Construction began today on the Shanghai Tower, a 632-meter (2,074 foot) skyscraper. Shanghai Tower will house office space, retail, a luxury hotel and cultural venues. The uppermost floors will feature the world's highest non-enclosed observation deck. The tower's podium building will offer a high-end retail environment and below-grade facilities include retail, connections to the Shanghai Metro and three floors of parking. The Shanghai Tower will be taller than the 1,614-foot Shanghai World Financial Center that it will stand next to.
The building was designed by Gensler. The development is slated for completion in 2014. Shanghai Tower is located in an area of Shanghai that was farmland just eighteen years ago. The district is poised to become China's first super-tall district. The Shanghai Tower will be the third in a trio of towers including the adjacent Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center. Together, these three will form a new icon on Shanghai's skyline.
A BusinessWeekstory talks about launching this massive construction project at a time when China's economy and the world economy is slowing. Clearly, Shanghai is looking toward the future.
