Canton Tower – Guangzhou – China
Out of all the countries generating technological and engineering advancements, China is undoubtedly a frontrunner with its break through architectural revolutions like the Canton Towers of Guanzhou. This 600 metres observatory tower, which serves multiple purposes, is the Crown of China standing next to the Pearl River.
The Canton Tower, also known as the Guangzhou Tower first became operational during the Asian Games of 2010. Being taller than the CN Tower, it initially bagged the title of the tallest standing building; however, soon the title went to the Tokyo Skytree in 2011.
As per the architects, Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit, the Canton Tower was designed with a motive of creating a structure which unlike the other towers looked less stern, square and thereby masculine. They rather wanted to make the design “curvaceous, transparent, and complex” which could give the feel of being a female structure. With this kind of thought they wanted to uphold the spirit of Guangzhou as a place which was full of varieties and exciting. The ultimate structure of the Canton Towers which came out of their plan indeed looks like a trendy female and attracts tourists from all over the world with its hourglass structure.
The structure of the Canton Towers, which was brought to reality by the London, based designing company ARUP, mainly consists of two elliptical shapes which are woven to each other at an angle of 45 degrees. Apart from that the other essential elements consists of the columns and the support of rings and braces. Though it comes as a mix of simplicity and complexity but, it is equipped to tackle the weather of Guangzhou which is prone to typhoons and speedy winds. The design of the Canton Towers ensure that it makes a good use of the natural light with plenty of scope to include other natural elements like gardens and above all an observatory at the top. The sleek waist of the Canton Towers is 180 metres with the open air skywalk which gives an option to the visitors to climb up the tower.
The internal part of the tower is designed in an extremely modern way with divisions of various function zones such as TV transmission, restaurants, gaming zones, conference venues, shops, cinema halls, places of exhibition, and so on. Underneath the tower are all the transport connections like bus stations, metro links, car and coach parking. The Canton Tower also has the provision of customising the visits so; there are two types of elevators. One that takes at a slow pace and gives a visitor the chance to enjoy the sight of Guangzhou, and the other, a fast paced double decked elevator.
The observatory, which is located at a height of 488 metres, was the part of the Canton Towers which opened last in the year 2011. This observation deck is known to be the largest in the world.
Thus Canton Tower is certainly a worth watching man made spectacle of China.