congzhen Xiao & Jianhui Li, China Academy of Building Research

Natural vibration period is an important parameter for high-rise building, Based on 414 high-rise buildings completed or passed over-limit approval in China, the distribution law...

26 February 2014

The New Context of Tall

Rem Koolhaas & David Gianotten, OMA

On the occasion of receiving the Best Tall Building Worldwide award at the 12th Annual CTBUH Awards Symposium and Dinner for CCTV Headquarters, Beijing, Rem...

31 December 2013

Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2013

Daniel Safarik, Antony Wood, Marty Carver & Marshall Gerometta, CTBUH

By all appearances, the small increase in the total number of tall-building completions from 2012 into 2013 is indicative of a return to the prevalent...

01 November 2013

Designing Tall Buildings to Promote Physical Activity in China

Kristen Day & Mariela Alfonzo, Polytechnic Institute of New York University; Zhan Guo, New York University; Lin Lin, East China Normal University

This study asks the question: how do the design of tall buildings and tall building districts impact walking and bicycling in Chinese cities? Little is...

30 October 2013

Debating Tall: Is Sky City's Prefabricated Approach Viable for the Future of Megatall Buildings?

Bob Lang, Arup; Ken Shuttleworth & Paul Scott, Make

At the CTBUH London Conference in June 2013, Chairman Zhang Yue of Broad Group presented on Sky City, the next-planned world’s tallest building, to be...

01 September 2013

Field Measurements of the New CCTV Tower in Beijing

Y. L. Xu & Y. Xia, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; S. Zhan, H. Xia & N. Zhang, Beijing Jiaotong University

The emergence of a growing number of tall buildings, often with unusual shapes and innovative structural systems, has led to the realization of the need...

01 June 2013

The Chinese Performance-based Code for Fire-resistance of Steel Structures

Guo-Qiang Li & Chao Zhang, Tongji University

In the past two decades, researchers from different countries have conducted series of experimental and theoretical studies to investigate the behaviour of structures in fire....

01 March 2013

Shaking Table Model Test of Shanghai Tower

Xilin Lu, Yuanjun Mao, Wensheng Lu & Liping Kang, Tongji University

Shaking table test is an important and useful method to help structural engineers get better knowledge about the seismic performance of the buildings with complex...

01 February 2013

Fire Safety Strategies for Supertall Buildings in Hong Kong

Wan-ki Chow, Nai-kong Fong, Che-heng Lui, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; et al.

In the course of updating fire safety standards in Hong Kong, an array of fire safety issues in supertall buildings were found, raising concerns about...

13 January 2013

Guangzhou International Finance Center, China

The Guangzhou International Finance Center is not only recognised as the tallest building in Guangzhou, but one of the most beautiful. A triangular base supports...

13 January 2013

International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong

As the tallest building in Hong Kong, the International Commerce Centre is an icon, not only for its scale, but also for its iconic ‘dragon...

13 January 2013

Pearl River Tower Guangzhou, China

Acknowledged as the world’s most energyefficient ‘green’ building, the gently curved Pearl River Tower is constantly in the public spotlight and media. Architects Skidmore, Owings...

13 January 2013

Shanghai World Finance Center, China

At the time of completion in 2008, the Shanghai World Finance Center was the tallest skyscraper in China, with the tallest observation deck in the...

31 December 2012

Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2012

Kevin Brass, Antony Wood & Marty Carver, CTBUH

For the first time in six years the number of tall buildings completed annually around the world declined as the effects of the global financial...

01 December 2012

Considerations of Sustainable High-rise Building Design in Different Climate Zones of China

Kevin K. W. Wan, Man-Him Chan, and Vincent S. Y. Cheng, Arup

Buildings, energy and the environment are key issues that the building professions and energy policy makers have to address, especially in the context of sustainable...

01 December 2012

One of the Architecture World’s Fast Rising Stars has BIG Plans for Designing Tall Buildings

Bjarke Ingels, Bjarke Ingels Group

OMA alumnus Bjarke Ingels has made a name for his Bjarke Ingels Group with innovative, paradigm-busting projects that blend nature and functionality with new twists...

01 December 2012

The Structural Design of Tianjin Goldin Finance 117 Tower

Peng Liu, Goman Ho, Alexis Lee, et al, Arup

Tianjin Goldin Finance 117 tower has an architectural height of 597 m, total of 117 stories, and the coronation of having the highest structural roof...

