China is well known for its mind-bogglingly fast-paced construction, but its latest claim is truly one for the record books.
Sky City, an 838-meter (2,750-ft) building to be built by Chinese construction company Broad Sustainable Building (BSB), of Broad Group, will not just be the tallest skyscraper on the planet, won’t just be “earthquake-proof,” won’t just implement a sustainable design approach – it will go up in only 90 days.
Skeptical? BSB isn’t. They’ve used their building technique (which involves pre-fabricating and assembling up to 95% of the materials in modular form before construction even begins) to assemble a 15-story building in 6 days and a 30-story hotel in 360 hours, CNN reports. As for safety concerns, BSB has built a 30-story prototype that withstood a simulated magnitude 9 earthquake — whether the 220-story Sky City will be as secure remains to be seen, but BSB certainly seems confident.
More fast facts and images, after the break…
Fast Facts
- According to Gizmag: “If the target is met, the 838-meter (2,750-ft) “Sky City One” will take only a twentieth of the time that the Burj Khalifa, the world’s current tallest building, took to construct, and will stand 10 meters (33 feet) taller still upon completion.”
- Sky City One advertises itself as an earthquake-resistant, carless city which will accommodate approximately 100,000 people and provide retail and leisure facilities.
- Sky City One has been designed with 15-cm (6-inch) thick exterior walls and a quadruple glazing in order to improve its insulation, allowing it to consume a fifth of the energy of a conventional building its size.
- The Sky City One will contain 1,000,000 sq m (10,800,000 sq ft) of usable floor space, have 220 floors, and 104 separate elevators.
- According to CNN, the Sky City One is projected to cost US$628 million. (Compare that to the $1.5 billion Burj Khalifa cost).
- Work should commence in November 2012 through to the following January, but final approval from Chinese authorities is yet to be granted.
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- Chinese construction company Broad Group has announced ambitious plans to construct the world’s tallest skyscraper in an implausibly swift 90 days (© Image: Broad Group via Gizmag)
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- The Sky Tower stacks up to the opposition. This image (and lower floor-count) dates back to a 2010 concept document (Image: Broad Group via Gizmag)
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- Reach for the sky: the world’s tallest buildings, once the 838-meter Sky City is completed, projected for January 2013. Image via CNN.
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- A sample floor plan and cross section from the 2010 concept document reveals the Sky City was previously a less ambitious project (Image: Broad Group via Gizmag)
Le Corbusier would be proud.
It’s look so massive and ugly:(
Hugh Ferris would be proud!!
No daylight in the middle of the building…?! That’s not good architecture!
Very minolithic
This un-ending contest for the tallest building is about as interesting as another Everest ‘summit’.
Why is the Chicago skyline used as the backdrop for the first rendering?
Haha great observation! I wouldn’t put it past that country to build their own Chicago.
Haha. I didn’t even notice the first time. The Hancock observatory — offering beautiful views of Lake Michi…..steel walls.
also looks like it was designed in 90 seconds.
When will this ridiculously immature ‘my tower is higher than yours’ competition end?
Great record, biggest and fastest %&#&#”#! it´s hard to understand how something that shouldn´t be builded can be eco friendly, it´s not only a matter of numbers. What about the nearby environment, sun light and traffic solutions. The render whith the Chicago sky line makes it clear they don´t care about this. They just wan´t to show how much bigger it is.
Looks like a copy of unwanted Stalin’s gift – Palace of Culture in Warsaw
YES!
As much as i want to hate on the project, affordable vertical living which offers a high quality of life to the masses is what China needs now.
China’s mindset has more to do with employing its people than involving itself in ridiculously immature tower competitions. Indeed, China is competing in a much broader sense.
So… where’s the architecture in this? Of course, architecture has nothing to do with it.
Ridiculous waste of everything.
Won’t be surprised if they did actually build it in 3 months. I mean look at that shit. Not only will it be the tallest skyscraper in the world, it’ll also be the most generic, plain looking building.
i misread.. tallest building that will last for 90 days….
if they can and will do it, it will be a worldwide sensation and a major achievement in construction technology. world class architecture has obviously not been a goal here, but that is not the point.
Whose is bigger competition..
If I understand correctly, the inner core is like a hollow shaft where people would be able to walk and shop?!? Is that correct? It’s great that they can build fast, but it seems that the reason to build so fast is so that the client can’t notice what exactly they are building..
Apart from being so so ugly building in 90days
is just crazy. When a problem occurs will it be
fixed or ‘we must keep going to break the
record’?. Concrete needs proping for 28days
Id like to see that. And what about the fitout
of the 100+ lifts ( oh I forgot about the
testing)
Thats one building I will not go in ! !
Very Poorly Thought Out – Building must be
taken more seriously (and safely)
90 days including the foundation works?
Need clarification on the 90 days
What’s the “days” required to manufacture the products and “days” required to do the installation?
“Days” required to transport, check, select and hoist up?
“Days” required to do the testing on completion?
90, 90, 90 days only and including all those activities?