Shanghai Tower: Q & A with Design Director Jun Xia
Once construction is completed, Shanghai Tower (pictured on the right) will be the tallest building in Shanghai's Lujiazui Finance and Trade district and the second tallest building in the world.
There is perhaps nothing more symbolic of contemporary China’s rapid development than the mega projects being built in this country. To that point, China Central TV (CCTV) just aired a five-episode documentary series titled “China’s Mega Projects” to showcase the building process behind several of China’s mega projects, all of which rank among the biggest in the world today. Among the five mega projects in this series is the Shanghai Tower designed by Gensler. Almost three years into construction, the Tower stands at a height of 390 meters with 80 stories completed as of the end of September. The hour-long episode featuring the Shanghai Tower has attracted much attention across China, so I sat down with Jun Xia, the project’s Design Director, to discuss the documentary and the project itself.