The second-tallest building in the world is almost complete. The Shanghai financial district building will be the tallest building in China once complete.
In a ritual on Saturday, the final beam of the skyscraper was hoisted to the top of the building. At 2,073 feet tall, the Shanghai Tower, located in the Pudong district, is the world's second-tallest building, the Associated Press reports. The tallest in the world is the Burh Khalifa in Dubai, which measures at 2,722 feet.
"It's a landmark and it will change the skyline of Shanghai," Xia Jun, of Gensler, the US firm which designed the tower, told a press conference on Saturday following the ceremony. "I don't think the importance of the architecture lies entirely in its height."
The Shanghai Tower is located near the 492 meter Shanghai World Financial Center and started being built in 2008. It is set to open next year. Workers have to focus on the interior of the building. Once the structure is complete, it will open and will have retail and office space, a luxury hotel and likely a museum.
"I'm very proud," Wu Weiming, who helped installed the last beam, said.
The glass-and-steel, 121-story building was designed by U.S. architectural firm Gensler. It is transparent and has a spiral form. It costs an estimated $2.4 billion.
A building frenzy started in China due to a growing economy. Some of the largest buildings in the world have popped up in the country. The Shanghai World Financial Center was just finished in 2008.
This recent building is the last of a group of high skyscrapers in Shanghai's Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone. The Jin Mao Tower, another one of the world's tallest buildings is also in this district.
However these buildings, and maybe even the Burj Khalifa may be overtopped by a skyscraper in the south-central city of Changsha. Developers are in the middle of building Sky City, a 2,749-foot structure which they say will be complete in April.
China also plans to build the world's largest building when it comes to floor space in the city of Chengdu.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