01 November 2012

A Proposal to Create an Energy-Producing Megatall for Kunming, China

Thomas Kraubitz, Buro Happold

China’s fast-growing urban population and need for sustainable energy sources require alternative development ideas. The Krafthaus, which combines an energy-producing solar tower with an environmentally...

09 October 2012

Insider’s View on Navigating Approval Process for Buildings in China

Brian Lee, SOM

Brian Lee, lead designer for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, discusses the complexities of designing buildings in China and the challenges of the approval process.

23 September 2012

Case Study: Greenland's Suzhou Center, Wujiang

Ross Wimer, William Baker, Mark Nagis & Aaron Mazeika, SOM

At 358 meters, Greenland Group Suzhou Center marks the Wujiang waterfront with an aerodynamic form that has a unique presence, while accommodating its program with...

23 September 2012

The Tallest 15 Cities in China

CTBUH Research

With over 1.3 billion citizens and a rapidly urbanizing population, China is developing tall buildings more than any other country globally. Currently it has 239...

21 September 2012

30 Years in China: An Architect/Developer’s Perspective

John Portman, John Portman & Associates

The Portman Companies were one of the first foreign entities to establish business relations in China, and have since become recognized for quality building design...

21 September 2012

Asia Agenda

Ole Scheeren, Büro Ole Scheeren

With Asia’s unparalleled and continued pace of growth fueled by economic development, the world order has shifted eastwards, and China has risen as the defining...

21 September 2012

Considering Place in an Integrated Approach to Tall Building Design

Brian Lee, William Baker & Luke Leung, SOM

The rapid development of modern Chinese cities has provided designers and developers with unique opportunities to create architecture that either responds to its existing context...

21 September 2012

Shanghai Tower: Re-Thinking the Vertical City

Jian Ping Gu, Shanghai Tower Construction & Development

The construction of the Shanghai Tower breaks through conventional design methods and explores the possibilities of future supertall architectural approaches. These approaches bring the project...

20 September 2012

A Tale of Tier Two Cities

Jimmy Cheung, Eton Properties; Timothy Johnson, NBBJ

The migration of Chinese residents to cities presents great challenges and opportunities. Large developments near the city core represent the best solution to the challenges...

19 September 2012

20 Years of High-Rise Fire Safety: From Jin Mao to Kingdom Tower

James H. Antell, RJA; Peter A. Weismantle, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

This paper will discuss the evolution of fire safety concepts in the recent generation of high rise buildings starting with “early” 1990’s designs in China...

19 September 2012

3 Environments, 3 Programs, 3 Solutions

Paul De Santis & Travis Soberg, Goettsch Partners

The effects of climate change, increased population, and lack of natural resources are global issues. As the world continues to consolidate into regional urban centers,...

19 September 2012

A 21st Century Vision for Chinese Cities

Philip Enquist, SOM

This overview of contemporary city planning in China will address a range of challenges facing urban areas today: rapid urbanization, energy demands, air pollution, water...

19 September 2012

A New Approach to Green Urban Development in Asia

Jeffrey Heller, Heller Manus Architects

Development in China has presented an opportunity for a new paradigm in the creation of large-scale, low-carbon /carbon-neutral high-rise, mixed-use urban centers. Two projects, one...

19 September 2012

A Sustainable Solution For Urbanization In China

Christopher Drew, Dennis Rehill, Keara Fanning & Adrian Smith, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

This paper presents a design solution for a new high density vertical City in China for 100,000 residents sharing a live-work environment. The built up...

19 September 2012

Advanced Supertall Building Design in Hot-Summer and Cold- Winter Climates

Jianqiang Li, ISA Architecture

Climate adaptive design is a prerequisite for designing sustainable tall buildings. With rapid globalization and urbanization, different kinds of techniques and technologies developed abroad are...

19 September 2012

An Overview of Modern Supertall Development in China

Junjie Zhang, ECADI

Modern supertall buildings have become one of the vital icons in economic development and urbanization progress in mainland China as well as one of the...

19 September 2012

BIM Applications in the Shanghai Tower Construction

Qing Ge, Shanghai Tower Construction & Development

The construction of supertall mixed-use projects is a complex and integrated activity which has been a big challenge to construction management due to its wide...

