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.