SHANGHAI | World Financial Center | 1,614 FT / 492 M | 101 FLOORS
 

Construction has resumed. After preparatory works on the plot, first cranes made their apparition.


On this picture there is a circular road being created around the building base square. It was not there before.

http://www.lookatchina.com/web_en/ph...oad.php?id=651


On this later photo (february 2004), this road seems completed. (sorry no direct active link copy and past URL into a new browser window)

http://community.webshots.com/s/imag...0dLjXsn_fs.jpg
Smaller size : http://community.webshots.com/s/imag...0dLjXsn_ph.jpg


A mars 2004 picture showing the first cranes.

http://community.webshots.com/s/imag...7HaZbNS_fs.jpg
Smaller size : http://community.webshots.com/s/imag...7HaZbNS_ph.jpg


Similar first cranes in 1997 :

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/da...cialcenter.jpg

Is that a golf driving range with the high fences to the right of Jin Mao?

Good news. But I'm not entirely convinced though.

Hmmm! it does not look like an english lawn. :laugh:

On skyscrapers.com, which is mainly a pay access data base for building corporate societies it is classified as "under construction". Their informations must be reliable in oeder to sell them. The status of Shanghai constructions has been reactualised last week, spring cleaning.

The evolution of activities these pics show us confirms that. The latest pic is nearly one mounth old, let's wait for a next one and see. I don't think they are even diging right now but soon they will. These activities indicate that they are preparing to. The building is no more "on hold". It is going to be built . No more doubt.

I knew this was going to be a controversial thread...

A skyscrapers.com news that corroborates pictures :



2003-02-13 Reported by Thomas Jaehndel

News: Shanghai World Financial Center resumes construction

Shanghai: A grand ceremony earlier today marked the resumption of construction of what will be one of the tallest buildings in the world. The Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) will be 492 meters tall and contain 97 floors of office space, hotel rooms and sightseeing areas as was stated in an official press conference today by the building's developer, Japan's Mori Building Corporation.

Construction of the SWFC started in August 1997 but was put on hold one year later when an enormous glut of office space hit the city's property market. Since most of this space is now being absorbed the developer is confident that the building will be a commercial success when opened on October 1st, 2007.

Industry insiders in Shanghai believe that SWFC's final height might even exceed 500 meters, a rumour Mori declined to comment on. Another contender for the title of the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101 in Taiwan's capital will be 508 meters tall.

An older (2001) skyscrapers.com info with details on what has already be done and the planned changes from the 1997 project :



2001-03-05 Reported by Janne Puustelli

News: Shanghai World Financial Center back on track

Shanghai: Designed by Kohn, Pedersen Fox Associated, New York, Shanghai World Financial Center started construction in August 27th, 1997 and completed the construction of the first phase of the construction in October 1998. First phase of the construction consisted of driving 2000 structural piles to the depth of 80 meters under ground to create the basis for the main tower of 94 storeys and 460 metres. After that Asian economical crisis forced the developer to put construction on hold for several years to come.

Kiyoshi Yoshikawa, Overseas Publicity Counselor at developer company Mori Building Corporation gave comments on the company's behalf about the latest plans for the project. Mori Building is still going to keep their ambitious plan to have the World's Tallest title for Shanghai World Financial Center by raising the original 2.70m floor-to-ceiling heights significantly and perhaps increasing the number of floors. Final structural height is yet to be seen.

The miraculous design, that won many international architecture competitions and prizes in 1990's, is kept virtually untouched. The cylindrical cut in the upper part of the tower is going to be the world's highest observation deck as originally planned. The construction is planned to resume in 2002 and last around four years, although the exact schedule is yet to be settled.

OK. Not only do they give a year of completion, but also a date (Oct. 1st).

Alex, you're insane.

@ fabb : Too bad they did not give the hour and the weather conditions for the opening day. With a building of that size it's seems hard to predict that precisely the completion date. May be it's a special date in China of some $ymbolic or hi$toric dimen$ion ?

I did not know the first construction period has been that long (from august 97 to October 98) and that it had already achieved the building basis construction.

Will the new building heigh impact the utility of those first works?

The foundations were made for a 460 m tower if I remember correctly. The height added represents 7 percent of the initial plan, but probably less than 7 percent of the weight.

1/10 is the national day of China .10/10 is for Taiwan.
I guess it will completed in 1/10 2008 ,after a further dalay in last year.

Greats news then!

Thanks Aboveday for letting us know first of october is China national day. May be the date must be taken seriously then. They'll try to respect this deadline whatever happens (egyptian pyramids days...). Thank to national pride silliness the WFC might be delivered in time.

You are welcome,avcellvs.:)
Big construction projects in China ,were usually been used by the local government leader to show there administrative achievements to the Central government ,but in this case ,the project is not supported by the government ,so i think the developer(japanese)chose this day,is because they want to show there goodwill to Chinese.(because some people in China think that the hole on the tower represent the Red circle on the national flag of Japan,thus they hate this tower.....):rolleyes:

I must say that when the connection was made between the giant, circular hole and the Japanese flag, it seemed so obvious that I couldn't get it out of my mind.

They should replace the circle with a hammer and sickle.

Or an octagon. The number eight is good luck in China.

SO. CONSTRUCTION OH-HOLD OR RESUMED?
WHAT'S HAPPEND ON CONSTRUCTION SITE RIGHT NOW?

hey
who work in Jin Mao? there are need to install web camera ;)

@ coth : a web cam would be great. Let's all write to the building company !

so, construction going or not?

I think that the answer would be a yes.