19 September 2012

Building Information Modeling: An Innovative Process for Better Integration

Jun Su, ISA Architecture

This article based on the analysis of the constraints of traditional 2D design and construction to current architectural creation and production quality. It summarizes BIM...

19 September 2012

Case Study: Shanghai IFC

Edward Chan & Wing Leung, AECOM

Shanghai ifc, a landmark mixed-use development located in the heart of Lujiazui, Shanghai includes a 250-meter multi-function tower (South Tower), a 260-meter office tower (North...

19 September 2012

CFD Simulation of Urban Pedestrian Wind Comfort Optimization in a High-Rise Building Cluster – A Case Study

Kuishan Li & Feng Wang, ECADI Co. Ltd; Haisong Yang & He Li, Tianjin innovative Finance Investment Co. Ltd.

Wind comfort for pedestrians is concerned in urban planning, especially for high-rise building clusters. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is widely used to predict...

19 September 2012

Comparative Study of the Urban Complex in Shanghai and Hong Kong

Zhendong Wang & Jianduan Chen, Tongji University

The paper analyzes the financial value, space value and urban value of the urban building complex in Shanghai and Hong Kong through three levels: direct...

19 September 2012

Debating Tall: Is China's Property Bubble Ready to Burst?

KK Fung, JLL; Tianlun Jian, Economist

Soaring prices led many analysts to predict that a bubble was forming in China's housing industry prompted government measures to dampen the market. This quarter's...

19 September 2012

Developing High Profile Branded Commercial Projects in China

Jerry Yin, SOHO

As one of the largest developers of commercial projects in China, SOHO China helped pioneer the concept of large-scale master-planned developments in Beijing, each with...

19 September 2012

From Jin Mao to Kingdom: Search for an Asian Supertall Vernacular

Adrian Smith, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

The paper traces the evolution of Mr. Smith’s career as a designer of supertall buildings, the Jin Mao Tower (1999) to Kingdom Tower, to be...

19 September 2012

Geographical and Cultural Characteristics of Super High-Rises

Chunni Zhou & Yanbin Liang, Architectural Design and Research Institute of Guangdong Province

The Dong Ping New City Business Center’s design notion emphasizes the mixture of architecture and local culture by integrating traditional Chinese Sky Lanterns at the...

19 September 2012

Guangzhou Finance Centre: An Elegant Simplicity of Form

Chris Wilkinson, Wilkinson Eyre Architects Ltd

The design for the Guangzhou International Finance Centre makes the case for a high rise aesthetic that aims for an elegant simplicity, but expresses the...

19 September 2012

Haihang International Plaza, Tower A, Main Building’s Supertall Structural Design

Fujiang Xu & Ping Sheng, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design

The Main Building of Tower A of the Haihang International Plaza is a 54-story out-of-code supertall structure which uses a CFST (Concrete-Filled Steel Tube) structure...

19 September 2012

High-Rise Construction Risk Control Technology and Management

Yadong Li, Yu Huang, Haochuan Lang & Wenxin Zhai, Shanghai Jianke Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd

According to the characteristics of the Shanghai Tower, this paper will study construction risks in the construction process by means of WBS and RBS methods...

19 September 2012

Holistic Considerations for Sustainable Tall Building Design in China

Vincent Cheng & Kevin Wan, Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd

Supertall structures will always be iconic elements at any location. Accompanied by the growth of building technology and urbanization, tall and supertall buildings have emerged...

19 September 2012

Key Technologioes in the Structure of Shanghai Tower

Jian Gong, Shanghai Construction Group Co. Ltd; Hong Zhou, Shanghai No.1 Construction Co. Ltd

As the tallest building in China and the second tallest building in the world, Shanghai Tower is a high-rise building with complicated structures which are...

19 September 2012

Mitsubishi Elevator Equipment in Shanghai Tower

Ikuo Nakazawa, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Inazawa Works

Shanghai Tower has a height of more than 600 meters above the ground and consists of five zones of skirt building zone, office zone, hotel...

19 September 2012

New Construction Technologies in Tianjin Jinta Mansion

Yaohui Yang, Junfeng gao & Jing Wang, China Construction First Division Group Construction & Development Co., Ltd.

