Shanghai, China
Shanghai World Financial Center is located in the new business district of Lujiazui in Shanghai, China’s largest city, with a population of more than 24 million. The first design for the skyscraper dated back to a competition in 1993, won by the Japanese developer Minoru Mori and the architectural firm KPF, to build on one of the three key sites in Lujiazui. The project was put on hold in 1997, and when plans resumed, there were several changes in the design and structure, including an increased height of 32 m. and a new shape for the top.
Completed in 2008, the tower soars 101 stories and is the second tallest building in Shanghai. The basic form is a square prism, 58 m. on a side, intersected by two sweeping arcs to form an evolving six-sided shape in plan, tapering into a single diagonal line at the apex. The building is mixed-used, with urban retail spaces at the base, a 174-room hotel at the top, and 62 office floors. Above the hotel are three observatory levels, at floors 94, 97,
and 100.