Archinect - News

Construction stalled on 'world's tallest building', so locals made its foundation into a fish farm

2015-07-14T13:39:00-04:00

work stalled after concerns from regulators over the safety of the skyscraper and its environmental impact and funding. With no progress on the project in sight, villagers nearby have started to raise fish in its 2.6-hectare water-filled foundations [...] One villager started to raise fish in March and has invested over 20,000 yuan in his business. “I raise fish on the construction site. It is not in secret, neither have I ever been stopped”

Construction on the would-be world's tallest building, known as Sky City in Changsha, China, began in 2013, under leadership of Broad Sustainable Building. Sky City made headlines not only for its proposed record-breaking height, but for the speed at which it was to be completed – Broad Sustainable Building promised that using a signature method of pre-fabrication techniques, Sky City would be built in just nine months. Now way past that due date, Sky City's vacant foundations have been repurposed by local villagers as a fish farm.

Broad Sustainable Building, part of The Broad Group, is known for pushing tall, rapidly built structures in China – it previously built a 30-story hotel in 15 days, and "Mini Sky City", a 57-story tower built in 19 days. More about The Broad Group's prefabrication techniques can be found here and here.

How the "Chinese Steve Jobs" is trying to build the ideal city

2015-06-16T13:30:00-04:00

He has a vision of a future where his company makes a third of the world's buildings – all modular, all steel, and all green. “The biggest problem we face in the world right now isn't terrorism or world war. It's climate change,” he says.

A fascinating profile of Zhang Yue, the man behind Mini Sky City, a 57-story tower built in 19 days. Yue's company, the Broad Sustainable Group, was able to construct at such speeds by assembling prefab parts at the rate of 3-storeys a day. Now, Yue's set his sights on on building the full-size Sky City – a 220-story tower where residents would live and work – in seven months. That height would make it taller than Dubai's Burj Khalifa, currently the world's tallest building.

Watch a timelapse of the Mini Sky City building process below:

Across China, Skyscrapers Brush the Heavens

2013-08-29T18:42:00-04:00

China is home to 60 of the world’s 100 tallest buildings now under construction. But the skyward aspirations of Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, have inspired incredulity tinged with hostility. [...] the project’s scale and speed have set off a burst of national introspection in recent days about whether Chinese municipal leaders and developers have gone too far in their increasingly manic reach for the skies.

Previously: Sky City, world's tallest building, stops construction due to lack of government approval

Sky City, world's tallest building, stops construction due to lack of government approval

2013-07-31T14:11:00-04:00

Yin Zhi, head of Beijing Tsinghua Urban Design Institute, said, "The technique that Broad Group uses has no precedent in the world, and the cost they promised is very low. So they either have some record breaking techniques or it’s a lie. They are gambling. If they win, they will change the history of world architecture, but that's one chance in a million."

In China’s Hunan province, ground was broken for the next "world's tallest skyscraper". It was a brave ambition. The developer Broad Group planned to build an 838 meter tower with 202 stories, in just 10 months. The tower would surpass the current tallest skyscraper, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa by 10 meters. But the project has been halted over questions concerning feasibility and government permission.

"Sky City" gets approval, to be tallest building in the world, with contruction schedule now estimated at 7 months

2013-05-23T17:13:00-04:00

Last week, Broad Group announced it has received approval from the Chinese government and will break ground on the project next month, though according to Quartz's Lily Kuo, Broad Sustainable Building has pushed the building's schedule to a more modest seven months.

Sky City: World’s tallest building, to be built in 90 days

2012-06-15T18:48:00-04:00

It took Dubai more than five years to build the 828-meter Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building (for the moment, anyway). But Chinese architects and engineers reckon they need a mere 90 days to leave the Emiratis in the dust. At least, that's what they've claimed.

BSB is renowned for its eye-opening construction efficiency. Its portfolio includes assembling a 15-story building in six days in June 2010, and erecting a 30-story hotel in 360 hours in December 2011.

The key to achieving such stunning speed is an innovative construction technique developed by BSB.

Most of the company’s buildings are pieced together with prefabricated components from its factory. In this case, 95 percent of Sky City will be completed before breaking ground.

BSB explained to Xinhua that its goal of building Sky City is not to erect a new landmark in China, but to develop and put into use a “medium-cost, super-saving utility building and to promote a futuristic urban lifestyle.”