The 73-story and 336.9 meter Tianjin Jinta Mansion is the tallest building in the world designed to apply concrete filled steel tube columns and pure...

19 September 2012

Overview of Performance-Based Seismic Design of Building Structures in China

Guo-Qiang Li, Yan-Bin Xu & Fei-Fei Sun, Tongji University

The development history, the current situation and the future of performance-based seismic design in China are presented. The evolution of performance-based seismic design specified in...

19 September 2012

Ping An Finance Center: Pioneering China’s Tallest – Efficiencies of Form and Structures

David Malott & Zhizhe Yu, KPF; Dennis Poon & Torsten Gottlebe, Thornton Tomasetti

Upon completion in 2015, the Ping An Finance Center - set to become the second tallest structure in the world and the tallest in China...

19 September 2012

Shanghai Tower’s Versatile Energy Management System

Zhongli Chen & Lei Shi, ISA Architecture

This paper will discuss the idea of controlling and managing the central air conditioning system of skyscrapers during the entire building life cycle. Taking the...

19 September 2012

Spatially Suspending and Twisting Curtain walls' Design Essential

Bao Li Gao Meng Gen, Shuguo Zhao, Yongjun Li & Hang Liu, Shenyang Yuanda Aluminium Industry Engineering Co.,Ltd.

The Shanghai Tower exterior curtain wall has a complex twisting form with a multi-level flexible suspended support system. The curtain wall design is unique and...

19 September 2012

Structural Design Challenges of Shanghai Tower

Yi Zhu, Dennis Poon, Steve Zuo & Guoyong Fu, Thornton Tomasetti

This paper discusses the structural challenges and solutions of the 632m tall Shanghai Tower. A unique “Core-Outrigger-Mega Frame” lateral system is used to meet China...

19 September 2012

Structural Design of Sino Steel International Plaza

Xue Yi Fu, Ying Gao, Ying Zhou & Xiangbing Yang, CCDI

Sino Steel (Tianjin) International Plaza has the first worldwide application of hexagonal grid structure system as its exterior tube of this super high building.

19 September 2012

Supertall Building Difficulties and Control Points

Zhao Hui Jia & Min Tang, Greenland Group

This paper takes the world’s seventh supertall, Zifeng Tower, as an example and integrates the authors’ management experiences in more than ten supertall buildings in...

19 September 2012

Supertall Building Pile-Raft Foundation Designs on Soft Soil

Chao Si & Wenhui Jiang, Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd; Yong Cui & Jianlong He, Tongji University

The design improvements and optimizations of super high-rise building pile-raft foundations on soft soil have been made as below: considerations of the impact in the...

19 September 2012

The New Value of Placemaking and Icon for Mixed-Use in China

Ming Zhang, MulvannyG2 Architecture

Attracting more than 1.3 billion consumers while leveraging limited land and resources, mixed use developments with noteworthy high-rise towers have become the standard development convention...

19 September 2012

The Parametric Design of Shanghai Tower's Form and Façade

Jun Xia & Michael Peng, Gensler

The most sustainable super-tall tower in the world was only made possible by using innovative design ideas, integrated technology, and advanced tools. This paper is...

19 September 2012

Three Environments, Three Programs, Three Solutions

Paul Santis & Travis Soberg, Goettsch Partners

The effects of climate change, increased population, and lack of natural resources are global issues. As the world continues to consolidate into regional urban centers,...

19 September 2012

Tianjin Goldin Finance 117 Tower: The Solution to a Slender Geometry

Peng Liu, Goman Ho, Alexis Lee & Chao Yin, Arup

With an architectural height of 597m, the Tianjin Goldin Finance 117 tower will have the highest structural roof of any building under construction in China,...

19 September 2012

Urban Models for the 21st Century

Stefan Krummeck, TFP Farrells Limited

Recently, Asia has witnessed an astonishing proliferation of high-rise buildings. Towers are growing in numbers and in height which presents enormous opportunities and great challenges....

19 September 2012

Wuhan Center – A Sustainable Design Exploration for Skyscrapers

Weiping Xu & Xiaoqiong Ma, ECADI Co.,Ltd.

Embodying the “sail” concept, Wuhan Centre will be mixed-use, with urban retail spaces at the base, a unique mix of office, residential, and hotel with...

