1.
Parramatta
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Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, Australia,23 kilometres west of its central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the seat of the City of Parramatta, one of four cities within the Sydney metropolitan area. Parramatta, founded by the British in 1788, the year as Sydney, is the oldest inland European settlement in Australia. Since 2000, government agencies such as the New South Wales Police Force, Parramatta is a major business and commercial centre, and home to Westfield Parramatta, the ninth largest shopping centre in Australia. It is colloquially known as Parra, radiocarbon dating suggests human activity occurred in Parramatta from around 30,000 years ago. The Darug people who lived in the area before European settlement regarded the area as rich in food from the river, the Parramatta Eels Rugby League club chose their symbol as a result of this phenomenon. Parramatta was founded in 1788, the year as Sydney. As such, Parramatta is the second oldest city in Australia, during 1788, Governor Arthur Phillip had reconnoitred several places before choosing Parramatta as the most likely place for a successful large farm. Parramatta was the furthest navigable point inland on the Parramatta River and also the point at which the river became freshwater, as a settlement developed, Governor Phillip gave it the name Rose Hill after George Rose, Secretary for the British Treasury. In 1791 he changed the name to Parramatta, approximating the term used by the local Aboriginal people, a neighbouring suburb acquired the name Rose Hill. In an attempt to deal with the crisis, Phillip in 1789 granted a convict named James Ruse the land of Experiment Farm at Parramatta on the condition that he develop a viable agriculture. There, Ruse became the first person to grow grain in Australia. The Parramatta area was also the site of the pioneering of the Australian wool industry by John Macarthurs Elizabeth Farm in the 1790s, Philip Gidley Kings account of his visit to Parramatta on 9 April 1790 is one of the earliest descriptions of the area. Walking four miles with Governor Phillip to Prospect he saw undulating grassland interspersed with magnificent trees, Governor Arthur Phillip built a small house for himself on the hill of The Crescent. It was used as a retreat by Governors until the 1850s, the house, Old Government House, is currently a historic site and museum within Parramatta Park and is Australias oldest surviving public building. In 1803, another incident occurred in Parramatta, involving a convicted criminal named Joseph Samuel. Samuel was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by hanging, in the second attempt, the noose slipped off his neck. In the third attempt, the new rope broke, Governor King was summoned and pardoned Samuel, as the incident appeared to him to be divine intervention
2.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
3.
Aspire Parramatta
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Aspire Parramatta is a proposed skyscraper located in Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, a centrepiece of the Parramatta Square development. The building proposal is a residential and hotel skyscraper which will comprise 700 residential apartments and 150 hotel rooms and it will be built in the Parramatta Square Development on plot 8 called PSQ8. If approved, construction would commence on Aspire in 2016, with an overall completion year set for 2020. 2012 The first incarnation of Aspire Parramatta on 160-182 Church Street in Parramatta, was conceived in July 2012 and this project would form one of the key developments of Parramatta Square, formerly known as Civic Place. 2013–15 In early 2013, a development plan application was lodged, the new proposal would include a 336 metres tall skyscraper with 88 storeys, comprising 700 residential apartments, a 150-room hotel and retail space. Dubbed Aspire Parramatta, the skyscraper would have included an observation deck. By late August 2014, the building proposal was questioned after issues regarding height restrictions emerged with aviation authorities. Soon after, new recommendations proposed for a no more than 243 metres tall. In October 2014, Parramatta council submit a proposal to the City Centre Planning Framework Review to remove the building height limit. In May 2015, the Government of New South Wales scrapped the existing building height restrictions in Parramatta, in order for the latter to eventuate, the project had to receive final approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. By August 2015, the Walker Corporation was appointed developer of the Aspire project. In conjunction with the announcement of Walkers appointment, it was revealed the tower would have to be reduced to 68 storeys, 2016–present In early 2016, the Walker Corporation launched a design competition for the Aspire Tower. The initial design for the won in 2012 by Grimshaw Architects, was shelved. The latter, Bates Smart, was selected by a jury of four Parramatta individuals in March. The A$700 million skyscraper project will be devised into two phases, Phase 1 will see an application lodged by June 2016 for a 70-storey skyscraper, with a height of approximately 243 m. Should the Walker Corporation and CASA reach an agreement pertaining to lifting the height limit on the project. Phase 2 will see an application lodged for a 90-storey skyscraper, should this proposal eventuate, it would allow for Aspire to become the 3rd-tallest building in Australia behind Q1 and Australia 108. Notwithstanding which phase goes ahead, the residential, hotel and observation aspect of the skyscraper will be retained in the design, the Walker Corporation anticipates a 2020 completion date for Aspire
4.
Doha
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Doha is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Qatar. Doha has a population of 1,351,000 in a city proper with the close to 1.5 million. The city is located on the coast of the Persian Gulf in the east of the country and it is Qatars fastest growing city, with over 50% of the nations population living in Doha or its surrounding suburbs, and it is also the economic center of the country. Doha was founded in the 1820s as an offshoot of Al Bidda and it was officially declared as the countrys capital in 1971, when Qatar gained independence. As the commercial capital of Qatar and one of the emergent financial centers in the Middle East, Doha is considered a city by the Globalization. Doha accommodates Education City, a devoted to research and education. The city was host to the first ministerial-level meeting of the Doha Development Round of World Trade Organization negotiations. It was also selected as host city of a number of sporting events, including the 2006 Asian Games, in December 2011, the World Petroleum Council held the 20th World Petroleum Conference in Doha. Additionally, the city hosted the 2012 UNFCCC Climate Negotiations and is set to host a number of the venues for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In May 2015, Doha was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, La Paz, Durban, Havana, Beirut, the name Doha may have originated from the Arabic Ad-Dawḥa, the big tree. The reference might be to a prominent tree that stood at the site where the fishing village arose. Alternatively, it may have derived from dohat — Arabic for bay or gulf — referring to the Doha Bay area surrounding the Corniche. The city of Doha was formed after seceding from another local settlement known as Al Bidda, the earliest documented mention of Al Bidda was made in 1681, by the Carmelite Convent, in an account which chronicles several settlements in Qatar. In the record, the ruler and a fort in the confines of Al Bidda are alluded to, carsten Niebuhr, a European explorer who visited the Arabian Peninsula, created one of the first maps to depict the settlement in 1765 in which he labelled it as Guttur. David Seaton, a British political resident in Muscat, wrote the first English record of Al Bidda in 1801 and he refers to the town as Bedih and describes the geography and defensive structures in the area. He stated that the town had recently settled by the Sudan tribe. Seaton attempted to bombard the town with his warship, but returned to Muscat upon finding that the waters were too shallow to position his warship within striking distance. In 1820, British surveyor R. H. Colebrook, who visited Al Bidda and he wrote, The same year, an agreement known as the General Maritime Treaty was signed between the East India Company and the sheikhs of several Persian Gulf settlements
5.
Qatar
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Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a sovereign country located in Western Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its surrounded by the Persian Gulf. A strait in the Persian Gulf separates Qatar from the island country of Bahrain, as well as sharing maritime borders with the United Arab Emirates. Following Ottoman rule, Qatar became a British protectorate in the early 20th century until gaining independence in 1971, Qatar has been ruled by the House of Thani since the early 19th century. Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani was the founder of the State of Qatar, Qatar is a hereditary monarchy and its head of state is Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Whether it should be regarded as a constitutional or a monarchy is a matter of opinion. In 2003, the constitution was approved in a referendum. In early 2017, Qatars total population was 2.3 million,313,000 Qatari citizens and 2.6 million expatriates, Qatar is a high income economy and is a developed country, backed by the worlds third largest natural gas reserves and oil reserves. The country has the highest per capita income in the world, Qatar is classified by the UN as a country of very high human development and is the most advanced Arab state for human development. Qatar is a significant power in the Arab world, supporting several rebel groups during the Arab Spring both financially and through its globally expanding media group, Al Jazeera Media Network. For its size, Qatar wields disproportionate influence in the world, Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first Arab country to do so. A century later, Ptolemy produced the first known map to depict the peninsula, the map also referenced a town named Cadara to the east of the peninsula. The term Catara was exclusively used until the 18th century, after which Katara emerged as the most commonly recognised spelling, eventually, the modern derivative Qatar was adopted as the countrys name. In Standard Arabic, the name is pronounced, while in the local dialect it is, Human habitation of Qatar dates back to 50,000 years ago. Settlements and tools dating back to the Stone Age have been unearthed in the peninsula, Mesopotamian artefacts originating from the Ubaid period have been discovered in abandoned coastal settlements. Al Daasa, a settlement located on the western coast of Qatar, is the most important Ubaid site in the country and is believed to have accommodated a small seasonal encampment. Kassite Babylonian material dating back to the second millennium BC found in Al Khor Islands attests to trade relations between the inhabitants of Qatar and the Kassites in modern-day Bahrain, among the findings were 3,000,000 crushed snail shells and Kassite potsherds. It has been suggested that Qatar is the earliest known site of shellfish dye production, in 224 AD, the Sasanian Empire gained control over the territories surrounding the Persian Gulf
6.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
7.
