Source: www.businessweek.com
A mile-high skyscraper, almost double the height of today’s tallest building, may become a reality by 2025 as developing countries splurge cash in an ego- fueled race to construct the world’s highest tower.
“If you have enough money, I’m sure the human mind can create a lot higher,” said Timothy Johnson, an architect and chairman of the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, in an interview in Shanghai yesterday. “Who are we to say it’s good or bad. People want to push higher and higher. That’s just human nature, isn’t it?”
Planning for the next milestone, a 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) building, may be under way before 2020 and completed five years after that, Johnson said, without giving further details. Johnson designed the Sail at Marina Bay in Singapore, the world’s 10th tallest residential building.
Today’s highest skyscraper — the 818-meter (2,684-foot) Burj Khalifa in Dubai — is set to be overtaken by the 1 kilometer Kingdom Tower in Jeddah when it’s completed in 2018. Developing countries are eclipsing the U.S. and Europe in the “megatall” category of 600-meter-plus buildings, fueled by faster economic growth and a desire to show off their wealth. More info
