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Canton Tower – A Supermodel MegaStructure in Guangzhou, China
Posted on October 2nd, 2010 2 comments
Guangzhou TV and Sightseeing Tower - World's New Architectural Wonder
Spectacularly tall, slender and twisted lattice structure with a super slim waist – nicknamed ‘supermodel’ or ‘little twisted waist’ – the new Guangzhou TV and Sightseeing Tower (officially dubbed as Canton Tower, formerly known as Haixin Tower, Chinese:广州塔, 广州新电视塔) on the banks of the Pearl River of China’s third largest city is a woman above all.
Soaring 600 meters (1969 feet) in height, Canton Tower overtook Toronto’s CN tower (553m/1815 ft) as the world’s tallest TV tower. Guangzhou TV Tower is the third tallest freestanding structure in the world after Burj Khalifa (828m/ 2717 ft) in Dubai and KVLY-TV mast (629m/ 2063 ft) in Blanchard of North Dakota in U.S.
Canton TV Tower is Guangzhou's answer to Beijing's CCTV Building as it prepares to host the 2010 Asian Games in mid-November. Both towers are designed by Dutch architects.
The mega structure, officially open to the public on October 1, 2010, is part of a city-wide makeover as Guangzhou prepares to host the 2010 Asian Games on November 12, 2010 and is considered the Southern answer to Beijing’s iconic “big pants” CCTV Tower designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.
"Most skyscrapers bear male features—they're introverted, rectangular, and repetitive," Information Based Architects' Mark Hemel has said. "We wanted a female tower that is complex, transparent, curvy, and gracious."
Designed by Dutch husband-and wife team Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit of Information Based Architecture in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, The Canton Tower has a discernibly feminine form, growing from a broad elliptical base at ground level to a tapering waist of less than 27m. and then widening slightly up to a second, smaller ellipse at the main roof, 450m above. The 162m-long mast takes the final height of the tower to 600m.
Its shape is so unique; it isn’t covered by any conventional building code. The superstructure is made up of five small buildings hung together with gardens and an open-air skywalk to allow visitors to climb through the narrow waist of the building. The skywalk is an outdoor spiral staircase that goes from 168 meters to 334 meters.
The interior of the tower is subdivided into programmatic zones with various functions, including TV and radio transmission facilities, observatory decks, revolving restaurants, computer gaming, restaurants, exhibition spaces, conference rooms, shops, and 4D cinemas.
Enjoy a panoramic view of Guangzhou with a ride in the world's highest Ferris wheel on the roof of the canton tower
World’s highest Ferris Wheel
An elliptical track is constructed around the periphery of the canton tower’s roof, and 16 transparent “crystal” passenger cars, each with a diameter of 3.2 metres (10 ft) and able to carry four to six people, will circumnavigate the track. A ride in the world’s highest Ferris wheel will take approximately half an hour， where one can enjoy full panoramic views over the metropolis of Guangzhou.Gravity machine – the Shoot
At the 450 meter high top deck level there will be a gravity machine that lifts visitors another 35 meter up along the mast, from which they will be dropped back to the top deck.Bungee Jump
AJ Hackett, the famous adventuring entrepreneur that made Bungee jumping a world class sport, is planning to install a mayor event in the Canton Tower which will break all records. It is planned to be the world’s tallest skyjump jumping from a 450meter level all the way to the ground. Just like spider-man. One will be harnessesed safely and supported by three cables in total. The first cable is attached between your harness and the top of the tower, operated through a pully-system, this will and two cables sideways, to prevent “fluttering”, that will slide along you while you are jumping down. You will land safely on the ground approximately 450 meters below. A jump of 10 to 15 seconds. No parachute or bungeecord attached. Just you base-jumping from the world’s tallest TV tower.
Visitors' feet are seen on a piece of glass on the new Guangzhou TV Tower in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province
Tickets to the tower were priced at 50 yuan, 100 yuan and 150 yuan based on different heights. A top-level ticket will offer an access to the 84th floor (433m) by the high-speed elevator that only takes one minute and a half to finish the ascent. Visitors can get a bird’s-eye view there over the whole city.
An aerial view of Haixinsha Citizen Square where the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games will be held
An aerial view of Liede bridge from the Canton Tower
Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower – Video (English with Chinese subtitles)
The engineering processes that enabled the 600-metre mega structure will be revealed
Canton Tower: Facts & Figures
Location; Yuejiang Road West / Yiyuan Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, China
Antenna or spire: 600 m (1,968.5 ft)
Roof: 454 m (1,489.5 ft)
Structure: Open lattice-structure
Architects: Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit, Information Based Architecture (IBA), Amsterdam, Netherlands
Structural engineer: Arup
Collaborators; Guangzhou Design Institute
Start of Project: November 2005
Date of Completion: December 2009
Floors (Above Ground): 37
Floors (Below Ground): 2
Cost: 3 billion Yuan ($ 441 million)
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The Tokyo Sky Tree (東京スカイツリー, originally known as New Tokyo Tower), under construction in Tokyo’s Sumida Ward (well known for its sumo), has surpassed the Tokyo Tower (333m/1,092 ft) and the Yokohama Landmark Tower (296m/971ft) as the tallest structure in Japan. When it is completed at the end of 2011, Tokyo Sky Tree will be the Tallest Communication tower in the world with the height of 2,080 feet (634.00 meter).Tokyo is aiming at the tallest freestanding tower rather than the tallest man-made structure, which stands at 828 m (2,717 ft) meter Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. However even if Tokyo can win the tallest tower crown, it won’t hold onto it for long, as Seoul has already broken ground for the 640 meter (2,100ft) tall Digital Media City Landmark Building (Sangam DMC Landmark tower, also known as Seoul Lite , Korean: 디지털 미디어 시티 랜드마크 빌딩) due for completion in 2015 and slated as “Asia’s tallest building”.
And Guangzhou TV Tower’s title will soon be taken by Tokyo Sky Tree, the crown could return to China with the Shanghai Tower, currently slated for completion in 2014 at a height of 632 meters (2,073 ft), only two meters shy of Tokyo Sky Tree and 8 meters shy of Seoul’s DMC Landmark Tower. With Tokyo Sky Tree’s growth only due to an extension of its antenna, there is plenty of time for Shanghai to extend its own antenna and take back the bragging rights.
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Jordon Meyer July 5th, 2011 at 16:28
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill, Thornton Tomasetti and PositivEnergy Practice to design world’s fourth tallest buildingFast becoming leaders in the design of tall buildings, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture have just scooped another major project in China which is destined to become the fourth tallest building in the world when construction completes in approximately five years.
Entitled Wuhan Greenland Center, the 606m pillar will be located on the intersection of the Yangtze and Han Rivers and will comprise around 200,000 sq m of commercial office space, 50,000 sq m of high-end residential accommodation, a 45,000 sq m five-star hotel, and a stunning private member’s club in a 27m-tall penthouse volume.
Work is still being completed on the concept design although construction is due to start this coming summer. The structure’s fluid conical form has been deliberately crafted to minimize the volume of structural material needed in construction, whilst its tapered body, softly rounded corners and domed top have been introduced in order to reduce wind resistance and vortex action that occurs around supertall buildings. The tower’s elongated silhouette rises from a tripod-shaped base, tapering gently to an arched apex of smooth curved glass which works in direct contrast to the textured curtain wall of the main column.
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Lone Star October 2nd, 2010 at 12:15