Arup Group
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The firm has over 14,000 staff based in 92 offices across 42 countries, and is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Arup has participated in projects in over 160 countries, Arup is owned by trusts, the beneficiaries of which are Arups past and present employees, who receive a share of the firms operating profit each year. The firm was founded in London in 1946, as the Ove N. Arup Consulting Engineers by Ove Arup and he set out to build a firm where professionals of diverse disciplines could work together to produce projects of greater quality than was achievable by them working in isolation. In 1963, together with the architect Philip Dowson, Arup Associates was formed, in 1970, the firm reformed as Ove Arup & Partners. It is best known for its work for the built environment. Projects to which it has contributed include the Sydney Opera House,3, Nevada, USA Druk White Lotus School was built to survive the Ladakhi weather. Kingdom Centre, The third tallest skyscraper in Saudi Arabia, and the second tallest in Riyadh and this group continues to work under the banner of Arup Associates following a streamlining of the Arup brand. Many of Arups modern stadia are designed with a contemporary, distinctive edge, the most notable stadium projects led by Arup remain the City of Manchester Stadium, Allianz Arena, Beijing National Stadium, Donbass Arena and the Singapore Sports Hub. Arups multidisciplinary sports venue design and engineering scope on the Singapore Sports Hub won the 2013 World Architecture Festival Award in the Future Projects, the Casa da Música, Oporto, designed by Arup and Office for Metropolitan Architecture was nominated for the 2007 Stirling Prize. Arup was awarded the Worldaware Award for Innovation for its Vawtex air system in Harare International School, Arup Fire has won the Fire Safety Engineering Design award four times since its creation in 2001. The 2001 inaugural award was won for Arups contribution to the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, in 2004, the design for Londons City Hall was appointed joint winner. In 2005, the Temple Mills Eurostar Depot won, the 2006 winning entry was for Amethyst House, a nine-storey building with an atrium from the ground to the top, in Manchester, UK. Arup was also awarded Royal Town Planning Institute Consultancy of the award in 2008. Mike Glover is the recipient of the 2008 Institution of Structural Engineers Gold Medal, the Evelyn Grace Academy, London designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and Arup won the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize 2011. Arup was named Tunnel Design Firm of the Year at the 2012 ITA AITES International Tunnelling Awards, Arup Fellow is a lifelong honorary title awarded to selected honorary individuals in the firm. It acknowledges the highest design and technical achievements of people, not only within the firm and they are considered role models who possess world-class expertise who put theory into effective practice. Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, structural engineer and philosopher, founder of the company, recipient of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture 1966, peter Dunican, structural engineer, first chairman of Ove Arup Partnership, and President of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 1977 and 1978. Sir Jack Zunz, civil engineer, and principal designer of the Sydney Opera House
8.
Skyscraper
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A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building having multiple floors. When the term was used in the 1880s it described a building of 10 to 20 floors. Mostly designed for office, commercial and residential uses, a skyscraper can also be called a high-rise, for buildings above a height of 300 m, the term supertall can be used, while skyscrapers reaching beyond 600 m are classified as megatall. One common feature of skyscrapers is having a steel framework that supports curtain walls and these curtain walls either bear on the framework below or are suspended from the framework above, rather than resting on load-bearing walls of conventional construction. Some early skyscrapers have a frame that enables the construction of load-bearing walls taller than of those made of reinforced concrete. Modern skyscrapers walls are not load-bearing, and most skyscrapers are characterized by surface areas of windows made possible by steel frames. However, skyscrapers can have curtain walls that mimic conventional walls with a surface area of windows. Modern skyscrapers often have a structure, and are designed to act like a hollow cylinder to resist wind, seismic. To appear more slender, allow less wind exposure, and transmit more daylight to the ground, many skyscrapers have a design with setbacks, a relatively big building may be considered a skyscraper if it protrudes well above its built environment and changes the overall skyline. The maximum height of structures has progressed historically with building methods and technologies, the Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest building in the world. High-rise buildings are considered shorter than skyscrapers, the first steel-frame skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois in 1885. Even the scholars making the argument find it to be purely academic and this definition was based on the steel skeleton—as opposed to constructions of load-bearing masonry, which passed their practical limit in 1891 with Chicagos Monadnock Building. What is the characteristic of the tall office building. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and it must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line. Some structural engineers define a highrise as any vertical construction for which wind is a significant load factor than earthquake or weight. Note that this criterion fits not only high-rises but some other tall structures, the word skyscraper often carries a connotation of pride and achievement. A loose convention of some in the United States and Europe draws the limit of a skyscraper at 150 m or 490 ft. The tallest building in ancient times was the 146 m Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt and it was not surpassed in height for thousands of years, the 14th century AD Lincoln Cathedral being conjectured by many to have exceeded it
9.
Aspire Zone
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The Aspire Zone Foundation, also known as Doha Sports City, is a 250-hectare sporting complex located in Al Waab district of Doha, Qatar. It was established as an international destination in 2003 and in the following year an educational centre for the development of sporting champions was opened. The complex contains several sporting venues, mostly constructed in preparation for the 2006 Asian Games and these sporting venues include, Khalifa International Stadium, a 50, 000-capacity stadium primarily used for soccer matches. Hamad Aquatic Center, an Olympic-size swimming pool, the Aspire Dome, which is the worlds largest indoor multi-purpose sports hall and contains 13 different playing fields. Aspire Zone is also home to Dohas tallest structure, the Aspire Tower, and is adjacent to Villaggio Mall, aspetar, a specialised orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital, staffed by some of the worlds leading sports medicine practitioners, is among the facilities of Aspire Zone
10.
AREP
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AREP is a multidisciplinary consultancy that is wholly owned by SNCF. It was formed in 1997 by Jean-Marie Duthilleul and Étienne Tricaud, architects and it has 600 staff from around 15 countries, including town planners, architects, engineers, economists, technicians, designers, and project managers. The main area of work for the company is mobility in the urban environment, AREP is organised into four subsidiaries, AREP, PARVIS, AREP Ville and MENIGHETTI Programmation. Lauréat dans le cadre du concours de requalification et d’aménagement de l’axe historique Nord-Sud, aix-en-Provence, new TGV station and site development, with Michel Desvigne et Christine Dalnoky landscapers. Gare dAngers-Saint-Laud, redevelopment, development plan, station management
11.
Asian Games
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The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a Pancontinental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation from the first Games in New Delhi, India, since the 1982 Games they have been organized by the Olympic Council of Asia, after the breakup of the Asian Games Federation. The Games are recognized by the International Olympic Committee and are described as the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games, in its history, nine nations have hosted the Asian Games. Forty-six nations have participated in the Games, including Israel, which was excluded from the Games after their last participation in 1974. The most recent games was held in Incheon, South Korea from 19 September to 4 October 2014, while the games will be held in Jakarta and Palembang. The Far Eastern Games were first held in Manila in 1913 with 6 participating nations, ten more Far Eastern Games were held until 1934. Consequently, the Far Eastern Games scheduled for 1938 were cancelled, after World War II, a number of Asian countries became independent. During the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, a conversation between sportsmen from China and the Philippines raised the idea of restoring the Far Eastern Games. As a result, he proposed to sports leaders the idea of having a new competition – which came to be the Asian Games. This led to an agreement to form the Asian Athletic Federation, a preparatory committee was then set up to draft the charter for this new body. Starting in 1962, the Games were hit by several crises, first, the host country Indonesia, refused to permit the participation of Israel and Taiwan due to political and religious issues. As a result, the IOC removed its sponsorship of the Games, the Asian Football Confederation, International Amateur Athletics Federation and International Weightlifting Federation, also removed their recognition of the Games. Prior to the Games, Japan was asked to host the Games and this edition also marked the first time the Games have a television broadcasting throughout the world. In Tehran, in 1974, the Games formally recognized the participation of China, North Korea, the last is 1978, Pakistan dropped its plan to host the Games in 1975 due to financial crisis and political issues. Thailand offered to help and the Games were once held in Bangkok. However, once again, like in 1962, Taiwan and Israel were refused the participation by Games Federation, amid political issues and security fears. Several governing bodies protested against the ban, like IAAF, threatened to bar the players from 1980 Summer Olympics. Following this series of crises, the National Olympic Committee in Asia decided to revise the constitution of the Asian Games Federation, a new association, named the Olympic Council of Asia, was created in November 1981 with the exclusion of Israel
12.
Dubai Towers Doha
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Dubai Towers - Doha is a super-tall skyscraper with a roof height of 400 m under construction in Doha, Qatar. The estimated cost of Dubai Towers - Doha is 2.3 billion Qatari Riyal, when completed, the structure will be the tallest building in Qatar. The project has contracted to a joint venture between Al-Habtoor and Al Jaber, while Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall are the architects and engineering consultants. The cost consultants are Hanscomb Consultants Inc, the Project Management consultant is Sama ECH. The project is now severely delayed as a result of the crash in Dubai. Investors in the property have been advised that the building is 9 months behind schedule, however, in May 2010 only 29 of the proposed 84 stories had been built. At normal building rates this would suggest at least a 3-year delay until final completion
13.
2006 Asian Games
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Doha was the first city in its region and only the second in West Asia to host the games. It was the first time that all 45 member nations of the Olympic Council of Asia took part in this event, also, Eurosport broadcast the event, marking the first time that the European continent could watch this Asian sporting event. The final medal tally was led by China followed by South Korea, several world and Asian records were broken during the games. On November 12,2000, voting for the 2006 venue took place in Busan, the voting involved the 41 members of the Olympic Council of Asia and consisted of three rounds, each round eliminating one of the bidding cities. After the first round, New Delhi was eliminated, with two votes. The second round of voting, with three remaining candidates, gave Doha as the result, under the regulations of the OCA, a candidate which gains half of the available votes will automatically be selected as the host, and the remaining rounds of voting will be cancelled. When Doha gained 22 out of 41 votes this meant they were selected to host the 2006 Asian Games, most of Qatars votes came from the unanimous support from West Asian countries. After the major upset, Malaysia and Hong Kong, China expressed their disappointment, Malaysia said that the selection of Doha was ridiculous and that the selection of Doha was influenced by Qatars economic wealth. The torch relay has been integral to the Asian Games since 1958, the plans for the Doha 2006 torch relay were revealed by the Doha Asian Games Organising Committee on January 20,2006. The relay itself started on October 8,2006 with a ceremony at the Doha Golf Club Flame of Hospitality. With the involvement of over 3000 persons, the torch crossed eight former Asian Games host countries, the first pit stop was in New Delhi on October 11,2006. In total the relay passed through 13 countries and 23 cities, the relay, which has a distance of 50,000 kilometres in 55 days, is the longest relay in the history of the Asian Games. The Doha Asian Games Organising Committee chose Orry, a Qatari Oryx, al-Arabi Sports Club Fencing, football, rugby sevens. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport were held, the opening ceremony was directed by David Atkins, who conducted the 2000 Summer Olympics opener. The opening ceremony presented the culture of the Arab World as well as other Asian cultures, the ceremony ended with the lighting of the torch on the Aspire Tower. The sport events contested at the 2006 Asian Games are listed below, officially there are 46 disciplines from 38 sports in contention. All events listed started after the opening ceremony except Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Football, Table tennis, and Volleyball, which had preliminaries before the opening ceremony. South Korean equestrian athlete Kim Hyung-chil died after falling off his horse on the morning of December 7 during the cross country competition which took place in the rain, the accident occurred at jump number eight during the cross-country stage of the three-day eventing competition
14.
