Height: 492
meters
Cost to
build: US$1.2 billion
Completion
date: August 2008
Fast fact:
The square “bottle opener” opening at the top that is designed to reduce stress
of wind pressure, and was originally circular. However, Shanghainese citizens
and the city's mayor protested, claiming it was too similar to the rising sun
design of the Japanese flag.
Just eight
meters shy of the half-kilometer mark, this giant bottle opener overtook Gin
Mou Tower in 2008 as the tallest building in China, and is the latest addition
to Pudong’s smoggy skyline, signifying the city’s emergence as a global
financial hub.
Like many
magnificent architectures in China, the Shanghai World Financial Center has a
subtle connection to Chinese beliefs: the opening atop represents earth
reaching up to the sky, symbolizing an interaction between the two realms.
Originally,
this opening was round. The central government forced the change to the current
trapezoid, complaining that a circle was too close to Japan's rising-sun
symbol.
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