@ Aboveday : Very interesting insight information. Nice to have a chinese there to point out that political dimension to us faraway observers. We tend to be mainly obsessed by architecture or fantasies about the Science fiction touch of modern China towns. Nice buildings, incredible chinese economic dynamism that makes possible all those titanesque works, reminding us of the lost power of the western world. It's a long time we are told 21th century will be asian, and now we are in the 21th century... and we watch it happens.

On the other side I was wondering what chinese people themselves think of this construction boom. I am aware that many old houses are demolished to give room for endless estate speculation. The poors are sent to faraway suburbs while foreigners, rich and middle class people live in cities center new buildings. Capitalist way : social inegality, no respect for historical cultural patrimony, ecological concerns, etc... I'm afraid the government is focussing on this modern urban facade to hide misery elsewhere with the olympic games and Shanghai world expo deadlines in view. Nice poscards for western media, no matter the price for the people.


To come back to that circle polemic, I think that as would say Doctor Sigmund Freud, we always have to keep in mind that this circle is also just a circle... The chinese should perhaps exert sustained pressure on Japan to obtain the recognition of their war crimes towards Chinese during WW2. Unlike germans, most japanese tend to remember that period as victims, not criminals. For them, Hiroshima just means the atomic bomb (a shame the US president jumped on the occasion to test it, and twice), they don't want to know that there also was there a laboratory experimenting atrocities on corean prisoners, just like the nazis. Very few of them admit it, history books try to erase all these embarassing memories of WW2. So I do understand why the chinese people are so angry, but hating the building is not going to solve in anyway this political question.

And let's not forget the architect is american, not japanese. Let's remind what where the original intentions that led to the choice of this circle.

One was technical : to release wind pressure on the top of the building, a hole was nedeed.

A circle shaped hole has been choosen for symbolic reasons. This building grows from an horizontal square into a vertical circle. The architect intention was to say "from earth to sky"; given that in chinese cosmogony, the symbol for earth is a square and for sky is a circle. Nothing to do with the japanese flag.

The size of this circle is exactly the same than those of the Oriental Pearl spheres. It was intended as a contextual mirroring to unify Pudong skyline.

Therefore I totally disagree with the Fabb and JACKinNYC proposals for others symbols. The architect's original symbolic intentions must be kept untouched. Artists do not have to submit to political pressures of any sorts. This circle, as a mere form, is perfectly integrated into the fluidity of the building design. I think shanghaiese people should really enjoy this beautiful building.

Interpretation is really a very wide open field... New proposal : Try to imagine a drunken Homer Simpson in front of WFC : "Hmmm, a giant opener!"

Little Brother is watching U !

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/da...0kingdom_d.jpg

I saw a report on this Riyadh (Saudi) building. As for WFC, extreme desert winds made the hole necessary to relieve pressure on the top. The architect is not KDF but Ellerbe Becket. It was completed in 2002.

^There is hole in that building because the city has a height limit based on the floor count and not on the height.

There's a hole because that's how bottle openers work.

ha, Moscow also has limit based on floor count. not upper 35 floors in historical center, 84 floors on periphery and unlim on downtown, but think what is a building with 4.2meters tall 35 floors - 150 meters, what not so bad :D

Any recent pictures? This is quite exciting now.

After seeing those pics....Now I do believes that the SWFC is U/C............;)

I am still skeptic.

Regarding the top circle controversy, on KPF web you will find detailled explanations on the building design :

http://www.kpf.com/Projects/mori.htm

The building is rated as "under construction".

The later pic I found (march 29th 04)

http://community.webshots.com/s/image11/1/30/12/129513012RvLYvT_fs.jpg

But weather is definitively too rainy to have a clear view on what's going on on the WFC plot and the JinMao is hiding part of it. The better possible shots would be from ground level or from the JinMao.

Anybody in Shanghai with a digital camera ?

Shortly before construction resumed. The WFC plot is totally empty, no circular path around the future building square base.

http://www.shanghaiguide.com/gallery...pers.sized.jpg

Full resolution pic : http://www.shanghaiguide.com/gallery...kyscrapers.jpg

How could I miss this one ! This is no poscard but...
A march 20th pic, tourists just in front of the WFC plot.

http://community.webshots.com/s/image8/8/42/15/126784215tIIMBQ_ph.jpg

Full resolution pic : http://community.webshots.com/s/image8/8/42/15/126784215tIIMBQ_fs.jpg

I can't wait to see this one start rising...

A great find, avcellus! Those tourists must be Photoshopped out of there! BUT why are they still apparently working on the foundations (the red vertical crane)? I thought that was done. Next: a photo that actually shows people on the site!!!

Jaroslaw, that's exactly what I keep asking myself. Those vertical cranes are usually used for foundations. So why are they back ?

Is it because of the new building height (still a Mori Co. secret) they have to do some additional work ?

Fabb said no :

But Mori Co. now speaks of a higher than 500 m building. Is it still possible without affecting the previous foundations reliability?

A bigger height increases weight, but what about the added wind pressure? Is Shanghai in a typoons zone ?

I am glad this project really u/c....so fine looking tower.

A rendering of the observation deck inside the top circular hole. I had never seen this before, it gives a good indication of its thinner upper floors size.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~hnetten/swfc027.jpg

It'll be a dizzying experience.

I thought they gonna built the ferry' wheel..?

Any guesses as to when the first pic showing SWFC rising out of the ground will get posted?

I look forward to seeing pictures of the building as it starts to grow upward.

We don't know yet precisely when it will rise (see previous messages). I'll post a photograph as son as I'll find one. May be someone in Shanghai will.

I think that's a great idea. It would still allow for the ferris wheel. The only problem I could see is if they got upset because the number 8 has significant meaning in Islam.

OH MY GOD THAT WOULD BE SO AWESOME

I think its still part of the plans. Those renders are from years ago, I remember them on WTB.com.