Khalifa International Stadium
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It is named after Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, Qatars former Emir. The final of 2011 AFC Asian Cup was held at this stadium, the stadium was originally opened in 1976, but was fully renovated and expanded in 2005 prior to the 2006 Asian Games in order to increase its capacity from 20,000 to 40,000. Before its renovation it was used mostly for football matches, since 1997 it hosts the annual track and field event Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix, now as part of the IAAF Diamond League. It is currently the stadium of Qatar national football team and it will host the 17th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in autumn 2019. The stadium also hosted the function of the 2011 Pan Arab Games. The 2011 Asian Cup Final was played at the stadium. Host for the 2004 Gulf Cup of Nations Host for the 2006 Asian Games Host for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup for Group A matches, the Quarter Final, Semi-final, Host for the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Athletics Host for 2022 FIFA World Cup
15.
Glass fiber reinforced concrete
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Glass fiber reinforced concrete or GFRC is a type of fiber-reinforced concrete. The product is known as glassfibre reinforced concrete or GRC in British English. Glass fiber concretes are mainly used in exterior building façade panels, somewhat similar materials are fiber cement siding and cement boards. Glass fiber-reinforced concrete consists of high-strength, alkali-resistant glass fiber embedded in a concrete matrix, the fibers provide reinforcement for the matrix and other useful functions in fiber-reinforced composite materials. Glass fibers can be incorporated into a matrix either in continuous or discontinuous lengths, durability was poor with the original type of glass fibers since the alkalinity of cement reacts with its silica. In the 1970s alkali-resistant glass fibers were commercialized, alkali resistance is achieved by adding zirconia to the glass. The higher the content the better the resistance to alkali attack. The best fibers have zirconia contents of 19% or higher, a widely used application for fiber-reinforced concrete is structural laminate, obtained by adhering and consolidating thin layers of fibers and matrix into the desired thickness. The fiber orientation in each layer as well as the sequence of various layers can be controlled to generate a wide range of physical and mechanical properties for the composite laminate. GFRC cast without steel framing is used for purely decorative applications such as window trims, decorative columns, exterior friezes. There are a number of differences between structural metal and fiber-reinforced composites, for example, metals in general exhibit yielding and plastic deformation, whereas most fiber-reinforced composites are elastic in their tensile stress-strain characteristics. However, the nature of these materials provides mechanisms for high-energy absorption on a microscopic scale comparable to the yielding process. Depending on the type and severity of external loads, a composite laminate may exhibit gradual deterioration in properties, mechanisms of damage development and growth in metal and composite structure are also quite different. Other important characteristics of many fiber-reinforced composites are their non-corroding behavior, high damping capacity, glass-fiber-reinforced concrete architectural panels have the general appearance of pre-cast concrete panels, but differ in several significant ways. For example, the GFRC panels, on average, weigh less than pre-cast concrete panels due to their reduced thickness. Their low weight decreases loads superimposed on the structural components making construction of the building frame more economical. A sandwich panel is a composit of three or more materials bonded together to form a structural panel and it takes advantage of the shear strength of a low density core material and the high compressive and tensile strengths of the GFRC facing to obtain high strength-to-weight ratios. The theory of sandwich panels and functions of the components may be described by making an analogy to an I-beam
16.
Hyperboloid structure
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Hyperboloid structures are architectural structures designed using a hyperboloid in one sheet. The first hyperboloid structures were built by Russian engineer Vladimir Shukhov, the worlds first hyperboloid tower is located in Polibino, Dankovsky District, Lipetsk Oblast, Russia. Hyperbolic structures have a negative Gaussian curvature, meaning they curve inward rather than outward or being straight. As doubly ruled surfaces, they can be made with a lattice of beams, hence are easier to build than curved surfaces that do not have a ruling. With cooling towers, a structure is preferred. At the bottom, the widening of the tower provides an area for installation of fill to promote thin film evaporative cooling of the circulated water. In the 1880s, Shukhov began to work on the problem of the design of systems to use a minimum of materials, time. His calculations were most likely derived from mathematician Pafnuty Chebyshevs work on the theory of best approximations of functions, Shukhovs mathematical explorations of efficient roof structures led to his invention of a new system that was innovative both structurally and spatially. The steel gridshells of the pavilions of the 1896 All-Russian Industrial. Two pavilions of this type were built for the Nizhni Novgorod exposition, one oval in plan, the roofs of these pavilions were doubly curved gridshells formed entirely of a lattice of straight angle-iron and flat iron bars. Shukhov himself called them azhurnaia bashnia, the patent of this system, for which Shukhov applied in 1895, was awarded in 1899. Shukhov also turned his attention to the development of an efficient and his solution was inspired by observing the action of a woven basket holding up a heavy weight. Again, it took the form of a curved surface constructed of a light network of straight iron bars. Over the next twenty years, he designed and built close to two hundred of these towers, no two alike, most with heights in the range of 12m to 68m. At least as early as 1911, Shukhov began experimenting with the concept of forming a tower out of stacked sections of hyperboloids. Stacking the sections permitted the form of the tower to taper more at the top, increasing the number of sections would increase the tapering of the overall form, to the point that it began to resemble a cone. By 1918 Shukhov had developed this concept into the design of a nine-section stacked hyperboloid radio transmission tower for Moscow, Shukhov designed a 350m tower, which would have surpassed the Eiffel Tower in height by 50m, while using less than a quarter of the amount of material. In July 1919, Lenin decreed that the tower should be built to a height of 150m, construction of the smaller tower with six stacked hyperboloids began within a few months, and Shukhov Tower was completed by March 1922
17.
Aspire Park
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Aspire Park is a park located in Aspire Zone, Doha, Qatar. It covers an area of 88 hectares, and it is Dohas biggest park and it is a great place to have picnics and family outings, while overlooking the Aspire Tower, especially at night. The park has different features as such as beautiful fountains, playgrounds for children. No skateboarding allowed No riding of scooters No riding of bicycle No tree climbing No bringing of pets (e. g. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, villagio Mall Aspire Zone Aspire Dome Aspire Tower Aspire Academy Qatar Tourism Authority Qatar Visitor Qatar Explorer ExpatWoman Qatar Living
18.
Wikimedia Commons
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Wikimedia Commons is an online repository of free-use images, sound, and other media files. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation, the repository contains over 38 million media files. In July 2013, the number of edits on Commons reached 100,000,000, the project was proposed by Erik Möller in March 2004 and launched on September 7,2004. The expression educational is to be according to its broad meaning of providing knowledge. Wikimedia Commons itself does not allow fair use or uploads under non-free licenses, for this reason, Wikimedia Commons always hosts freely licensed media and deletes copyright violations. The default language for Commons is English, but registered users can customize their interface to use any other user interface translations. Many content pages, in particular policy pages and portals, have also translated into various languages. Files on Wikimedia Commons are categorized using MediaWikis category system, in addition, they are often collected on individual topical gallery pages. While the project was proposed to also contain free text files. In 2012, BuzzFeed described Wikimedia Commons as littered with dicks, in 2010, Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger reported Wikimedia Commons to the FBI for hosting sexualized images of children known as lolicon. Wales responded to the backlash from the Commons community by voluntarily relinquishing some site privileges, over time, additional functionality has been developed to interface Wikimedia Commons with the other Wikimedia projects. Specialized uploading tools and scripts such as Commonist have been created to simplify the process of uploading large numbers of files. In order to free content photos uploaded to Flickr, users can participate in a defunct collaborative external review process. The site has three mechanisms for recognizing quality works, one is known as Featured pictures, where works are nominated and other community members vote to accept or reject the nomination. This process began in November 2004, another process known as Quality images began in June 2006, and has a simpler nomination process comparable to Featured pictures. Quality images only accepts works created by Wikimedia users, whereas Featured pictures additionally accepts nominations of works by third parties such as NASA, the three mentioned processes select a slight part from the total number of files. However, Commons collects files of all quality levels, from the most professional level across simple documental, files with specific defects can be tagged for improvement and warning or even proposed for deletion but there exists no process of systematic rating of all files. The site held its inaugural Picture of the Year competition, for 2006, all images that were made a Featured picture during 2006 were eligible, and voted on by eligible Wikimedia users during two rounds of voting
19.
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
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The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design. Its stated mission is to study and report on all aspects of the planning, design, the Council was founded at Lehigh University in 1969 by Lynn S. Beedle, where its office remained until October 2003 when it moved to the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. The CTBUH ranks the height of buildings using three different methods, Height to architectural top, This is the criterion under which the CTBUH ranks the height of buildings. Heights are measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the top of the building, inclusive of spires but excluding items such as flagpoles and antennae. Highest occupied floor, Height to the level of the highest floor that is occupied by residents. Height to tip, Height to the highest point of the building, including antennae, flagpoles, a category measuring to the top of the roof was removed from the ranking criteria in November 2009. This became the CTBUH official definition of a building’s completion, the CTBUH maintains an extensive database of the tallest buildings in the world, organized by various categories. Buildings under construction are included, although not ranked until completion. The CTBUH also produces an annual list of the ten tallest buildings completed in that particular year. Second on the 2008 list was the 363-metre Almas Tower in Dubai, third was the Minsheng Bank Building in Wuhan which stands at 331 metres, whilst fourth was The Address Downtown Burj Dubai. All in all, six of the ten tallest buildings completed in 2008 are located in Asia, the CTBUH also hosts annual conferences and a World Congress every three to five years. The most recent World Congress was held in Shanghai between 19 and 21 September 2012, the next World Congress will be held in Shanghai between 16 and 19 September 2014. The CTBUH also bestows Tall Building Awards each year, with four awards to the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Among these four regional awards, one is given the Best Tall Building Award Overall, there are also two lifetime achievement awards. Starting in 2010, these awards are presented at a symposium, in 2012 the CTBUH added two new awards for Innovation and Performance. In addition to the newsletter and daily updated global news archive. The Journal includes peer-reviewed technical papers, in-depth project case studies, book reviews, interviews with prominent persons in the building industry. The CTBUH also publishes guidebooks, reference manuals, and monographs related to the building industry
20.