19 September 2012

Wuhan Greenland Center Main Tower: Seamlessly Integrating Structure and Architecture

Guoyong Fu, Dennis Poon & Mark Dannettel, Thornton Tomasetti; Juan Betancur, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

Wuhan Greenland Center Main Tower is a 125-story, 600+ meter mega-tower in China. The tower structural system has been developed to harmonize with the architecture...

12 September 2012

Big Shifts Ahead as China Enters New Era

Kevin Brass, CTBUH

Reports out of China these days are a jumble of mixed messages and conflicting imagery. One night network business news programs spotlight video of empty...

01 September 2012

Overview of Performance-Based Seismic Design of Building Structures in China

Guo-Qiang Li, Yan-Bin Xu, & Fei-Fei Sun, Tongji University

The development history, the current situation and the future of the performance-based seismic design of building structures in China are presented in this paper. Firstly,...

01 September 2012

Shaking Table Test and Seismic Performance Evaluation of Shanghai Tower

Tian Chunyu, Xiao Congzhen, Zhang Hong, & Cao Jinzhe, China Academy of Building Research

Shanghai Tower is a super high-rise building of 632 m height with ‘mega frame-core- outrigger truss’ structure system. Due to the complexity and irregularity of...

01 August 2012

Context to China’s Legacy of Tall Building Development

Junjie Zhang, ECADI

Modern supertall buildings have become one of the vital symbols of economic development and the urbanization progress in mainland China, as well as one of...

01 August 2012

Finding Structural Solutions by Connecting Towers

Andrew Luong & Michael Kwok; Arup

A study of a number of linked high-rise towers in China finds designs anchored by innovative, unimposing structural solutions, which address issues of costs and...

01 August 2012

The Emergence of Advanced Façades in China

Marc Zobec, Massimiliano Fanzaga & Zhihong Liao, Permasteelisa Group

China’s tall buildings are taking their place in the international pantheon of distinctive tall buildings, in part due to landmark façades that define the towers...

01 June 2012

A New Leader for Telecom Towers

CTBUH Research

With the recent completion of two megatall telecommunication/observation towers it is perhaps time to review these structures and also explain why they are distinguished from...

22 May 2012

The Skyscraper Index

Andrew Lawrence, Barclays Capital Hong Kong

The Skyscraper Index, which links tall building construction to economic cycles. The Index is based on the completion of the world’s tallest building, which is...

27 January 2012

Debating Tall: A Supertall Future in the US?

Adrian Smith, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture; Paul Beitler, Beitler Real Estate Services LLC

In 1990, only 11 buildings in the world could be counted as a “supertall” (defined as a building over 300 meters tall), and all but...

18 January 2012

The Tallest 20 in 2020: Entering the Era of the Megatall

Nathaniel Hollister & Antony Wood, CTBUH

Within this decade we will likely witness not only the world’s first kilometer-tall building, but also the completion of a significant number of buildings over...

31 December 2011

Year in Review: Tall Trends of 2011

Nathaniel Hollister & Antony Wood, CTBUH

The annual story is becoming a familiar one: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and now 2011 have each sequentially broke the record for the most 200...

01 November 2011

Humanizing High-rise Urbanism: Design Strategies and Planning Tools

Vinayak Bharne, Moule & Polyzoides

From a global standpoint, the high-rise city remains a negotiated territory, a juggling act between private interests, political processes and public good. But while private...

10 October 2011

Elasto-Plastic Time-History Analysis of the Shanghai Tower Under Rare Earthquakes

Hao Qin, Xianzhong Zhao, Yiyi Chen & Ben Wang, Tongji University

The Shanghai Tower, designed to be 124 stories of 636m height and currently under construction, will be the tallest building in China. The structure of...

10 October 2011

The Synergy of a Destination: Three Successful Techniques in Global Mixed-Use Design

Ming Zhang, MulvannyG2 Architecture

The central business district is a feature common in nearly all modern cities. Regardless of location or cultural background, all successful CBDs share common aspects...

13 April 2011

Tall and Urban: An Analysis of Global Population and Tall Buildings

CTBUH Research

Tall buildings are spreading across the globe at an ever-increasing rate. This study demonstrates the relationship between population and tall buildings across those countries and...

01 February 2011

The Culture of Compactness: Dimensions of Density in Hong Kong

Peter Cookson Smith, Urbis Limited

Compact cities are, by their nature, relatively sustainable, and Hong Kong is eminently so on many counts. Peter Cookson Smith from Urbis Limited writes on...

