Construction halted on the hotel — which, even in its incomplete state is the twenty-second largest skyscraper in the world — in 1992, following rumors that the North Korean government ran out of money for the project, or that the building was a victim of faulty engineering, or both. The results spell a massive embarrassment for the North Koreans, though it has inspired a few international devotees: A pair of German architects and self-described “custodians of the pyramid’s diverse manifestations” have set up Ryugyong.org, which they describe as an “experimental collaborative online architecture site” that contains 3-D models of the monster.

Lotte Super Tower 123

The Lotte Super Tower 123, so named because it will have 123 stories, will be built over a transportation hub near the Han River in the Jamsil shopping and entertainment section of Seoul, South Korea. The light-toned glass and metal-accented structure blends a modern aesthetic with historic Korean art forms such as ceramics, porcelain, and calligraphy. “The tower’s uninterrupted curvature and gentle tapered form is reflective of Korean artistry,” said KPF design principal James von Klemperer, FAIA. “The seam that runs from top to bottom of the structure gestures toward the old city center.”

The 1,831-foot-tall building, designed to achieve LEED Silver, will house the corporate headquarters for the Lotte Group, a 66-year-old, $50 billion a year Korean business conglomerate. In addition, the high-rise will serve as a mixed-use vertical community with five distinct zones: retail, office, residential, hotel, and observation. Construction is scheduled to finish in 2014. If completed as planned, it will be the world’s second tallest building behind Adrian Smith’s 2,684-foot-tall Burj Dubai in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

KPF is managing to stay busy during the recession with several large-scale commissions in South Korea. The New York-based practice developed the master plan for the Songdo International Business District, located on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land along Incheon’s waterfront, 40 miles west of Seoul. The $35 billion, 65,000-resident complex calls for offices, homes, shops, schools, and hotels—some of which KPF is designing. The firm’s 100-acre Songdo Central Park opened in August after three years of construction, and the 100-million-square-foot financial district developed by Gale International and Posco E&C, is expected to finish in 2015.

“The Korean construction industry has built supertall buildings around the world—most notably Burj Dubai,” which was built by Samsung Corporation, says Mustafa Abadan, AIA, SOM’s design partner in charge. “This building has become an important symbol for them in terms of bringing that expertise to bear at home.”

The 725,000-square-foot skyscraper—a concrete structure clad in glass and aluminum—appears to swell slightly as it rises, evoking traditional Korean pottery that is slender at the base and flared at the top. Snaking façade details, to be made of either extruded aluminum or stainless steel, soften the building’s corners, which Abadan says breaks up wind forces on the structure while also creating different shading conditions.

The tower is topped by a crown that extends beyond the inhabitable floors, which is meant to accentuate the building’s height, capture light, and help power an array of wind turbines. With a host of other energy-producing and energy-saving features, such as natural ventilation from a powerful stack effect, photovoltaic panels that double as shading elements, and radiant cooling through beams, SOM estimates it will be able to reduce the building’s energy use by up to 65 percent, compared to more conventional towers.

The 133-story skyscraper will offer retail spaces, offices, a hotel, residential units, and an observation deck; it will be the centerpiece of a new business district for media companies. It is one of several new towers planned for Seoul, including the Lotte Super Tower 123 by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, and a Daniel Libeskind-desigend tower in the Yongsan International Business District.

Design (LEED) certification for the building. To obtain that certification, Lin said, Taipei 101 will invest NT$60 million (US$1.8 million) over the next 18-month certification process to undergo hundreds of building modifications.

After the transformation is completed, Taipei 101 is estimated to save NT$20 million in energy costs each year. Lin said that Taipei 101 wants to be an international model of environmental protection and social responsibility.

“Taipei 101′s management team is expecting to make it an icon of green building industry in Taiwan and worldwide,” Lin said. “As the world’s tallest building, Taipei 101 aims to raise people’s awareness about our environment and be a pioneer of international green building certification for existing buildings, ” he added.

In September, an Emaar spokesperson had sent this newspaper a statement that the last of the cranes atop the Burj Dubai would be taken down in a few weeks. The cranes were originally supposed to come down by end of August.

The building, when completed, will meet all four criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) – the body that classifies the world’s tallest structures.

CTBUH measures the height of buildings to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, the top of the roof and the tip of the spire, pinnacle, antenna, mast or flag pole.

Emaar said last month that the Burj Dubai tower has accomplished a world record for the highest installation of an aluminium and glass façade. Keeping the tower façade clean will be the next engineering challenge, it said. “To guarantee that every corner of Burj Dubai sparkles, 18 window-washing units are built into the tower,” said the statement.

According to the company’s statement, the skyscraper will be 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) high and will be built in the city of Jeddah off the Red Sea. Dubai’s Emaar Properties real estate company will be in charge of developing the project.

The project, named Kingdom Tower, will spread over 23 million square meters and will include commerce, housing and office areas. It will be built not far from Jeddah’s international airport.

