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skyscraper: The Latest Architecture and News

Steven Holl Architects' complete Sun-shaped Micro-City in Chengdu

Steven Holl Architects' complete Sun-shaped Micro-City in Chengdu - Image 1 of 4
© Iwan Baan

Four years after breaking ground, Steven Holl Architects’ have completed the Sliced Porosity Block in the heart of Chengdu, China. Located at the intersection of the first Ring Road and Ren Ming Nam Road, visitors are able to access the three million square foot complex without using private transport means as it is directly connected to Chengdu’s public transportation system. Stimulating a micro urbanism, the five towers offer offices, serviced apartments, retail, a hotel, cafes, and restaurants. Rather than being designed as object-icon skyscrapers, the Sliced Porosity Block identifies itself as a metropolitan public space with large plazas and a hybrid of different functions.

More on Steven Holl’s Sliced Porosity Block after the break.

UPDATE: World’s Tallest Skyscraper To Be Built…In 210 Days

UPDATE: World’s Tallest Skyscraper To Be Built…In 210 Days - Image 1 of 4
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)

When we brought you this story back in June, the title read "World's Tallest Skyscraper To Be Built....in 90 Days! "

Well, as any architect knows, first estimates are never accurate. Broad Sustainable Building (BSB), the design firm behind Sky City, soon to be the world's tallest skyscraper, has professed that the building will now be built at the positively glacial pace of 210 days (7 months instead of 3).

As we explained last time, Sky City will shoot up to its 838-meter (2,750-ft/220-story) height thanks to its pre-fabricated assembly (up to 95% of the materials will be assembled in modular form before on-site construction even begins). BSB also claims that it will be sustainable and earthquake proof.

According to a fascinating Wired interview with BSB's founder and Chairman, Zhang Yue (check it out), the foundation is scheduled to be laid in November and should be complete by March 2013.

Read on after the break for more of Sky City's impressive record-breaking stats and sustainability chops...

World's Tallest Skyscraper To Be Built...In 90 Days

World's Tallest Skyscraper To Be Built...In 90 Days - Featured Image
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)

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…

Story via Gizmag, CNN

2011 Skyscraper Trends

2011 Skyscraper Trends - Image 3 of 4
© TFP Farrells

Every January the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat conducts a review of skyscraper construction and compiles all the data from the previous year. The trend since 2007 has seen record breaking years for buildings taller than 200 meters completed, with 88 skyscrapers completed in 2011. Even as the global economy is slowly recuperating from the 2008 financial crisis, it would appear as though this trend will remain relatively stable. China, leading the pack at 23 completed towers is predicted to remain at the forefront of skyscraper market, followed by Middle Eastern countries in the next decade. UAE, South Korea, and Panama City – an up and coming cosmopolitan city – rounded out the top four. Of the towers completed in 2011, 17 have made their way into the top 100 tallest buildings – Shenzhen’s Kingkey 100, at 442 meters crowning this year’s list. More after the break.

eVolo 2010 Skyscraper Competition

eVolo 2010 Skyscraper Competition - Featured Image

After several years of organizing the annual Skyscraper Competition it has become a renowned architectural prize around the world. The best projects of each competition are widely published from architecture, design, and fashion publications to technology, business, and entertainment magazines. The winning projects are also featured in websites, television documentaries, and galleries.

The crisis paralyzed the construction of the Calatrava skyscraper in Chicago

The crisis paralyzed the construction of the Calatrava skyscraper in Chicago - Featured Image

The “Spire”, the skyscraper designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, was going to be the tallest building in the United States. That title will have to wait, at least until the economic crisis affecting construction all over the world starts having better days.