01 February 2011

World’s Tallest Steel Shear Walled Building

Mark Sarkisian & Neville Mathias, SOM; Dasui Wang, ECADI; Sam Lee, Guangzhou Scientific Computing Consultants

Because of its iconic slender form, a key design challenge was to develop an efficient lateral system capable of resisting wind and seismic lateral load;...

31 December 2010

Tallest Buildings Completed in 2010

CTBUH Research

In a year dominated by news coverage of the new “World’s Tallest Building” – Burj Khalifa, Dubai – one may be surprised to learn that,...

01 December 2010

Case Study: Hong Kong International Commerce Centre

David Malott, KPF

Soaring 484 meters (1,588 feet) above Victoria Harbor, the International Commerce Centre (ICC) is the essence of Hong Kong in one destination: high-powered finance, global...

06 November 2010

Greening Supertalls

Harace Lin, Taipei Financial Center Corp.

The world’s tallest buildings have always been more about expression rather than necessity or a solution to any problem. Being the visible landmarks that they...

08 October 2010

CTBUH Journal - Chinese Translation

The CTBUH Journal is an official periodic publication of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Published and circulated to the Council's worldwide membership...

07 June 2010

Interview: Winy Maas, MVRDV

Winy Maas, MVRDV

The urban future of Chinese cities could take the shape of supersized parabolic structures in and around current cities. Imagine a range of various green...

01 May 2010

Performance Based Seismic Design of a 75-Story Buckling Restrained Slender Steel Plate Shear Wall Tower

Sam Lee & Yun Liao, Guangzhou Scientific Computing Consultants; Dasui Wang, ECADI; Neville Mathias, SOM

The Jinta Tower is a 75-story building located in Tianjin, China, with slender steel plate shear walls (SPSW) used as the primary lateral load resisting...

17 April 2010

Case Study: Shanghai Tower

Jun Xia, Gensler; Dennis Poon, Thornton Tomasetti; Douglas C. Mass, Cosentini Associates

As the third tower in the trio of supertall buildings at the heart of Shanghai’s new Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone, Shanghai Tower embodies a...

01 February 2010

Structural Design of Reinforced Concrete Tall Buildings

Ali Sherif S. Rizk, Dar Al-Handasah Consultants

During the last 12 years the Structural Engineering Department at Dar Al-Handasah has designed 45 mixed-use tall buildings in different Arab countries. The designed towers...

01 January 2010

Jinao Tower – The Design Integration of Structural Efficiency

Mark Sarkisian, Neville Mathias, Eric Long & C. Keith Boswell, SOM

The 56 story, 232 m tall Jinao Tower in Nanjing, China, is a next-generation tower which maximizes performance, efficiency, and occupant experience. Its faceted form...

31 December 2009

Tallest Buildings Completed in 2009

CTBUH Research

Trump International Hotel & Tower named tallest building completed in 2009; Successful year for the American high-rise. Over half of all buildings 200m or taller...

01 May 2009

Performance-Based Evaluation for the 450m Nanjing Greenland Financial Center Main Tower

Charles M. Besjak, Brian J. McElhatten & Preetam Biswas, SOM

In order to obtain seismic review approval for the Nanjing State-Owned Assets & Greenland Financial Center's Main Tower, one of the tallest structures in the...

31 December 2008

Tallest Buildings Completed in 2008

CTBUH Research

Against the backdrop of global economic crisis, 2008 witnessed the most successful year of skyscraper construction to date, with more skyscrapers constructed globally within a...

02 October 2008

Case Study: CCTV Building - Headquarters & Cultural Center

Chris Carroll, Paul Cross, Xiaonian Duan & Craig Gibbons, Arup

The new headquarters of China Central Television contains the entire television-making process within a single building. The 234m tall tower redefines the form of the...

01 July 2008

Steel Plate Shear Walls, Efficient Structural Solution for Slender High-rise in China

Mark Sarkisian, Neville Mathias, Eric Long & Zhihui Huang, SOM

The 329.6 meter tall 74-story Jinta Tower in Tianjin, China, is expected, when complete, to be the tallest building in the world with slender steel...

