China has been described by some as a "heaven for architects", for its appetite to build super tall buildings. But the government has issued a ban on structures over 500 meters this year. Yang Chengxi explains the logic behind this move.
YANG CHENGXI Shanghai "China loves skyscrapers."
It's built more in the past thirty years than America did throughout the entire 20th century.
Shanghai has been a prime example of such fascination. When the country embraced reform and opening up in 1979, business with the outside world grew and China needed to attract global companies and investors. So in 1990, it decided to develop this patch of land in Shanghai into a new economic icon.
MARSHALL STRABALA Chief Architect, Shanghai Tower "People would want to build higher because they wanted their city to be more prestigious than another city."
This is Marshall Strabala, the chief architect for this building, the Shanghai Tower.
"It's very impressive."
"China is wealthy, the best, because we have a building this tall!"
Since the dawn of civilization, height has been synonymous with power and stability.
MARSHALL STRABALA Chief Architect, Shanghai Tower "A little bit of nationalistic pride. Most people didn't know where Dubai was until they built the Burj Khalifa."
But there won't be another Shanghai-style skyscraper boom in China anymore. In April, the country announced it will stop green-lighting new projects taller than 500 meters.
MARSHALL STRABALA Chief Architect, Shanghai Tower "When I heard that, I said, wow."
And China will also strictly vet projects over 250 meters tall.
MARSHALL STRABALA Chief Architect, Shanghai Tower "And I thought about it, and thought about it, and I said you know, it's a pretty intelligent thing to do."
YANG CHENGXI Shanghai "Because while skyscrapers can be good for image, they're also expensive to build. Operating costs are high, they pose challenges for fire safety, and overall, they just aren't very cost-effective."
MARSHALL STRABALA Chief Architect, Shanghai Tower "To go from 500 to 600, this incremental cost is exponential. These buildings cost almost three times as much per square footage as a 20 story building."
Tall buildings are also vulnerable to economic shocks, since planning and building them can take years.
MARSHALL STRABALA Chief Architect, Shanghai Tower "Ten years is not uncommon for these large buildings."
A project could start at the peak of an economic boom, but end up plunging investors into debt.
YANG CHENGXI Shanghai "But still, throughout the world, there are those who are willing to sacrifice finances in the pursuit of superlatives."
MARSHALL STRABALA Chief Architect, Shanghai Tower "The tallest twin towers, the tallest occupied single use office tower, the tallest residential building, the tallest left-handed blue-shaped oval building. It's getting kind of ridiculous."
YANG CHENGXI Shanghai "Enter office buildings with spires!"
MARSHALL STRABALA Chief Architect, Shanghai Tower "If I put mousse in my hair, and my hair sticks up, am I taller?"
Here's an example. In the 1920s, builders in New York were competing to build the world's tallest building. The battle was on between the Chrysler Building and the Manhattan Company Building. So the Chrysler architect secretly built a spire hidden inside the building during construction, which he then revealed in October 1929. That made the building the tallest in the world, despite the spire serving no practical purpose whatsoever. The stock market crashed the next week. But hey, spires became the new fashion. That's the architect himself by the way.
MARSHALL STRABALA Chief Architect, Shanghai Tower "When my old boss Adrian was doing Jinmao, there was a discussion. Because the Petronas Towers finished about the same time. So the Jinmao clients said well, could we make Jinmao taller by putting a spire on the top of the building? Our answer is yes of course you could do that and they did drawings and renderings and, everybody kinda said, yeah it doesn't look as good, let's kinda keep it where it is. It looks better at that height, which is a very powerful thing for someone to do. That's not an easy decision to make. We could be the world's tallest building if we do this, but we're gonna focus on what's right for our city."
In the 21st century, the human desire for height remains unchanged and the main battleground for the skyline has moved to China. In 2018, 143 buildings over 200 meters were built globally, and more than 60 percent of these were in China. But are Chinese cities, especially lower-tier ones, so desperately in need of new office space that the only option is up into the sky? Data shows the average vacancy rate for offices across seventeen major Chinese cities reached more than 20-percent last year.
GU JIANPING General Manager, Shanghai Tower "You need to have a market that can accept your building. Without one, it just stands empty."
YANG CHENGXI Shanghai "Therefore, more and more people suggest that China rethink its skyscraper boom. To some citizens and professionals, there's a cultural aspect to the issue as well."
"Everywhere in China is building skyscrapers, one taller than the other. But I think we need to see if they could really fit into the surroundings harmoniously. We shouldn't only care about building high, right?"
Here's their case. The generic skyscrapers make many smaller cities look like photocopies of each other, and stand as missed opportunities to amplify the local culture.
MARSHALL STRABALA Chief Architect, Shanghai Tower "I think the cities need to look at their city and say, our city is beautiful. It doesn't need this spire sticking up to show off how successful we are."
Yang Chengxi, CGTN, Shanghai.