432 Park Avenue
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432 Park Avenue is a residential skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City that overlooks Central Park. Originally proposed to be 1,300 feet in 2011, the structure topped out at 1,396 ft and it was developed by CIM Group and features 104 condominium apartments. Construction began in 2012 and was completed on December 23,2015, the building required the demolition of the 495-room Drake Hotel. Built in 1926, it was purchased for $440 million in 2006 by developer Harry Macklowe and its footprint became one of New Yorks most valuable development sites due to its location, between East 56th and 57th Streets on the west side of Park Avenue. As completed,432 Park Avenue is the third tallest building in the United States, and it is the second-tallest building in New York City, behind One World Trade Center, and ahead of the Empire State Building. 432 Park Avenue is the second-tallest building in New York City, by mid-2018,217 West 57th Street and 111 West 57th Street will be at a similar height. The tower has a footprint of approximately 30,000 square feet and has 12.5 foot ceilings, the building was officially topped out on October 10,2014, making it the highest rooftop in the city. The building has one of the highest height-to-width ratios of any skyscraper in the world, the design of the structure was conceived by architect Rafael Viñoly who was inspired by a trash can designed in 1905 by an Austrian designer. The tower has eighty-four 8, 255-square-foot stories, each with six 100-square-foot windows per face, interiors are designed by Deborah Berke and the firm Bentel & Bentel, which also designed Eleven Madison Park and the Gramercy Tavern. To support its thin orthogonal frame, the structure features larger columns at its base than on the upper floors, the buildings amenities include 12-foot golf training facilities and private dining and screening rooms. The first sale of apartment #35B was reported in January 2016 for $18.116 million, ten additional apartments were available at the time ranging from $17.4 to $44.25 million. #35B covers 4,000 square feet, one half of the 35th floor of the tower, each face has six 10 by 10 ft windows, which for #35B, face south and west with views of Central Park. The structure of the tower is composed of a 30 ft square reinforced concrete core with 30 in thick walls and this core houses the elevator shafts and all the building mechanical services. The outer structural skin is composed of a grid of 3 ft 8 in wide columns, the columns begin with a depth of 5 ft 4 in at the bottom of the tower, to as little as 20 in at the top. This layout permits all of the space on each floor to remain fully open for the complete 27 feet span between the core and shell. These floors also contain modularized mechanical services for the six floors above, in addition two tuned mass dampers are located at the top of the tower and in the outriggers of some of the mechanical floors to help damp the motion. Despite its success, the skyscraper has received mixed reviews from professionals and laymen alike since not everyone agreed with the artistic value of the building. The building has been maligned by some city residents since they believe it represents New Yorks increasing cost of living and ostentatious wealth
21.
Aon Center (Chicago)
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With 83 floors and a height of 1,136 feet, it is the third tallest building in Chicago, surpassed in height by the Willis Tower and the Trump International Hotel and Tower. The building is managed by Jones Lang LaSalle, which is headquartered in the building. Aon Center formerly had the headquarters of Aon and Amoco, Aons US operations are headquartered here. The Standard Oil Building was constructed as the new headquarters of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, when it was completed in 1974 it was the tallest building in Chicago and the fourth-tallest in the world, earning it the nickname Big Stan. The building employs a tubular steel-framed structural system with V-shaped perimeter columns to resist earthquakes, reduce sway, minimize column bending and this construction method was also used for the former World Trade Center towers in New York City. When completed, it was the worlds tallest marble-clad building, being sheathed entirely with 43,000 slabs of Italian Carrara marble, the marble used was thinner than previously attempted in cladding a building, this quickly proved to be a mistake. On December 25,1973, during construction a 350-pound marble slab detached from the façade, in 1985, inspection found numerous cracks and bowing in the marble cladding of the building. To alleviate the problem, stainless steel straps were added to hold the marble in place, later, from 1990 to 1992, the entire building was refaced with Mount Airy white granite at an estimated cost of over $80 million. The buildings facade now somewhat resembles that of the former World Trade Center due to the flow of the columns. The Standard Oil Building was renamed the Amoco Building when the company changed names in 1985, in 1998, Amoco sold the building to The Blackstone Group for an undisclosed amount, estimated to be between $430 and $440 million. It was renamed as the Aon Center on December 30,1999, in May 2003, Wells Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. acquired the building for between $465 and $475 million. In recent years, the top floors of the building have been lit at night with colors to reflect a particular season or holiday, orange is used for Thanksgiving, green or red for Christmas, and pink during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The lighting commonly matches the nighttime lighting on the antenna of Willis Tower, the John Hancock Center, in the plaza, there is a sounding sculpture by Harry Bertoia
22.
Bank of America Plaza (Atlanta)
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Bank of America Plaza is a skyscraper located in between Midtown Atlanta and Downtown Atlanta. At 312 m the tower is the 87th-tallest building in the world and it is the 11th tallest building in the U. S. the tallest building in Georgia and the tallest building in any U. S. state capital. It has 55 stories of space and was completed in 1992. Originally intended to be the headquarters for Citizens & Southern National Bank, the building was developed by Cousins Properties and designed by the architectural firm Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates LLC. Designed in the Art Déco style, it was built in only 14 months, the Plazas imposing presence is heightened by the dark color of its exterior. It soars into the sky with vertical lines that reinforce its height while also creating an abundance of revenue-generating corner offices, located over 3.7 acres on Peachtree Street. There is a 90 ft obelisk-like spire at the top of the building echoing the shape of the building as a whole, most of the spire is covered in 23 karat gold leaf. The open-lattice steel pyramid underneath the obelisk glows yellow-orange at night due to lighting, originally, the lattice was designed to be clad in glass, but the engineers failed to take the weight of the glass into account. At its most basic, this is an interpretation of the Art Deco theme seen in the Empire State Building. The inhabited part of the building actually ends abruptly with a flat roof, on top of this is built a pyramid of girders, which are gilded and blaze at night, with the same type of yellow-orange high-pressure sodium lighting now used in most street lights. Its design has been characterized as similar to the Messeturm in Frankfurt am Main, the skyscraper, built at a 45-degree angle to the citys street grid, is set back off its eastern and western street boundaries, Peachtree Street and West Peachtree Street, by over 50 yards. This setback is filled, variously, by driveways, parking garage entrances, potted plants, granite staircases, and sloping lawns. The building directly abuts the sidewalk on North Avenue, its boundary, with access to this street through a parking garage entrance. Some urban planners decry the building as a Corbusian tower in a park, as it actively disengages itself from the environment surrounding it. Critics argue that the building encourages its tenants to access it primarily by car, however it is across the street from the MARTA-rail North Avenue station. As of 2014, new sidewalks, pavers, ADA ramps, pedestrian light-poles, improved tree wells, new bike racks and these neighborhood improvements are slated to be completed by 2016 at a cost of $1.04 million. ∈, a $30 million renovation to the lobby, health club, the building and property management were awarded Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce E3 Liquid Assets, a recognition in water sustainability. Midtown Atlantas Midtown Alliance also recognized it as an EcoDistrict Green Luminary for its significant commitment to sustainability practices, beginning in 2016, $15 million will be invested over the next few years to significantly modernize the common areas including the lobby, west wing and some deferred maintenance
23.
Bank of America Tower (Manhattan)
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The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park is a 1,200 ft skyscraper in the Midtown area of Manhattan in New York City. It is located on Avenue of the Americas, between 42nd and 43rd Streets, opposite Bryant Park, the US$1 billion project was designed by COOKFOX Architects, and advertised to be one of the most efficient and ecologically friendly buildings in the world. It is the fourth tallest building in New York City, after One World Trade Center,432 Park Avenue, and the Empire State Building, the buildings Urban Garden Room at 43rd Street and 6th Avenue is open to the public. The towers architectural spire is 255.5 ft tall and was placed on December 15,2007, several buildings were demolished to make way for the tower. Among them was the Hotel Diplomat, a 13-story structure which occupied the site at 108 West 43rd Street since 1911, and Henry Millers Theatre, the Bank of America Tower is considered a worldwide model for green architecture in skyscrapers. The tower also features a system, which captures rainwater for reuse. Bank of America states that the building is largely of recycled. Air entering the building is filtered, as is common, Bank of America Tower is the first skyscraper designed to attain a Platinum LEED Certification. The Bank of America Tower is constructed using a concrete manufactured with slag, the mixture used in the tower concrete is 55% cement and 45% slag. Each ton of cement produced creates about one ton of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Temperature control and the production of some of its energy are accomplished in a friendly manner for the tower. Insulated glazing reduces thermal loss, lowering energy consumption and increasing transparency, carbon dioxide sensors signal increased fresh air ventilation when elevated levels of carbon dioxide are detected in the building. Conditioned air for the occupants is provided by multiple air column units located in the tenant space that deliver 50 °F air into a raised access floor plenum and this underfloor air system provides users with the ability to control their own space temperature as well as improving the ventilation effectiveness. When building churn occurs, workstation moves can be performed easily with lower cost. Ice batteries have been used since absorption chillers first made ice commercially available 150 years ago, before the invention of the electric light bulb. Water conservation features in the tower include waterless urinals, which are estimated to save 8,000,000 US gal of water per year, the tower has a 4. 6-megawatt cogeneration plant, which provides part of the base-load energy requirements. In summer 2013, the Durst Organization employed Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm to install, when comparing building height, only the structural height is used according to rules and regulations of the World Council on Tall Buildings. Currently, the New York Times Building and the Chrysler Building are tied for the position of the third tallest buildings in New York City
24.
