Architectural ascent

There is a single location in Shanghai where one can stand and look down on what was once China’s tallest building, the Jinmao Tower; namely, the 474-meter-high observatory of the Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC).

Expected to welcome over 3 million visitors every year, on August 30 the 1,300-square-meter observatories, which occupy the 94th, 97th and 100th floors of the SWFC, opened to the public.

Though there was a fervent debate as to which is the tallest building in the world, the 509-meter-high Taipei 101 or SWFC, the matter was officially settled in 2008, with the 101-story SWFC recognized as the tallest building in two categories of the high-rise ranking system, as implemented by the Council on Tall Building and Urban Habitat: highest occupied floor (474 meters) and height to top of roof (487 meters).

Taking a high-speed elevator from to the observatory took only 66 seconds. Only my ears were a bit uneasy.

Walking across the 100th-floor observatory Skywalk 100, the floor composed of a 55-meter long glass slab, required a little courage. Parts of the floor are made of transparent glass through which you can see vehicles, houses and pedestrians far below. Many visitors exhibited their hesitation to walk across the floor.

The staff told us that the glass floor is solid enough. Each square meter of the glass floor can handle three 80-kg persons jumping on it. To test the quality of the glass, my colleague and I took the risk to keep jumping on the floor until a staff came to stop us in a very polite way. And you know what, the building stands firmly!

The structural and seismic design of the building creates a safe and comfortable environment inside the skyscraper. Two 150-ton counterweights are installed on 90F to reduce building sway and control vibration caused by high winds. A 1/50-scaled mode was constructed and tested on a shaking table, the result of which demonstrates that the building is resistant to level 8-9, seismic intensity earthquakes, exceeding the Shanghai standard.

Another sky observatory on floor 97, 439 meters high, is on the lower line of the square hole at the top of the building. The bridge-like design allows people to feel the wind if its windows are open during sunny days. The day I visited the tower was cloudy, so the staff opened the top window; it was odd that although we were in the sky, we didn't feel a strong wind.

After a media preview, the observatory scheduled to open to the public at 2pm. But at half an hour earlier to the opening time, a long waiting line of about 300 meters zigzagged around the building. Over 4,000 visitors stepped onto the observatory in the first day.

"I feel so excited about the world's highest building and I arrived here at six this morning," said Xu Chenyin, 46, a Shanghai man who waited at his first in line position. "To be the first visitor, I feel I won a gold medal." To guarantee his No.1 position, Xu even prepared some bread and water and waited at the gate since early morning.

With the formal operations of the Shanghai World Financial Center, the city is home to another landmark structure.

With the total investment of about 8.3 billion yuan, the 101-story building, neighboring the Jinmao Tower in Pudong's Lujiazui Area, also accommodates the five-star Park Hyatt Shanghai, office area, a media center, convention areas, shops, restaurants, and much more.

But construction of this "vertical complex city" was "not a smooth road all the way," according to Minoru Mori, president and CEO of Mori Building Co. Ltd, the developer of the project.

From its shape, which is said to look like an army knife, to its suspended structure, the high-rise project was frequently in the headlines during the past decade.

"The Shanghai World Financial Center took 14 years to complete," said the president. "In the meantime, many world-shaking events took place: the Asian financial crisis of 1997; September 11 in 2001; the SARS outbreak in 2003. These prompted investors from both Japan and the world to sell out their interest, or to momentarily suspend the construction due to the shrinking of the Shanghai office market demand."

In Japan, Mori was criticized for what some thought to be his imprudent investment, but it never crossed his mind to abandon this project. He said his determination was based on the firm belief on the potential of this city as an international financial center.

"As Shanghai will host the Shanghai World Expo two years from now, further on to five years, 10 years ahead, we hope that every visitor to China will say: as soon as we visit China, the first destination must be the Shanghai World Financial Center," Mori added.