Quote:
Originally Posted by ht-freak
Actually, construction costs are much higher here and there are more inspections to pass.
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Actually the specs for building codes in the region (China, Taiwan and Japan) are much higher due to the earthquake zones, bi-annual typhoons and seasonal floods (and 50 year mega-floods). In short the buildings there have to be over- engineered, but yeah labour, materials and middlemen are much cheaper - though catching up. China only has a specific window to build so freely before wages start to stifle the plans, and 'value-engineering' starts to raise its darling profile. You're already seeing more plain looking boxes going up in Beijing and Shanghai for a while now. It's the other cities that still have a modicum of free rein.
The White Magnolia Plaza was originally slated to be much wavier:
http://skyscraper.org
www.mimoa.eu
the design instead got recycled in the cheaper city of Nanchang
http://legacy.skyscrapercenter.com