eiffEl tOwEr

EIFFEL TOWER

Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the Eiffel Tower is the tallest building in Paris.More than 200,000,000 have visited the tower since its construction in 1889,including 6,719,200 in 2006,making it the most visited paid monument in the world.Including the 24 m (79 ft) antenna, the structure is 325 m (1,063 ft) high (since 2000), which is equivalent to about 81 levels in a conventional building.

Eiffel Tower October 2007
When the tower was completed in 1889 it was the world's tallest tower — a title it retained until 1930 when New York City's Chrysler Building (319 m — 1,047 ft tall) was completed.The tower is now the fifth-tallest structure in France and the tallest structure in Paris, with the second-tallest being the Tour Montparnasse (210 m — 689 ft), although that will soon be surpassed by Tour AXA (225.11 m — 738.36 ft).

The metal structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes while the entire structure including non-metal components is approximately 10,000 tonnes. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7 in) because of thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun. The tower also sways 6–7 cm (2–3 in) in the wind.As demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7300 tonnes of the metal structure were melted down it would fill the 125 meter square base to a depth of only 6 cm (2.36 in), assuming a density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic meter. The tower has a mass less than the mass of the air contained in a cylinder of the same dimensions, that is 324 meters high and 88.3 meters in radius. The weight of the tower is 10,100 tonnes compared to 10,265 tonnes of air.

rOsE tOwEr

ROSE TOWER

The Rose Tower is a 333-metre (1,093-feet), 72-story skyscraper on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Originally, the tower was to be 380 m (1,247 ft.) high, but its projected height was reduced in further design modification. Construction began in 2004. ACC (Arabian Construction Co.) was the general contractor. On 24 October 2006, the building reached its full height with the addition of the spire. Although the tower was expected to open in April 2008, it still had not opened by October 2008. Once open, it is expected to become the world's tallest hotel.This hotel, known as "Rose Rotana Suites", will surpass both the 321m (1,053ft) Burj Al Arab, and the incomplete 330m (1,083ft) Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea.

stRata tOwEr

STRATA TOWER

Strata Tower is a forty-story luxury residential building, designed by Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture of Asymptote Architecture, currently being built on Al Raha Beach, scheduled for its completion in 2011. It is developed by Aldar Properties.Asymptote designed the tower to have a curvaceous and innovative design, including a cantilevered exoskeleton structure which allows a fair amount of light to bathe the building's interiors. Strata Tower will have the height of 160 meters, doominating the skyline of the Al Dana precinct.

hEaRst tOwEr (cHarlOttE)

HEARST TOWER (CHARLOTTE)

The Hearst Tower in Charlotte, North Carolina is a 47-story skyscraper that rises 659 feet (201 m) in height. It was first opened on 14 November 2002 and is the 2nd-tallest building in Charlotte. The 32-story tower rest atop a 15-floor podium. Located within the podium is a three story, 180,000 square-foot trading floor designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and operated by Bank of America. The building is currently owned by Bank of America, although the Hearst Corporation also has offices in the building. The building's reverse floorplate design makes the upper floors averaging 24,000 square feet compared to an average of only 20,000 square feet for the lower floors. There are brass railings designed by Edgar Brandt, which were rescued from an Au Bon Marche department store in Paris, located in the College Street lobby. The Hearst Plaza, a 160 by 65 foot public plaza lined with restaurants, shops, and the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, is located next to the main entrance off North Tryon Street. In front of the plaza is a 10-foot glass and bronze sculpture crafted by Howard Ben Tre entitled the Castellan, which translates to "keeper of the castle." Within in the lobby is the Bank of America Gallery, it contains priceless pieces of art and is open to the public during regular business hours. It is located across the street from the Bank of America Corporate Center and 201 North Tryon.

hEaRst tOweR (nY)

HEARST TOWER (NY)

Hearst Tower in New York City, New York is located at 300 West 57th Street, 959 8th Avenue, near Columbus Circle. It is the world headquarters of the Hearst Corporation, bringing together for the first time their numerous publications and communications companies under one roof, including among others Cosmopolitan, Esquire and the San Francisco Chronicle.
The former six-story headquarters building was commissioned by the founder, William Randolph Hearst and awarded to the architect Joseph Urban. The building was completed in 1928 at a cost of $2 million and contained 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2). The original cast stone facade has been preserved in the new design as a designated Landmark site. Originally built as the base for a proposed skyscraper, the construction of the tower was postponed due to the Great Depression. The new tower addition was completed nearly eighty years later, and 2000 Hearst employees moved in on 4 May 2006.
The tower – designed by the architect Norman Foster, structural engineered by WSP Cantor Seinuk, and constructed by Turner construction – is 46 stories tall, standing 182 m (597 ft) with 80,000 m² (856,000 ft²) of office space. The uncommon triangular framing pattern (also known as a diagrid) required 9,500 metric tons (10,480 tons) of structural steel – reportedly about 20% less than a conventional steel frame. Hearst Tower was the first skyscraper to break ground in New York City after September 11, 2001. The building received the 2006 Emporis Skyscraper Award, citing it as the best skyscraper in the world completed that year.
Hearst Tower is the first "green" high rise office building completed in New York City, with a number of environmental considerations built into the plan. The floor of the atrium is paved with heat conductive limestone. Polyethylene tubing is embedded under the floor and filled with circulating water for cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. Rain collected on the roof is stored in a tank in the basement for use in the cooling system, to irrigate plants and for the water sculpture in the main lobby. The building was constructed using 80% recycled steel. Overall, the building has been designed to use 25% less energy than the minimum requirements for the city of New York, and earned a gold designation from the United States Green Building Council’s LEED certification program.
The atrium features escalators which run through a 3-story water sculpture titled Icefall, a wide waterfall built with thousands of glass panels, which cools and humidifies the lobby air. The water element is complemented by a 70-foot (21.3 m) tall fresco painting entitled Riverlines by artist Richard Long.