12 June 2008

The Tallest Buildings in the World: Past, Present & Future

CTBUH Research

Over time, the average height of the 100 tallest buildings in the world has been steadily increasing. However, by 2010, this average height will have...

17 April 2008

Case Study: Shanghai World Financial Center

Paul Katz, KPF; Leslie E. Robertson, Leslie E. Robertson Associates

From the onset of the Shanghai World Financial Center project, its developers targeted a cutting-edge, mixed use mega-complex that would serve a multitude of tenant...

03 March 2008

Building Brand Identity: Sustainable yet Iconic High-rise Design for China’s Power Companies

Ming Zhang, MulvannyG2 Architecture

This paper will explore four successful Chinese power company designs and five key factors of success, including: 1. low cost, energy efficient and green high-rise...

03 March 2008

Case Study: Pearl River Tower, Guangzhou, China

Roger E. Frechette III & Russell Gilchrist, SOM

This paper will attempt to both define what is meant by ‘carbon neutral’ in the context of building design as well as using the case...

03 March 2008

Challenging Preconceptions of the High-Rise Typology

Rem Koolhaas, OMA

The skyscraper was born over 100 years ago, when the elevator made it possible to have access to previously unimaginable levels of a building. This...

03 March 2008

Fire Protection Strategies for an Energy Efficient High- Rise Building

Fang Li, James Antell & Martin Reiss, RJA

The Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou, China features numerous design strategies to reduce energy demand, which include among others vertical axis wind turbine and radiant...

03 March 2008

Shanghai World Financial Center: Without Compromise……

Paul Katz, KPF; Leslie Robertson & SawTeen See, Leslie E. Robertson Associates

Shanghai World Financial Center is located in the Lujiazui district of Pudong, the Shanghai World Financial Center combines creative architecture and structural engineering to create...

03 March 2008

Tall Buildings: Sustainable Design Opportunities

Akbar Tamboli, Leonard Joseph, Umakant Vadnere & Xiao Xu, Thornton-Tomasetti Group

This paper describes three major tall buildings focusing on their incorporation of sustainable structural designs.

03 March 2008

Towers and Urbanism in the context of China

Stefan Krummeck, Terry Farrell & Partners

Taking a look at Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Dubai, London, and New York and one will see that all developed and developing cities...

31 December 2007

Tallest Buildings Completed in 2007

333 meters high with 72 stories and 480 suites, Rose Rotana Tower in Dubai leads the list of the 10 tallest buildings completed in 2007....

31 December 2006

Tallest Buildings Completed in 2006

Nina Tower 1 in Hong Kong, at 319 meters high, leads the list of the ten tallest buildings completed in 2006. The Sports City Tower/Aspire...

01 May 2006

Jin Mao Tower’s Influence on China’s New Innovative Tall Buildings

Mark Sarkisian, Neville Mathias, Eric Long & Aaron Mazeika, SOM

The 56 story, 232 m tall Jinao Tower in Nanjing, China, is a next-generation tower which maximizes performance, efficiency, and occupant experience. Its faceted form...

16 October 2005

Three Mega-Tall Buildings in Hong Kong: Central Plaza, Two International Finance Centre, and International Commerce Centre

John W. K. Luk, Julia M.K. Lau & Tim M.T. Mak; Lau Sun Hung Kai Properties

The paper goes over Sun Hung Kai Properties Group as the developer/co-developer of three major tall building commercial complexes in Hong Kong: the Central Plaza,...

10 October 2004

A General Survey on Lift Ride Quality at Public Buildings of the Hong Kong Special Adminstrative Region

K. K. Li, Andy M. T. Suen & Eddie W. K. Wu, Architectural Services Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (ArchSD of HKSAR)

This paper summarizes the measurement results and analyses of a quantitative research undertaken by the Architectural Services Department (ArchSD) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative...

10 October 2004

Learning from the Past - Tall Buildings and the Evolution of Old Cities

Dennis Lau Wing-Kwong & Alexander Lush, Dennis Lau & Ng Chun Man Architects & Engineers

The paper draws attention to the similarities of the impact of high-rise structures upon historical cities with past new development and re-development, particularly with respect...

10 October 2004

Performance-based Design of Smoke Extraction for the Basketball Gymnasium of Wukesong Culture and Sports Center

Zhang Jingyan, Huo Ran, Wang Haobo, et al., University of Science and Technology China

Through numerical simulations, this paper examines the hyperboloidal smoke extraction shaft technology in the basketball gymnasium of Wukesong Culture and Sports Center.