The total cost of the project is estimated at some $27 billion, and the tallest tower in the world will be built in its center.

The tallest tower in the world today is Burj Dubai, which is 800 meters (2,625 feet) hight and is still being built by Emaar.

Stay tuned for some pictures to follow…..

The 5-year project would reduce the tower’s electricity use by 80 percent and save 24 million gallons of water a year, building owners and architects said. Separately, a 50-story, 500-room privately funded luxury hotel with its own green components would be built next to the skyscraper in 3 1/2 to 5 years.

Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merill, the tower is being built in Kuwait City by Turner Construction with Ahmadiah Contracting and Trading Company and will be the world’s largest sculpted tower once completed.

The supertall will become boring office space when it officially opens at the end of 2010, but it will also feature some cinemas and an IMAX screen.

Topping out is expected later this year.

Considering that the US real estate crash was a major catalyst for this crisis, it is not surprising that construction has been curtailed sharply among the 203 skyscrapers under construction there. Twenty-one skyscrapers (10.3 per cent) have been set on ice.

In Asia the rate is exactly 10 per cent, with 84 out of 840 skyscraper projects logged in the Emporis’s database have stopped, although many Asian skyscrapers had ceased progress well before the crisis. The only skyscraper in the US or Europe known to have been on hold more than six months ago is Met 1 in Miami.

Less affected are European countries, where seven of 119 skyscraper projects (5.9 per cent) have stopped in 2008, including five in former Soviet states. Builders in South America have reacted less drastically, as only two out of 77 skyscraper projects there (2.6 per cent) have stopped. Mexico, Canada, and Central America, have been spared the worst so far, with only six out of 153 (3.9 per cent) projects shut down.

As this columnist has pointed out periodically, there’s an uncanny, if unscientific, correlation between financial crises and efforts to build the world’s tallest building. Look no further than Kuala Lumpur in 1997, Chicago in 1974, New York in 1930 and in biblical times with the Tower of Babel.

The human propensity for architectural overreach has been a surprisingly reliable omen. It’s not a stretch to think of such projects as visual punctuation marks. A giant billboard made of steel, glass, concrete and money. A common thread between skyscrapers and economic disasters has to be easy credit, which fuels irrational growth, valuations, and hubris.

The gleaming Burj Dubai, as fate would have it, recently overtook Taipei 101 as the tallest building at 818 meters (2,684 feet). Right on cue, Dubai’s economy is looking unthinkably shaky.

In a move that suggests the property bubble has finally popped in Dubai, government-owned developer Nakheel said it was halting “further work” on the building’s foundations.

It is not known just how much work has already been completed.

“This is part of our readjustment of our immediate business plans to better reflect the current market trends and match supply with demand,” Nakheel said in a statement.

It is a bitter blow for the firm, which has also downed tools on the Trump Tower and International Hotel in December and delayed work on projects including Frond N villas, Gateway Towers and schemes at the Waterfront and the Palm Jebel Ali.

The New York Times says the world’s hottest property market – Dubai – has gone cold and that this could be the beginning of a big property slide in the emirate.

Nakheel Tower (Nakheel/PA Wire)

At least that is the rumour setting the internet ablaze at the moment – an official announcement has yet to be made.

Witnesses in Dubai say the tower has hit well over 800m and will not be going any higher and Wiki claims topping out was achieved 17 January.

Local media reports the skyscraper is being prepped for an 09/09/09 soft opening.

What we do know for sure is that workers are adding an antenna with a blinking light to the tower.

Samsung Engineering and Construction has confirmed its’ workers are on the job.

Next up is a 632-meter, 128-floor building dubbed Shanghai Tower. China’s latest fantastical super-tall shopping, office and hotel skyscraper is designed to curl heavenward, incorporating “green” elements such as rainwater capture and wind redirecting technology. Gardens will grow in between and around what are essentially nine cylindrical buildings stacked atop one another, all of it visible through a transparent façade.

Shanghai Tower is being built by a consortium of companies owned by the municipal government — two years ago the local government had put the project on hold amid a big corruption scandal. San Francisco-based Gensler is the designer, while the design institute of Shanghai’s Tongji University will act as the local partner.

Shanghai Tower is set for a 2014 completion.

Shanghai Tower

The Shanghai World Financial Center, which boasts the highest occupied floor in the world, was chosen as the winner for “its revolutionary structural design and inspirational symbolism,” according to the council. Formed out of a square prism intersected by two “cosmic arcs,” the building includes a distinctive, multi-story trapezoidal aperture at its upper floors. The firm’s design was inspired by two Chinese burial symbols: “a square prism essentially representative of the earth, and a heaven symbol—a circular disc with a circular aperture cut through it,” says Bill Pedersen, FAIA, of KPF. “We wanted to do a building that was a genuine expression of the relationship between the earth and the sky,” he explains, “and also that could be connected to the culture within which it is placed.”

Shanghai World Financial Center

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