taipEi 101

TAIPEI 101

Taipei 101 (traditional Chinese; simplified Chinese; pinyin: Táiběi Yīlíngyī; Wade-Giles: T'ai-pei I-ling-i; POJ: Tai-pak yat-leng-yat) is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building, designed by C.Y. Lee & partners and constructed primarily by KTRT Joint Venture and Samsung Engineering & Construction, is the world's tallest completed skyscraper according to the CTBUH, the arbiter of tall building height. Taipei 101 received the Emporis Skyscraper Award in 2004. It has been hailed as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World (Newsweek magazine, 2006) and Seven Wonders of Engineering (Discovery Channel, 2005).
The building contains 101 floors above ground and 5 floors underground. Its postmodern style combines Asian and international modern and traditional elements. It is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. A multi-level shopping mall adjoining the tower houses hundreds of fashionable stores, restaurants and clubs. Fireworks launched from Taipei 101 feature prominently in international New Year's Eve broadcasts, and the tower appears frequently in films, television shows, print publications, anime media, games, and other elements of popular culture.[citation needed]
The name of the tower reflects its location in Taipei's international business district (101 mailing code) as well as its floor count. (See also "Symbolism" below.) The number is pronounced in English simply as One Oh One and in Mandarin and other local languages by the equivalent.
Taipei 101 is owned by the Taipei Financial Center Corporation and managed by the International division of Urban Retail Properties Corporation based in Chicago. The name originally planned for the building, Taipei World Financial Center, was derived from the name of the owner. The original name in Chinese was literally, Taipei International Financial Center (traditional Chinese: 臺北國際金融中心; pinyin: Táiběi Guójì Jīnróng Zhōngxīn).
Taipei 101 was overtaken in height on 2007-08-21 by the Burj Dubai in Dubai, UAE, upon the completion of that building's 141st floor . As of November 2008, the title of "world's tallest building" still rests with Taipei 101, as international architectural standards define a "building" as a structure capable of being fully occupied. The Burj Dubai will claim the title upon its completion, which is expected in September 2009.

millENIum toWEr wOrLd bUsiNesS ceNtEr

MILLENIUM TOWER WORLD BUSINESS CENTER

The Millennium Tower World Business Center is an approved supertall skyscraper which The Solomon Group, a private Korean developer, intends to move forward with Asymptote’s design for a 560m tall tower, which upon completion will be the tallest building in Asia. Asymptote’s three-towered design for the World Business Center Busan is a newly minted approach where the notion of singularity and autonomy gives way to a strong juxtaposition of form and voids.

Simultaneously a single entity, the towers are also read as three distinct forms set against Busan’s dramatic natural backdrop of sea and mountains. The base of the tower artfully negotiates the site at the entrance level while from the top of the midsection the three slender towers rise above the skylobby level and gracefully taper upwards around a spectacular central void. Through its formal and sculptural qualities this unique architectural expression is a powerful symbol of 21st century Busan and a beacon for it’s trajectory into the future and onto the global stage.

rUsSia tOweR

RUSSIA TOWER

The Russia Tower (Russian; Bashnya Rossiya) is a supertall skyscraper under construction, although now suspended,in the Moscow International Business Centre of Moscow, Russia. Construction began in September, 2007, and was planned to be completed in 2012. Upon reaching its final height of 612.2 m (2,009 ft.), it will be the eighth tallest free-standing structure in the world after the Mubarak al-Kabir Tower (3284 ft/1001 m), Burj Dubai (2684 ft/818 m), Pagcor Tower (2182 ft/665 m), Lanco Hills Signature Tower (2099 ft/640 m), Shanghai Center (2,073 ft/632 m), Pentominium (2028 ft/618 m), Songdo Incheon Towers (2013 ft/614 m). Additionally, it will be the tallest building in the world with a natural ventilation system.
The total area of the structure will cover 520,000 m² (5,597,233.4 sq ft), of which 38% (200,000 m² (2,152,782.1 sq ft)) will be located underground. The tower will contain 118 floors, 101 elevators, and underground parking to accommodate 3,680 cars. Commercial retail shops will be located at the base of the building. The maximum capacity of the building is projected to be around 30,000.

bUrJ dUbai

BURJ DUBAI

Burj Dubai (Arabic: برج دبي‎ "Dubai Tower") is a supertall skyscraper under construction in the Business Bay district of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure ever built, despite being incomplete. Construction began on September 21, 2004 and is expected to be completed and ready for occupation in September 2009.
The building is part of the 2 km2 (0.8 sq mi) development called "Downtown Dubai", at the "First Interchange" (aka "Defence Roundabout") along Sheikh Zayed Road at Doha Street. The tower's architect is Adrian Smith who worked with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) until 2006.The architecture and engineering firm SOM is in charge of the project.The primary builders are Samsung Engineering & Construction and Besix along with Arabtec.Turner Construction Company was chosen as the construction manager.
The total budget for the Burj Dubai project is about US$4.1 billion and for the entire new 'Downtown Dubai', US$20 billion. Mohamed Ali Alabbar, the CEO of Emaar Properties, speaking at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat 8th World Congress, said that the price of office space at Burj Dubai had reached $4,000 per sq ft (over $43,000 per sq m) and that the Armani Residences, also in Burj Dubai, were selling for $3,500 per sq ft (over $37,500 per sq m).