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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
Skyscrapers represent ambition. When a city wants to show its wealth, status, power, importance, it starts building sky soaring structures.
They immediately turn iconic with the world marvelling at them and tourists go in hordes to see the display of human achievement.
Skyscrapers, however, are hard to build and it’s difficult to make money out of them. They are more expensive to construct and the usable area is lesser than a regular sized building.
Among the spate of skyscrapers constructed every year, there are few that actually come into existence due to urban planning issues (such as lack of space) or have innovative designs to make them environmental friendly.
Emporis, a global provider of building information, awards such buildings every year based on their excellence in design and functionality. Here we features the award winning buildings from Emporis since the year 2000.
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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
Sofitel
Location: New York City, US
Height: 108.63 metres
Floors: 30
Year of winning best building award: 2000
Architect: Brennan Beer Gorman / Architects
The Sofitel is a 400-room boutique hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The hotel is inspired by French traditions in furnishings and theme, and the hotel staff are bilingual in French and English, according to Wikipedia.
The building features a limestone-and-glass tower flanked by two rectangular 20-story wings, according to Emporis. The facade looking onto West 45th Street was inspired by limestone buildings of the Parisian Moderne.
The tower won the award for its highly-striking and yet functional design.
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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
One Wall Centre
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Height: 149.80 metres
Floors: 48
Year of winning best building award: 2001
Architect: Busby + Associates Architects
One Wall Centre, also known as the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Hotel, is a narrow 48-story elliptical tower, which is pointed at both ends, and clad, in blue glass with a sloping roof.
It has a hotel with residential condominiums. It won due to the highly-successful combination of its design and functionality.
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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
Kingdom Centre
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Height: 302.33 metre
Floors: 32
Year of winning best building award: 2002
Architect: Ellerbe Becket, Inc. and Omrania & Associates
Its unique design makes Kingdom Centre a symbol of the city of Riyadh and is the second tallest skyscraper in the in the country.
Besides the shopping mall, KingdomTower contains the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh and state-of-the-art apartments.
The elliptical tower is crowned by a curved opening and can be seen from almost anywhere in Saudi Arabia's capital, according to Emporis.
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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
30 St Mary Axe
Location: London, UK
Height: 179.80 metres
Floors: 41
Year of winning best building award: 2003
Architect: Foster + Partners
30 St Mary Axe, also called as ‘the Gherkin’ is a landmark building in London.
Its unique shape imparts a new character to the financial district in the "City" at the heart of London, says Emporis.
The curving tower stretches 41 stories into the sky. The building won over the jury due to its fascinating facade and its sustainability and energy efficiency.
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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
Taipei 101
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Height: 509.20 metres
Floors: 48
Year of winning best building award: 2004
Architect: C.Y. Lee & Partners
Taipei 101 was crowned winner of the Emporis Skyscraper Award, convincing the jury on design and functional criteria.
Built according to Feng Shui principles and named for its 101 stories, the shape of the tower was inspired by a bamboo stalk to withstand the extreme loads that can occur in Taiwan, a seismically active zone, says Emporis.
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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
Turning Torso
Location: Malmo, Sweden
Height: 190 metres
Floors: 57
Year of winning best building award: 2005
Architect: Santiago Calatrava S.A.
HSB Turning Torso is the tallest skyscraper in Sweden. At 190 meters and 54 floors, it is a landmark of the city of Malmo.
The jury described the building as "highly adventurous and innovative" and rewarded the architect's willingness to experiment, says Emporis
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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
Hearst Tower
Location: New York City, US
Height: 181.97 metres
Floors: 46
Year of winning best building award: 2006
Architect: Foster + Partners
The HearstTower is the world headquarters of the Hearst Corporation that publishes magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Esquire, and Marie Claire.
Emporis chose HearstTower for its sustainability and innovative design, among other reasons. The 46-story tower was constructed on top of an existing six-story structure.
The building achieves an appealing contrast between old and new styles of architecture, says Emporis. It adds that the jury was also impressed by the facade's striking triangle pattern.
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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
Het Strijkijzer
Location: The Hague, Netherlands
Height: 131.58 metres
Floors: 43
Year of winning best building award: 2007
Architect: AAArchitecten
Het Strijkijzer is a residential and office skyscraper that has 42 floors, making it the city's second tallest building.
Emporis says, “A particular feature of Het Strijkijzer is its structurally expressive folded-triangle shape, which responds well to the small site on which the skyscraper stands.”
The jury chose the building not just for this contextual approach and for its elegant reinterpretation of classic high-rise architecture, but also for its efficient program for accommodating new entrants to the housing market, according to Emporis.
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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Height: 203.65 metres
Floors: 50
Year of winning best building award: 2008
Architect: Tange Associates
Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower is a 50-story educational facility located, which is home to three educational institutions including Tokyo Mode Gakuen, HAL Tokyo, and Shuto Iko.
The tower is the second tallest educational building in the world.
According to Emporis, The jury praised the "expressive design" and "remarkable environment" that the tower provides.
Exterior and interior design are integrated in a particularly sophisticated way, thus creating a harmonious learning environment for ModeGakuenCocoonTower's users, says Emporis.
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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
Aqua
Location: Chicago, USA
Height: 249.73 metres
Floors: 81
Year of winning best building award: 2009
Architect: Studio Gang Architects
Aqua is an 82-story mixed-use residential skyscraper, the tallest in the world to have a woman as lead architect.
The jury at Emporis chose the innovative Aqua for its “fascinating shape” and “visual appearance”, which change dramatically depending on the angle from which one is viewing the building.
The precision construction methods deployed and sustainable, environmentally-friendly aspects were also praised, according to Emporis.
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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
Hotel Porta Fira
Location: L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
Height: 112.71 metres
Floors: 26
Year of winning best building award: 2010
Architect: b720 Fermin Vazquez Arquitectos and Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects
The unique appearance and eye-catching red facade of Barcelona's Hotel Porta Fira saw it triumph over 300 skyscrapers from all over the world in 2010.
It won over the skyscraper that is currently the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa (Dubai), as the jury felt that Hotel Porta Fira's aesthetics and integration into its urban environment outweighed the Babylonian desire to build ever-taller skyscrapers, says Emporis.
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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
New York by Gehry at Eight Spruce Street
Location: New York City, US
Height: 265.18 metres
Floors: 76
Year of winning best building award: 2011
Architect: Gehry Partners, LLP
Originally known as BeekmanTower, the 76-story skyscraper is the 12th tallest residential tower in the world. The building also has a public elementary school. The building will also house a hospital.
The Emporis website says, commenting on the choice, the jury said: "The building stands out even in Manhattan's already remarkable skyline. It is a major new architectural landmark for New York."
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Architectural marvels: 13 mind blowing skyscrapers
Absolute World 1
Location: Mississauga, Canada
Height: 175.60 metres
Floors: 56
Year of winning best building award: 2012
Architect: MAD, Ltd., Burka Architects Inc.
Absolute World is a residential condominium twin tower skyscraper complex. Fernbrook Homes and Cityzen Development Group are owners of the project.
AbsoluteWorldTowers won over the Emporis jury primarily through their unmistakable design.
Panel of experts were amazed at the way the two structures twist organically by up to 8 degrees per floor. They felt it is not just a superb technical achievement, but also a refreshing change to the set forms of high-rise routine, according to Emporis.