Chrysler Building
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At 1,046 feet, the structure was the worlds tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931. It is the tallest brick building in the world, with a steel structure, in addition, The New York Times Building, which opened in 2007, is exactly level with the Chrysler Building in height. The Chrysler Building is an example of Art Deco architecture. In 2007, it was ranked ninth on the List of Americas Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects and it was the headquarters of the Chrysler Corporation from 1930 until the mid-1950s. Although the building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, Chrysler decided to pay for it himself, so that his children could inherit it. The Chrysler Building was designed by architect William Van Alen for a project of Walter P. Chrysler, when the ground breaking occurred on September 19,1928, there was an intense competition in New York City to build the worlds tallest skyscraper. Despite a frantic pace, no workers died during the construction of this skyscraper, Van Alens original design for the skyscraper called for a decorative jewel-like glass crown. It also featured a base in which the windows were tripled in height and topped by 12 stories with glass-wrapped corners. The height of the skyscraper was originally designed to be 246 meters. However, the proved to be too advanced and costly for building contractor William H. Reynolds. The design and lease were then sold to Walter P. Chrysler, construction commenced on September 19,1928. In total,391,881 rivets were used and approximately 3,826,000 bricks were manually laid, contractors, builders and engineers were joined by other building-services experts to coordinate construction. Prior to its completion, the building stood about even with a project at 40 Wall Street. Severance increased the height of his project and then claimed the title of the worlds tallest building. In response, Van Alen obtained permission for a 38-meter long spire and had it secretly constructed inside the frame of the building, the spire was delivered to the site in four different sections. On October 23,1929, the section of the spire was hoisted to the top of the buildings dome. The other remaining sections of the spire were hoisted and riveted to the first one in order in just 90 minutes. It was the first man-made structure to stand taller than 1,000 feet, Van Alens satisfaction in these accomplishments was likely muted by Walter Chryslers later refusal to pay the balance of his architectural fee
25.
Empire State Building
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The Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper located on Fifth Avenue between West 33rd and 34th Streets in Midtown, Manhattan, New York City. It has a height of 1,250 feet, and with its antenna included. Its name is derived from the nickname for New York, the Empire State and it stood as the worlds tallest building for nearly 40 years, from its completion in early 1931 until the topping out of the original World Trade Centers North Tower in late 1970. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Empire State Building was again the tallest building in New York, the Empire State Building is currently the fifth-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States and the 34th-tallest in the world. It is also the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas, when measured by pinnacle height, it is the fourth-tallest building in the United States. The Empire State Building is an American cultural icon and it is designed in the distinctive Art Deco style and has been named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The building and its street floor interior are designated landmarks of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and it was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. In 2007, it was ranked number one on the AIAs List of Americas Favorite Architecture, the site of the Empire State Building was first developed as the John Thompson Farm in the late 18th century. At the time, a stream ran across the site, emptying into Sunfish Pond, beginning in the late 19th century, the block was occupied by the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, frequented by The Four Hundred, the social elite of New York. The limestone for the Empire State Building came from the Empire Mill in Sanders, Indiana which is a town adjacent to Bloomington. The Empire Mill Land office is near State Road 37 and Old State Road 37 just south of Bloomington, the Bloomington, Bedford, and Oolitic area is known locally as the limestone capital of the world. The Empire State Building was designed by William F, the building was designed from the top down. The general contractors were The Starrett Brothers and Eken, and the project was financed primarily by John J. Raskob, the construction company was chaired by Alfred E. Smith, a former Governor of New York and James Farleys General Builders Supply Corporation supplied the building materials. John W. Bowser was project construction superintendent, excavation of the site began on January 22,1930, and construction on the building itself started on March 17—St. Patricks Day—per Al Smiths influence as Empire State, Inc. president, the project involved 3,400 workers, mostly immigrants from Europe, along with hundreds of Mohawk iron workers, many from the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal. According to official accounts, five died during the construction. Governor Smiths grandchildren cut the ribbon on May 1,1931, lewis Wickes Hines photography of the construction provides not only invaluable documentation of the construction, but also a glimpse into common day life of workers in that era. The construction was part of a competition in New York for the title of worlds tallest building
26.
Franklin Center (Chicago)
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The Franklin Center is a 60-story supertall skyscraper completed in 1989 as the AT&T Corporate Center to consolidate the central region headquarters of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company. It stands at a height of 1,007 ft and contains 1,700,000 sq ft in the Loop neighborhood of downtown Chicago. It is located two blocks east of the Chicago River and northeast of the Willis Tower with an address of 227 West Monroe Street. In the Loop community area of downtown Chicago, the supertall building is the tallest constructed in Chicago in the last quarter of the 20th century. It is the 5th tallest building in Chicago and the 13th tallest in the United States and it contains office and retail space and a 350-space garage. Tishman Speyer acquired the property in 2004 and renamed the adjacent USG Building as Franklin Center in 2007 after USG relocated its offices, the name was later applied to the entire complex. A1982 consent decree split the American Telephone & Telegraph Company monopoly into several entities with local service providers becoming part of a Regional Bell Operating Company, in the decade that followed, AT&T erected new buildings across the country including the AT&T Building in New York City. April 5,1985, AT&T issued a request for proposals that produced eleven respondents, Stein and Co. the winning realtor, sought Skidmore, Owings and Merrill as designers for the purpose of distinguishing a proposal from the nearby Willis Tower. AT&T employees began to occupy the office space April 3,1989, the building was built under a self-imposed comprehensive minority contracting and affirmative action package that met the citys 1985 30% hiring rule for public sector projects. Chicago mayor Harold Washingtons administration had passed an edict that 30% of the work for public sector projects be set aside for minority, in a show of support for this rule, Stein & Co. and AT&T adopted the rule for their private development. Designed by Adrian D. Smith of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the buildings form features setbacks at the 15th, 30th and 45th floors. Designed in the architectural style, it is a granite-clad steel-framed building resting on pile foundations. The structure is characterized by vertical lines, spiked roof pinnacles, granite cladding. The granite is a red color at the base. Above the 5th floor, the lighter rose-beige granite is protected by silk-screened aluminum panels, the building relies on Gothic detailing to showcase verticality. The buildings verticality evokes images of 1920s buildings, and the sturdiness of the structure is reminiscent of the Chicago Board of Trade Building, in addition to its design, the building relies on its location at the farthest corner from the Willis Tower to set it apart. The Otis elevators are spanned by a series of neo-deco light bands extending wall to wall, the building boasts two public lobbies and a mezzanine-level lobby. The lobbies are among the most lavish in Chicago, and they are all decorated with patterned marble floors and walls, bronze, gold-leaf oak trim, and stylized lighting fixtures
27.
JPMorgan Chase Tower (Houston)
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The JPMorgan Chase Tower, formerly Texas Commerce Tower, is a 305.4 m, 75-story,2,243,013 sq. ft skyscraper at 600 Travis Street in Downtown Houston, Texas. The tower was built between 1979 and 1981 as the Texas Commerce Tower and it was designed by noted architects I. M. Pei & Partners. In some early plans, the building reached up to 80 stories, however, nonetheless, when it was completed, it was the eighth tallest building in the world. The building was developed as part of a partnership between Texas Commerce Bank and Khalid bin Mahfouz and it was built on the site where the Uptown Theatre, demolished in 1965, once stood. S. Bank Tower, was built in 1990, JPMorgan Chase Tower is not currently connected to the Houston Downtown Tunnel System. This system forms a network of subterranean, climate-controlled, pedestrian walkways that link twenty-five full city blocks, the Tower also includes 22,000 square feet of retail space. The sky lobby observation deck is located on the 60th floor, one can take the express elevator, providing a panoramic view of the city of Houston thanks to the use of wide glass spans and thirteen-foot ceilings. While the towers name reflects the bank JPMorgan Chase, the space designated to Chase is a single branch office on the bottom floor. The tower is owned by Prime Asset Management and managed by its original owner, police were forced to cordon off the area due to the amount of debris in the streets. At first, it was speculated that the glass came off the building due to impact from debris or due to high-speed winds in the confined spaces, however, flying glass debris must be entirely governed by drag and lift forces that overcome gravity for a considerable time period. This theory was proposed because an increase in speed produces a drop in external pressure. List of tallest buildings in Houston List of tallest buildings by U. S
28.
One World Trade Center
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One World Trade Center is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the sixth-tallest in the world, the supertall structure has the same name as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center, which was completely destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11,2001. The new skyscraper stands on the northwest corner of the 16-acre World Trade Center site, the building is bounded by West Street to the west, Vesey Street to the north, Fulton Street to the south, and Washington Street to the east. The buildings architect was David Childs, whose firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill also designed the Burj Khalifa, the construction of below-ground utility relocations, footings, and foundations for the new building began on April 27,2006. One World Trade Center became the tallest structure in New York City on April 30,2012, the towers steel structure was topped out on August 30,2012. On May 10,2013, the component of the skyscrapers spire was installed, making the building, including its spire. Its height in feet is a reference to the year when the United States Declaration of Independence was signed. The building opened on November 3,2014, the One World Observatory opened on May 29,2015, the building is 104 standard floors high, but the tower has only 94 actual stories. The construction of the new building is part of an effort to memorialize, the construction of the World Trade Center, of which the Twin Towers were the centerpieces, was conceived as an urban renewal project and spearheaded by David Rockefeller. The project was intended to help revitalize Lower Manhattan, the project was planned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which hired architect Minoru Yamasaki. Yamasaki came up with the idea of building twin towers, to satisfy the New Jersey government, the Port Authority agreed to buy the bankrupt Hudson & Manhattan Railroad, which transported commuters from New Jersey to Lower Manhattan. The towers were designed as framed tube structures, giving tenants open floor plans and this design was accomplished by using many closely spaced perimeter columns, providing much of the structures strength, with the gravity load shared with the core columns. The elevator system, which use of sky lobbies and a system of express and local elevators. The design and construction of the towers involved many other techniques, such as wind tunnel experiments. Construction of the North Tower began in August 1966, extensive use of prefabricated components sped up the construction process, the first tenants moved into the North Tower in December 1970. In the 1970s, four other buildings were built as part of the World Trade Center complex. A seventh building was built in the mid-1980s, each tower was over 1,350 feet high, and occupied about 1 acre of the total 16 acres of the sites land. During a press conference in 1973, Yamasaki was asked, Why two 110-story buildings and his response was, I didnt want to lose the human scale
29.
