According to an article on ArchDaily by Karissa Rosenfield, Shanghai Tower of the Lujiazui trio has topped off. Why is that important news? When Shanghai Tower is complete, it will officially be China’s tallest tower and the world’s second tallest.

The design of Shanghai Tower

Designed by architecture firm Gensler, Shanghai Tower will feature office and retail space, a luxury hotel, cultural venues, and it now stands 2,074 feet. Besides the incredible height, another stunning feature is the “double-skin facade.” Shanghai Tower is designed as nine cylindrical buildings stacked atop each other. The first skin connects the nine buildings, and the exterior skin rotates 120 degrees, giving the tower it’s signature curved facade.

At the nine different levels throughout Shanghai Tower there are open public spaces between the two skins. These public spaces consist of landscaped sky gardens, restaurants, cafes, and convenience stores. Rosenfield points out that this design makes it so that the tower is literally wrapped in public space.

Another interesting aspect of Shanghai Tower is that it will feature the world’s fastest elevators, with double height cabs designed by Mitsubishi. The elevators will travel at a max speed of 40 mph (or 64 km/h).

Shanghai Tower will serve as the centrepiece of Lujiazui, the city’s commercial district. Lujiazui has become one of Asia’s most prominent financial districts, and just 20 years ago it used to be all farmland. That’s some speedy progress.

What do you think of Shanghai Tower’s design?

Usually, when we feature an interesting tower from the other side of the world, we love the design, but recognize that it wouldn’t really fit in downtown Toronto. Well, we feel differently about this one. Is it just us, or would Shanghai Tower look incredible along our skyline?

There are so many new towers under construction in Toronto right now that feature retail space along the ground floor, and sometimes even as high as the second or third floors. We think Gensler made a smart move having the public spaces literally wrap around the tower, all the way to the top. It brings the hustle and bustle of the street up into the air, and that just seems right for some reason. If our city is getting taller, then our public spaces might as well rise with it!

What do you think? Would a tower like this work in Toronto?

All images from ArchDaily.