The Evergrande Tower in Jinan will briefly be China's second-tallest tower when it is completed. (Terry Farrell)
The sky’s the limit as various companies embark on a rush to build record-breaking skyscrapers in China. Last month, British architect Terry Farrell unveiled a plan for a 560-meter tall tower that is set to be among China’s tallest buildings.
Set in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong province in eastern China, the skyscraper, titled “Evergrande Tower,” claims that it will be China’s second-tallest building when built. That does not take into consideration, however, nine other concurrent skyscraper construction projects happening around China that will eventually eclipse the Evergrande Tower’s claim to fame, according to architecture news site Dezeen. These include Gensler's 632-meter Shanghai Tower and the 660-meter Ping An Finance Centre in Shenzhen by KPF.
The tower comprises residential and office spaces and will occupy 11 hectares, with a sunken shopping center containing retail, entertainment, and dining options at its base. "Together with our skyscraper projects in Beijing and Shanghai, we are building on the experience gained with KK100 in Shenzhen (also built by Farrell), which set new standards for mixed use and high-rise living and working," Farrell said.
China has seen a skyscraper building frenzy recently, especially in medium and small cities. Since service sectors to fill these buildings are struggling to keep up with the pace of construction, critics have called on cities to cool the rush to dot their landscapes with these towers.