One57
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Upon completion in 2014, it stood at 1,005 feet tall, making it the tallest residential building in the city for a few months until the completion of 432 Park Avenue. The building has 92 condominium units on top of a new Park Hyatt Hotel with 210 rooms, Extell Development Company’s founder and President, Gary Barnett, spent 15 years assembling the property and air rights on 57th Street. At first, he said he wanted to build a 300,000 square-foot building, foundation work started in January 2010. In May 2012, it was announced a buyer had agreed to pay a price in New York of more than $90 million for the 10. Just two months later, the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, after the sales offices had been open for six months, Extell announced One57 was 50% sold with $1 billion in transactions. On June 20,2012, it was announced that framework for the top floor had been completed, shortly after, it was revealed the 13, 550-square-foot “Winter Garden” duplex penthouse, located on the 75th and 76th floors, had gone into contract for an undisclosed amount. In October 2012, entrepreneur Michael Hirtenstein and One57 developer Gary Barnett had a public clash regarding a unit Hirtenstein agreed to purchase in the building. Hirtenstein claimed he would not spend $16 million for a unit without seeing it, by November 5, the crane was secured and through traffic in the surrounding area was allowed. The New York City Department of Buildings also stated they had received complaints about the work site. However, the crane was inspected a week earlier and considered in good shape, City officials called the failure of the boom a freakish occurrence. In May 2013, Extell announced plans to hoist a new crane on May 10–11, the plans endorsed by the New York City Buildings Department involved a mandatory evacuation of the neighboring Alwyn Court as well as the Briarcliff Apartment Building during the process. The residents of the building would receive up to $1,500. The coop board at Alwyn Court announced that it would seek an order against the forced evacuation. The crane was hoisted on May 11 as planned after Extell and its tasks completed, the replacement crane was removed on November 11,2013. Neither Extell nor Lend Lease has ever offered any explanation of the fire, the cause of the fire remains a mystery. The tower was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Christian de Portzamparc, the interiors are by New York-based designer Thomas Juul-Hansen. The use of dark and light glass on the building’s exterior creates vertical stripes, while also manipulating sunlight, the tower is characterized by its rippled canopies and numerous setbacks on 57th Street, its mottled fenestration, curved tops, scoops and accentuated verticality. One57 is currently the tallest mid-block building in New York City, having succeeded 40 Wall Street, One57 was named Worst Building of the Year in 2014 by Curbed. com, whose review said, Pretty much everyone agrees that its wavy blue facade is ugly
30.
Salesforce Tower
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Salesforce Tower, formerly known as the Transbay Tower, is a 1, 070-foot supertall office skyscraper under construction in the South of Market district of downtown San Francisco. When completed, the tower will be the tallest in San Francisco, with a top roof height of 970 feet and an overall height of 1,070 feet, it will be the second-tallest building west of the Mississippi River after the Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles. Developer Hines, with a proposal by architect César Pelli, was selected as the winner of a competition in 2007 to entitle. In 2012, Boston Properties acquired a 50% stake in the project, the site of the tower was in a dilapidated area, formerly used as a ground-level entrance to the San Francisco Transbay Terminal, which was demolished in 2011. The TJPA sold the parcel to Boston Properties and Hines for US$192 million, actual below-grade construction work started in late 2013. The project is a joint venture between general contractors Clark Construction and Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction, the development was originally contracted on spec, meaning the developer-owner did not have a major tenant lease secured beforehand. On April 11,2014, Salesforce. com announced that it signed a lease for 714,000 square feet on floors 1, 3–30, previously known as the Transbay Tower, the building was renamed Salesforce Tower. The lease was valued at US$560 million over 15 and a half starting in 2017. The tower is expected to be completed in 2018 and will have 61 floors, the original proposal called for a 1, 200-foot tower, but the height was later reduced. It will be the tallest building in San Francisco, surpassing the Transamerica Pyramid by more than 200 feet, the tower is expected to become the second-tallest building in the Western United States. A facebook group critical of the design gained over 700 likes. Despite the tower not being completed, San Francisco Curbed readers rated Salesforce Tower as one of the 20 ugliest buildings in the city. Many also noted their disappointment that the tower, built on formerly state-owned land and claiming the highest elevation point in San Francisco, satirical blogs have also ridiculed the tower for its provocative shape
31.
The New York Times Building
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The New York Times Building is a skyscraper on the west side of Midtown Manhattan, New York City that was completed in 2007. Its chief tenant is The New York Times Company, publisher of The New York Times as well as the International New York Times, construction was by a joint venture of The New York Times Company, Forest City Ratner, and ING Real Estate. The original newspaper headquarters in 1851 were at 113 Nassau Street, in a building that stood until fairly recently. The slender tower was so constricted in space that the paper outgrew it within a decade and, in 1913, moved into the Times Annex,229 West 43rd Street, where it remained for almost a century. The project was announced on December 13,2001, a 52-story tower on the east side of Eighth Avenue between 40th and 41st Street across from the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Bus Terminal. In addition, the new building—called by many New Yorkers The New Times Tower—keeps the paper in the Times Square area, the site for the building was obtained by the Empire State Development Corporation through eminent domain. With a mandate to acquire and redevelop blighted properties in Times Square, ten buildings were condemned by the ESDC, some owners sued, asserting that the area was no longer blighted, but lost in court. Once the 80, 000-square-foot site was assembled, it was leased to The New York Times Company, additionally, The New York Times Company received $26.1 million in tax breaks. The Times itself occupies 628,000 square feet on the 2nd to 21st floors, on December 16,2016, the New York Times announced that it was vacating at least 8 of the floors in order to generate rental income. The tower was designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and FXFOWLE Architects, the lighting design for the buildings nighttime identity was designed by the Office for Visual Interaction Inc. The tower rises 748 feet from the street to its roof, with the curtain wall extending 92 feet higher to 840 feet. As of 2010, the building was tied with the Chrysler Building as the fourth-tallest building in New York City, the tower is also the tenth-tallest building in the United States. The steel-framed building, cruciform in plan, has a screen of 1 5⁄8 ceramic rods mounted on the exterior of the curtain wall on the east, west. The rod spacing increases from the base to the top, adding transparency as the building rises, the steel framing and bracing is exposed at the four corner notches of the building. The new building is promoted as a green structure, the design incorporates numerous environmentally sustainable features for increased energy efficiency. The double skin curtain wall, automated louver shading system, dimmable lighting system, underfloor air distribution system, the use of floor-to-ceiling glass maximizes light and views for people inside and outside the building. The horizontal white ceramic rods on the facade, which are spaced to allow occupants to have unobstructed views while both seated and standing, act as an aesthetic veil and a sun shade. They are made of silicate, an extremely dense and high-quality ceramic chosen for its durability
32.
Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago)
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The Trump International Hotel and Tower, also known as Trump Tower Chicago and Trump Tower, is a skyscraper condo-hotel in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The building, named after businessman and current President of the United States, Donald Trump, was designed by architect Adrian Smith of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Bovis Lend Lease built the 98-story structure, which reaches a height of 1,388 feet including its spire and it is next to the main branch of the Chicago River, with a view of the entry to Lake Michigan beyond a series of bridges over the river. When topped out in 2009, it became the fourth-tallest building in the US and it surpassed the citys John Hancock Center as the building with the highest residence in the world, and held this title until the completion of the Burj Khalifa. The design of the building includes, from the ground up, retail space, a parking garage, the 339-room hotel opened for business with limited accommodations and services on January 30,2008, then full accommodation and services on April 28. A restaurant on the 16th floor, Sixteen, opened in early 2008 to favorable reviews, the building topped out in late 2008 and construction was completed in 2009. As of 2015, the hotel is three in Chicago with an elite five-star Forbes Travel Guide rating. It hosts a restaurant that is one of three five-star Forbes-rated restaurants in the city and a spa that is one of six that is at least a four-star Forbes-rated in the Chicago area in 2015. Sixteen is one of five restaurants in Chicago with at least a Michelin Guide two-star rating in 2016, the tower sits at 401 North Wabash Avenue in the River North Gallery District, part of the Near North Side community area of Chicago. The building is across the Chicago River from the Chicago Loop and it is a block away from the southern end of the Magnificent Mile portion of Michigan Avenue. The restaurant, Sixteen, has a view of the Chicago Rivers entrance to Lake Michigan. The design of the building incorporates three setback features designed to provide continuity with the surrounding skyline, each reflecting the height of a nearby building. The third setback, on the east side, relates to 330 North Wabash building, however, some views distort the alignment of the second setback. The setbacks and rounded edges of the building combat vortex formation, the body of the building is raised 30 feet above the main Wabash entrance and 70 feet above the Chicago River. The buildings Permasteelisa curtain wall uses clear low-emissivity coated glass and a curved wing-shaped polished stainless-steel mullion system that projects 9 inches from the glass line and it incorporates a brushed stainless steel spandrel panels and clear anodized aluminum. The building has 2,600,000 square feet of space, rises to 98 stories. These include studio apartments, a mixture of suites with one to four bedrooms, the tower also features a luxury hotel condominium with 339 guest rooms. The building includes, from the ground up, retail space, a garage, a hotel
33.
Two Prudential Plaza
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Two Prudential Plaza is a 64-story skyscraper that was built in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois, United States in 1990. At 995 feet tall, it is currently the sixth-tallest building in Chicago, the building is also currently the tallest building in the world that is under 1000 feet tall. The building was designed by the firm Loebl, Schlossman & Hackl and it has been honored with 8 awards, including winning the Best Structure Award from the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois in 1995. At the time of completion Two Prudential was the worlds tallest reinforced concrete building and its distinctive shape features stacked chevron setbacks on the north and south sides, a pyramidal peak rotated 45°, and an 80-foot spire. The building is attached to One Prudential Plaza, without its spire, the buildings height is still slightly greater than that of One Prudential Plazas pinnacle. The Consulate-General of Canada in Chicago is located in Suite 2400, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office of the Republic of China is on the 57th and 58th floors of the building. C. Frederick Wehba, BentleyForbes Official Site Official website Two Prudential Plaza on CTBUH Skyscraper Center Emporis entry for Two Prudential Plaza
34.
