Friday, August 29, 2008

Construction topped off on Trump Tower

Concrete crews hauled up the final bucket of concrete to the top of Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago, officially completing the 92nd floor of the tallest reinforced concrete building in the Western Hemisphere.



The actual building next to it's rendering.




Trump is the tallest building erected in the United States since Sears Tower, completed in 1974.




Chicago skyline.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Shanghai World Financial Center opens to the public

On Saturday (August 30) the Observation Deck of Shanghai World Financial Center will be opened. The sightseeing spot is 474m above the ground. Until now, world's highest observation deck has been the Sky Pod of the CN Tower in Toronto at 447m high.

The ticket is $25.



- construction began on August 27, 1997

- it was planned to be the tallest building in the world when it was designed in 1997.

- the building reached its full height of 492 meters
on September 14th, 2007

- Shanghai World Financial Center is the second tallest building in the world. It is 16 meters shorter than the 508 meter Taipei 101 in Taiwan, although this is because of the spire atop Taipei 101. Counting by roof height the Shanghai World Financial Center is a full 44 meters taller than Taipei 101.

Friday, February 29, 2008

New #1 on Top 10 largest buildings in the world opens today.

The world’s largest building – the new Terminal at Beijing Capital International Airport - opens today. Designed and completed in only four years, Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport has opened.

Here is the new top 10 largest buildings in the world, the buildinbs are ranked by the amount of floor area.

1 Beijing Airport (Beijing, China, 1300000 m²)




2 Aalsmeer Flower Auction (Aalsmeer, The Netherlands, 990,000 m²)

It is the largest flower auction in the world. The auction building of the flower auction in Aalsmeer is the largest commercial building in the world, in terms of floorspace (99 hectares).




3 The Venetian Macao (Macau ,980,000 m²)

The Venetian Macao is a casino resort in Macau, China owned by the Las Vegas Sands hotel-casino chain. The Venetian is a 40-story, $1.8 billion anchor for the 7 resort hotels which are under construction on the Cotai Strip in Macau. The 10,500,000-square-foot (980,000 m²) Venetian Macao is modeled on its sister casino resort – the The Venetian in Las Vegas – and is the largest single structure hotel building in Asia.



4 Berjaya Times Square (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 700,000 m²)

Berjaya Times Square KL is a building containing a huge shopping centre and two five star hotels located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was opened in October 2003.

It is tagged as the "world’s largest building ever built in a single phase", with 7.5 million square feet (700,000 m²) of built up floor area. It is set to become an international landmark offering shopping, luxury accommodation, business, food and abundant entertainment.





5 The Pentagon (Arlington County, United States, 610,000 m²)

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.



6 Hong Kong International Airport (Hong Kong, 564,000 m²)

Hong Kong International Airport is the main airport in Hong Kong. It is colloquially known as Chek Lap Kok Airport, due to the fact that it was built on the island of Chek Lap Kok by land reclamation.

The airport opened for commercial operations in 1998, replacing Kai Tak Airport, and is an important regional trans-shipment centre, passenger hub and gateway for destinations in China, East Asia and Southeast Asia.





7 Warren G. Magnuson Health Sciences Building (Seattle, United States, 533,000 m²)


The Warren G. Magnuson Health Sciences Building is part of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington that was established in 1970, although many of its component units have been operating for much longer.




8 Sears Tower (Chicago, United States, 418,000 m²)

The Sears Tower is a skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. It has been the tallest building in the United States since 1973, surpassing the World Trade Center, which itself had surpassed the Empire State Building only a year earlier.



9 Chrysler Technical Center (Auburn Hills, United States, 409,000 m²)

The Chrysler Headquarters and Technology Center is the world headquarters and main research and development facility for the automobile manufacturer Chrysler. It is located in the Metro Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. The headquarters complex has 4,400,000 sq ft. (409,000 m²) on 504 acres (2.04 km²).



10 Boeing Plant (Everett, United States, 398,000 m²)

The Boeing Company's Everett, Washington Factory is where Boeing 747s, 767s, 777s, and the new 787 Dreamliner are built. Located on the northeast corner of Paine Field, it is the largest building in the world by volume at 13.3 million m3 (472 million cu ft) and covers 398,000 m2 (98.3 acres).