skyscrapers

CCP officials attempted to use these high-rises to enhance the government’s image, but their unfinished state is now considered a waste.

From the legendary Tower of Babel to the iconic Burj Khalifa, humans have always aspired to build to ever greater heights. Over the centuries, we have constructed towering edifices to celebrate our culture, promote our cities—or simply to show off.

First-time visitors are often surprised to discover that beyond Dubai’s atmospheric creekside bazaars and rows of skyscrapers leading up to tallest-of-them-all Burj Khalifa lies yet another dense cluster of ultra-high architecture shimmering like a mirage in the distance.

Skyscrapers always provoke some extreme reactions, and the sale of London’s Gherkin as a result of the bankruptcy of one of its current owners is no exception. For a century, ever since the property explosions of New York and Chicago, the tall building has come to symbolize the best and the worst of the modern city, and of the economies that have produced it.

China’s regime reacts to the Skyscraper Index, which predicts an economic collapse in China.

Three skyscrapers meant to be the pride of Shanghai’s skyline area being ridiculed by the public as “a three-piece kitchen tool set,” since they appear to resemble a whisk, a bottle opener and a basting syringe.

Last week, the last steel frame was put in place to make London’s Shard skyscraper the tallest building in Europe in 2012.