U.S. Bank Tower (Los Angeles)
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US Bank Tower, formerly Library Tower and First Interstate Bank World Center, is a 1, 018-foot skyscraper at 633 West Fifth Street in downtown Los Angeles, California. It is also the third tallest building in an active seismic region. It consists of 73 stories above ground and two parking levels below ground, construction began in 1987 with completion in 1989. The building was designed by Henry N. Cobb of the architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and it is one of the most recognizable buildings in Los Angeles, often used in establishing shots for the city in films and television programs. US Bank Tower in Los Angeles was sold to Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd, OUE, a Singapore-based hotel and property company run by Indonesian billionaire Stephen Riady, acquired the tower and other related assets for $367.5 million. OUE acquired the 72-floor office building, the adjacent Maguire Gardens park, the City of Los Angeles sold air rights to the developers of the tower to help pay for the reconstruction of the library. The building was known for a time as First Interstate Bank World Center. In March 2003, the property was leased by U. S. Bancorp, residents, however, generally continue to refer to it as Library Tower. The tower has a large crown at its top that is illuminated at night. S. First Interstate Banks “I” logo on the crown was in the 1993 Guinness Book of World Records for highest placed logo, in July 2014, Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd. the new owners of the skyscraper, announced construction of an observation deck named OUE Skyspace. On the 69th and 70th floors and a restaurant named 71Above on the 71st floor, access to the observation deck costs $25 per person. For an additional $8 visitors can take a trip down a transparent glass slide affixed to the outside of the building between the 70th and 69th floors. On June 16,2004, the 9/11 Commission reported that the plan for the September 11 attacks called for the hijacking of ten planes. On October 6,2005, House officials stated that the government had foiled a previously undisclosed second plot to crash a plane into the building in mid-2002, in his televised 2006 State of the Union Address, President George W. According to President Bush, Al-Qaeda leader Khaled Sheikh Mohammeds plan was to use Asian confederates from Jemaah Islamiyah recruited by Islamic militant Hambali for the hijacking, President Bush asserted the hijackers were going to use shoe bombs to breach the planes cockpit door. Some counter-terrorism experts have expressed doubt that the plot was ever developed or likely to occur. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Cornerstone Research Gordon & Rees LLP Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP Jenner & Block Thomson West U. S, in the 2000 movie Disneys The Kid, Bruce Willis character, an image consultant, works in the building. In the 2001 movie Swordfish, the bus is deposited on top of the building by the Skyhook helicopter
35.
Wells Fargo Plaza (Houston)
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The Wells Fargo Plaza, formerly the Allied Bank Plaza and First Interstate Bank Plaza, is a skyscraper located at 1000 Louisiana Street in Downtown Houston, Texas in the United States. It is the tallest building named for Wells Fargo, from street level, the building is 302.4 meters tall and contains 71 floors. It extends four more stories below street level, Wells Fargo Plaza features a wide variety of fine amenities for its tenants including The Houstonian Lite Health Club located on the 14th floor. Sky lobbies on the 34/35th and 58/59th floors are not publicly accessible and these sky lobbies are served by double-decker elevators and primarily serve as transfer floors to local elevators. It was designed by Richard Keating, FAIA while a partner of Skidmore, in 1983 the building lost a large number of windows during Hurricane Alicia. Originally named the Allied Bank Plaza, it was renamed to the First Interstate Bank Plaza in 1988, First Interstate Bancorp was then taken over in 1996 by Wells Fargo. In 1993, the Consulate-General of the United Kingdom in Houston leased 9,707 square feet in the First Interstate Plaza, in 1995 Koll Real Estate lost the management contract for the First Interstate Plaza. In 1996 NGC Corp. leased 260,000 square feet in the First Interstate Plaza, the company moved over 700 jobs from a suburban office building along U. S. Route 290 to the Wells Fargo Plaza. In 2012, the company moved out of the building as part of downsizing initiatives while undergoing bankruptcy procedures, in 2006, Targa Resources signed an 11-year lease to occupy 101,600 square feet of space in the Wells Fargo Plaza. Targa expanded from its space and began to occupy floors 43 through 46. In 2007 CB Richard Ellis became the leasing agent for Wells Fargo Plaza. As of October of that year the building was 91% leased, the leased space consists mostly of large tenants, with some mid-sized tenants occupying space. In December 2014, PwC moved into the formerly occupied by Dynegy. The Houston office of PwC is primarily located in Suite 5800, Targa Resources is located in Suite 4300. The Houstonian Lite club is located in a 12, 000-square-foot area on the 14th floor and it includes group exercise studio space, locker rooms, a private Pilates studio, and exercise equipment. The club, operated by The Redstone Cos. operators of The Houstonian Hotel, was the third Houstonian Lite club in Greater Houston and it had been under construction since December 2005. The owner of the Wells Fargo building, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and Metropolitan Tower Realty Company Inc. the Consulate-General of the United Kingdom in Houston is located in Suite 1900. At one point the Consulate-General of Japan in Houston was located in Suite 5300 and later Suite 2300, at one point the Consulate-General of Switzerland in Houston resided in Suite 5670, the mission, which at a later point moved to Two Allen Center, no longer exists
36.
Willis Tower
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The Willis Tower, built as and still commonly referred to as Sears Tower, is a 108-story,1, 450-foot skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The building is considered an achievement for its architect Fazlur Kahn. The Willis Tower is the second-tallest building in the United States, more than one million people visit its observation deck each year, making it one of Chicagos most popular tourist destinations. The structure was renamed in 2009 by the Willis Group as part of its lease on a portion of the towers space, the buildings official address is 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606. In 1969, Sears, Roebuck & Co. was the largest retailer in the world, Sears executives decided to consolidate the thousands of employees in offices distributed throughout the Chicago area into one building on the western edge of Chicagos Loop. Sears asked its counsel, Arnstein, Gluck, Weitzenfeld & Minow to suggest a location. This latter site was decided upon, and preliminary inquiries determined that the necessary permits could be obtained, the next step was to acquire the property, a team of attorneys from the Arnstein law firm, headed by Andrew Adsit, began buying the property parcel by parcel. Sears purchased 15 old buildings from 100 owners and paid $2.7 million to the City of Chicago for the portion of Quincy Street that divided the property. Their team of architect Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan designed the building as nine square tubes, all nine tubes would rise up to the 50th floor of the building. At the 50th floor, the northwest and southeast tubes end, at the 66th floor, the northeast and the southwest tubes end. At the 90th floor, the north, east, and south tubes end, the remaining west and center tubes continue up to the 108th floor. The Willis Tower was the first building to use Khans bundled tube structure and this innovative design was structurally efficient and economic, at 1,450 feet, it provided more space and rose higher than the Empire State Building, yet cost much less per unit area. This structural system would prove influential in skyscraper construction. It has been used in most supertall buildings since then, including the worlds tallest building, to honor Khans contributions, the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois commissioned a sculpture of him for the lobby of the Willis Tower. The latter floor areas had to be designed to a plate, with a high window-space to floor-space ratio, to be attractive. Smaller floorplates required a structure to yield sufficient square footage. The height was restricted by a limit imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration to protect air traffic, the financing of the tower was provided by the Sears company. It was topped with two antennas to permit local television and radio broadcasts, Sears and the City of Chicago approved the design, and the first steel was put in place in April 1971
37.
Wilshire Grand Center
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Wilshire Grand Center is a 1, 100-foot skyscraper under construction in the Financial District of Downtown Los Angeles, California. It is the tallest building in Los Angeles and the tallest building in California, the building will be part of a mixed-use hotel, retail, observation decks, shopping malls and office complex, expected to revitalize downtown Los Angeles and the area surrounding the building. The development of the complex is estimated to cost $1.2 billion, the plans include 67,000 square feet of retail,677,000 square feet of Class A office space and 900 hotel rooms. InterContinental is the hotel component, comprising 900 rooms and suites occupying the 38th to the 70th floors. Floors basement to 2, Podium building with retail and InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown meeting rooms, the original Wilshire Grand Hotel opened in 1952 as the Hotel Statler, on the site of the new Wilshire Grand. In 1950, the City of Los Angeles issued the largest single building permit at the time for the construction of the hotel, which cost over $15 million. The hotel quickly became a landmark of downtown Los Angeles, and over its 59-year lifespan attracted famous guests including President John F. Kennedy, in 1954, two years after its opening, Hilton Hotels & Resorts purchased the Statler Hotels chain, renaming the hotel the Statler Hilton. In 1968 Hilton completed a $2.5 million renovation of the hotel, Reliance Group later purchased the hotel in 1983 and invested $30 million in renovations. Korean Air purchased the Los Angeles Hilton from Reliance in 1989 and they changed the hotels management and it became the Omni Los Angeles Hotel in 1995 and then later the Wilshire Grand Hotel in 1999. It is also part of a development effort to revitalize the Figueroa Street corridor of downtown Los Angeles as a vibrant light-and-sign district. The Los Angeles-based architectural firm, A. C. Martin Partners is overseeing the project and they took over from Thomas Properties, who managed the early proposals, but the owners became dissatisfied with their approach. A distinctive feature of the building is its sail-shaped crown which will be illuminated with LED lighting at night, the tower will spearhead part of a new planned light and sign district that will extend along the Figueroa Corridor down to L. A. Live. According to recent renderings, it is however to what extent LED lighting and advertising will be applied. Lead designer David C. Martin said that the spire and the exterior skin of the tower will be filled with programmable LED lighting. The spire weighs 200,000 pounds and adds 294 foot in height to the building, land use entitlements and construction staking services were provided by Psomas. The foundation is set on bedrock known as the Fernando Formation, on March 8,2016, the topping out ceremony was held. On March 17,2016, a worker died by suicide after jumping from the 53rd floor. On September 3,2016, the Wilshire Grand became the tallest building in Los Angeles at 1,100 feet, the supertall building set to open Late April/ early May 2017
38.
Gran Torre Santiago
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The Costanera Center Torre 2, better known as Gran Torre Santiago, and previously known as Torre Gran Costanera, is a 64-story tall skyscraper in Santiago, Chile, the tallest in Latin America. It is the second-tallest building by highest architectural feature and by highest occupied floor in the Southern Hemisphere and it was designed by Argentine architect César Pelli. Gran Torre Santiago is part of the Costanera Center complex, which includes the largest shopping mall in Latin America, two hotels and two additional office towers. Gran Torre Santiago is 300 metres tall and 64 stories high plus 6 basement floors, the tower has nearly 700,000 square meters of building space available built on 47,000 square meters of land. Planners estimated that there would be some 240,000 people going to, the tower was designed by the Argentine architect Cesar Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, Chilean architects Alemparte Barreda & Asociados, and by the Canadian company Watt International. Structural engineering is performed by the Chilean company René Lagos y Asociados Ing, salfa Corp. was responsible for its construction. Construction of the began in June 2006 and was expected to be completed in 2010. Construction on the project resumed on 17 December 2009 and it was expected to be inaugurated in 2013, in early November 2010, standing 205 m tall, it overtook the neighboring Titanium La Portada to become the tallest building in Chile. Structural work on the tower was completed in July 2011 and the height of 300 m was achieved on 14 February 2012. In 2013, the tower was completed, on 11 August 2015 an observation deck, called Sky Costanera, was opened to the public in floors 61 and 62, offering 360° views of Santiago. List of tallest buildings in South America Costanera Center Costanera Center website Sky Costanera - Observation deck website Brochure with technical specifications
39.