10 October 2004

Seismic Model Test of a Hybrid High-rise Building in Shanghai

Wensheng Lu, Zuhua Liu & Xilin Lu, Tongji University; Dasui Wang, Shanghai Xiandai Architectural Design Group

This paper examines a micro-concrete structural model of Shanghai Shimao International Square with scale of 1/33 was constructed, to validate the calculation results, find out...

10 October 2004

Structural Design of Taipei 101, the World's Tallest Building

Dennis C. K. Poon & Leonard M. Joseph, Thornton Tomasetti; Shaw-Song Shieh & Ching-Chang Chang, Evergreen Consulting Engineering

This paper examines the structural design of the Taipei 101 tower, 101 stories and 508 m above grade, was the newest World’s Tallest Building at...

10 October 2004

Structural Design of the new Chinese Culture University Gymnasium Taipei, Taiwan

King-Le Chang, King-Le Chang & Associates; Stephen Huang, Jaelien Engineering Consultant

This paper explores the structural design of the new Chinese Culture University Gymnasium located in Taipei, Taiwan. The gymnasium complex consists of an eight stories...

10 October 2004

The Foundation Design for Two Super High-Rise Buildings in Hong Kong

John Davies, James Lui, Jack Pappin, et al., Ove Arup & Partners

This paper examines the foundation design for the IFC Tower II and Union Square, 420 meters tall and 480 meters tall, respectively.

10 October 2004

The Fractal Characters of Chinese Fengshui Theory

Lin Xiao-Song & Yang Jian, Hunan University of Science and Technology

This paper examines symbolism of the human, and how it manifests in Chinese terrain, houses and tombs, in relation to the Feng Shui theory.

10 October 2004

Two International Finance Centre

Andrew Luong, Craig Gibbons, Alexis Lee & John MacArthur, Ove Arup & Partners

This paper describes the some of the geotechnical design considerations, the structural design development and construction of the 420m tower, Two International Finance Centre in...

20 October 2003

Assessment of the Life Safety Aspects and Structural Robustness of High Rise Buildings in Hong Kong

Craig Gibbons & Mingchun Luo, ARUP; David Dumigan, Central Waterfront Property Project Management

At the time of the events in New York of September 11, 2001, a 420m high 88 storey office building in Hong Kong was constructed...

01 May 2001

Studies on Serviceability of Concrete Structures under Static and Dynamic Loads

Ding Dajun & An Lin, Nanjing Institute of Technology

This paper presents a series of experimental and theoretical studies on the serviceability of concrete structures, conducted at Nanjing Institute of Technology (NIT) for more...

26 February 2001

New Towns in Hong Kong: Planning for the Next Generation

Pun Chung Chan

Hong Kong is perhaps the city in this planet that is subject to the most intense development pressures.The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to...

26 February 2001

Recent Infrastructure Developments in Hong Kong – the Background, Current and Future Developments

Raymond W. M. Wong, City University of Hong Kong

To accommodate somewhat 7 million people in a piece of land of size slightly bigger than 1050 sq km like Hong Kong is not an...

26 February 2001

The Tallest Concrete Building in Shanghai, China – Plaza 66

Richard L. Tomasetti, Dennis Poon & Ling-en Hsaio, Thornton Tomasetti

Plaza 66 is the latest addition to the skyline of Shanghai, China; with a height of 281.5 meters, it’s the tallest concrete building in the...

11 February 2000

Asian Urban Futures

Chris Abel, University of Sydney

Chris Abel writes on the development of the future Asian megacities and their urban landscapes.

01 July 1998

Design and Construction of the Jin Mao Tower's Mat Foundation

Mark Sarkisian, Stan Korista & Ahmad Abdelrazaq, SOM

Looking from the Yangtze River toward the new Shanghai skyline, you cannot help noticing the ever changing color of the ultra-tall Jin Mao Tower with...

01 January 1995

Jin Mao Tower's Unique Structural System

Mark Sarkisian, Stan Korista & Ahmad Abdelrazaq, SOM

The composite structural system for the Jin Mao Tower was designed to resist typhoon winds and earthquake forces and accommodate poor soil conditions while providing...