85 Sky Tower
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85 Sky Tower, formerly known as the T & C Tower or Tuntex Sky Tower, is an 85-story skyscraper located in Lingya District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The structure is 347.5 m high, an antenna increases the pinnacle height to 378 m. Constructed from 1994 to 1997, it is the tallest skyscraper in Kaohsiung, there is no 44th floor in the building, the 43rd floor connects directly to the 45th floor. The pyramid shaped crown is the equivalent of 3 stories high, there is no elevator access to floors above 80. The columns and foundation are made of steel since at 85th storey the 21MPa Ultimate compressive strength of concrete collapses, the building was designed by C. Y. Lee & Partners and Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, and has an unusual design with two separate 39-floor sections, which merge into a single central tower rising to a spire. This unique design leaves a space below the central part of the tower. The design was inspired by the first Kanji and Chinese character of the citys name, john W. Milton was Project Director on behalf of Turner International Inc, a subsidiary of Turner Construction. The building was owned by the now defunct Tuntex Group, and is mainly offices, but includes residential space, a department store, office space and studio apartment occupy each side of the lower floors. There is an Atrium that extends from Level 45s Shimmer Ballroom to 83, List of tallest buildings in Taiwan List of tallest buildings in the world Tuntex Sky Tower on CTBUH Skyscraper Center Emporis Tuntex & Chien-Tai Tower at Structurae
40.
Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong)
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The Bank of China Tower is one of the most recognisable skyscrapers in Central, Hong Kong. It houses the headquarters for the Bank of China Limited, the building is located at 1 Garden Road, in Central and Western District on Hong Kong Island. Designed by I. M. Pei and L. C Pei of I. M Pei and Partners and it was the tallest building in Hong Kong and Asia from 1989 to 1992, and it was the first building outside the United States to break the 305 m mark. It is now the fourth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after International Commerce Centre, Two International Finance Centre, the 6,700 m2 site on which the building is constructed was formerly the location of Murray House. Once developed, gross floor area was expected to be 100,000 m², the original project was intended for completion on the auspicious date of 8 August 1988. However, owing to delays, groundbreaking took place in March 1985. It was topped out in 1989, and occupied on 15 June 1990, the building was initially built by the Hong Kong Branch of the Bank of China, its Garden Road entrance continues to display the name Bank of China, rather than BOCHK. The top four and the bottom 19 stories are used by the Bank, ownership has since been transferred to BOCHK, although the Bank of China has leased back several floors for use by its own operations in Hong Kong. The Government had apparently given preferential treatment to Chinese companies, and was criticised for the apparent preferential treatment to the BOCHK. The price paid was half the amount of the 6,250 m² Admiralty II plot, the BOC would make initial payment of $60 million, with the rest payable over 13 years at 6% interest. The announcement of the sale was also handled, and a dive in business confidence ensued. The Hang Seng Index fell 80 points, and the HK$ lost 1. 5% of its value the next day, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect I. M. Pei, the building is 315.0 m high with two masts reaching 367.4 m high. The 72-story building is located near Central MTR station and this was the tallest building in Hong Kong and Asia from 1990 to 1992, the first building outside the United States to break the 305 m mark, and the first composite space frame high-rise building. That also means it was the tallest outside the United States from its year,1990. It is now the fourth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after International Commerce Centre, Two International Finance Centre, a small observation deck on the 43rd floor of the building is open to the public. The structural expressionism adopted in the design of this building resembles growing bamboo shoots, symbolising livelihood, the whole structure is supported by the four steel columns at the corners of the building, with the triangular frameworks transferring the weight of the structure onto these four columns. It is covered with curtain walls. In Star Trek, Voyager, the building is used as the exterior of Starfleet Communications Research Center, the building in seen on the attraction Its a Small World at Hong Kong Disneyland
41.
Central Plaza (Hong Kong)
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Central Plaza is a 78-storey,374 m skyscraper completed in August 1992 at 18 Harbour Road, in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is the third tallest tower in the city after 2 International Finance Centre in Central and it was the tallest building in Asia from 1992 to 1996, until the Shun Hing Square in neighbouring Shenzhen was built. Central Plaza surpassed the Bank of China Tower as the tallest building in Hong Kong until the completion of 2 IFC, Central Plaza was also the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world, until it was surpassed by CITIC Plaza, Guangzhou. The building uses a floor plan. On the top of the tower is a four-bar neon clock that indicates the time by displaying different colours for 15-minute periods, an anemometer is installed on the tip of the buildings mast, at 378 metres above sea level. The mast has a height of 102 m and it also houses the worlds highest church inside a skyscraper, Sky City Church. Central Plaza is made up of two components, a free standing 368-metre-high office tower and a 30. 5-metre-high podium block attached to it. The ground level public area along with the public sitting out area form an 8,400 m2 landscaped garden with fountain, trees, no commercial element is included in the podium. The first level is a thoroughfare for three pedestrian bridges linking the Mass Transit Railway, the Convention and Exhibition Centre and the China Resource Building. By turning these space to use, the building got 20% plot ratio more as bonus. The shape of the tower is not truly triangular but with its three corners cut off to provide better internal office spaces. The building was designed to be triangular in shape because it would allow 20% more of the area to enjoy the harbour view as compared with a square or rectangular shaped buildings. Nonetheless, the building plan causes the air handling unit room in the internal core to also assume a triangular configuration. With only limited space, this makes the adoption of a standard AHU not feasible, furthermore, all air-conditioning ducting, electrical trunking and piping gathered inside the core area has to be squeezed into a very narrow and congested corridor ceiling void. As the building is situated opposite to the HKCEC, the way to get more sea view for the building. All these problems can increase the capital cost of the building systems, as a general practice, for achieving a clear height of 2.6 to 2.7 m, a floor-to-floor height of 3.9 to 4.0 m would be required. However, because of high windload in Hong Kong for such a super high-rise building, therefore, a comprehensive study was conducted and finally a floor height of 3.6 m was adopted. With this issue alone, a construction cost saving for a total of 58 office floors
42.
The Center
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The Center is the fifth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after International Commerce Centre, Two International Finance Centre, Central Plaza and Bank of China Tower. With a height of 346 m, it comprises 73 stories, the Center is one of the few skyscrapers in Hong Kong that is entirely steel-structured with no reinforced concrete core. It is located on Queens Road Central in the Central and Western District, during the Christmas season, the buildings neon arrangement follows a festive motif and resembles a Christmas tree. The direct translation of the Chinese name of the building is Central Centre or the centre of Central, even though the building is in fact near the boundary of Central and Sheung Wan. The building was a project involving the Land Development Corporation since it was required to demolish many old buildings, the premises of The Center is of irregular shape because surrounding lots within Queens Road Central, Jubilee Street, Des Voeux Road Central and Gilmans Bazaar were already redeveloped. Various lanes and streets including Gilman Street, Wing On Street, Tung Man Street, Hing Lung Street, in addition, several historical structures were demolished from the project. The building, including its iconic lobby, were featured in the film The Dark Knight
43.
China World Trade Center Tower III
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China World Trade Center Tower III is a supertall skyscraper with 81 floors,4 underground floors, and 30 elevators in Beijing, China. It is the phase of development of the China World Trade Center complex in Beijings central business district of Chaoyang at the junction of the East Third Ring Road. The building topped out at 330 m on 29 October 2007, the building bears a resemblance to the original One and Two World Trade Center in New York City, which were destroyed in the September 11th,2001 Attacks. It is the tallest building in Beijing and it is used for office and hotel space, with retail at its base. The building houses a 278-room 5-star hotel, a 1, 600-seat grand ballroom, the office space is located on floors 1 to 55. Floors 64 to 77 are occupied by the China World Summit Wing Hotel with a lobby on the 64th floor, floors 79 to 81 are used for a restaurant and an observation deck. The four elevators that lead directly from the lobby to the 64th floor are Schindler 7000 and reach a maximum speed of 10 metres per second
44.
CITIC Plaza
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China International Trust and Investment Plaza is an 80-storey,391 m skyscraper in the Tianhe District of Guangzhou, Guangdong, Peoples Republic of China. Its structural height includes two antenna-like spires on the top, completed in 1997, it is the tallest concrete building in the world. Currently, it ranks as the eighth tallest building in China, 11th in Asia, located in the growing and expanding Tianhe District, it is part of a complex of the same name which also consists of two 38-story residential buildings. Its proximity includes a new station which serves the extremely busy Guangzhou-Shenzhen. A new metro station, and the Tianhe Sports Center, where the 6th National Games and it is on the same Axis as two new building developments in Guangzhou, the first being the East and West Towers in Zhujiang New City and the Pearl Observation tower. It is surrounded by tall buildings and is a symbol of Guangzhous growing wealth. All Nippon Airways operated its Guangzhou Office in 2605 CITIC Plaza until May 2,2011, on May 3,2011 and since then, it has been in Tower A of Victory Plaza. The building is accessible from Linhe West Station of Guangzhou Metro, CITIC Plaza elevator service floor list No. 35, B1,1, 6-27, 27A,28, 30-47, 47A,48, 50-66, 67A, 67B,68, 71-75 No
45.
East Pacific Center
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The East Pacific Center is a skyscraper complex in Shenzhen, China. The complex consists of four buildings, East Pacific Center Tower A is 306 m tall with 85 storeys. East Pacific Center Tower B is 261 m tall with 72 storeys, East Pacific Center Tower C is 206 m tall with 40 storeys. East Pacific Center Tower D is 155 m tall with 29 storeys, buildings A and B are for residential use and are joined by a sky bridge. They were topped out in late 2012 and were completed during 2013, buildings C and D are office blocks and were completed in 2010. List of tallest buildings in Shenzhen
