The World's Weirdest Skyscrapers

The world's weirdest skyscrapers – in pictures: From the Elephant Building to the ‘Death Star’, architects and developers are going to ever stranger lengths in their efforts to stand out from the crowd. Where will this ridiculousness end? Click all pictures to enlarge.

Above - Elephant Building, Bangkok: Designed in 1997 by one of Thailand’s most celebrated architects, Sumet Jumasi, this triple-towered oddity pays homage to his country’s national animal. Boasting 32 storeys of offices, shops and luxury apartments, the building’s ‘ears’ are multi-storey balconies while the tusks are home to its management company.

                            

Porsche Design Tower, Miami: Amazingly, America’s ‘cars in towers’ narrative is not done yet. Porsche – better known as manufacturers of flashy sports cars – is building a 60-storey skyscraper in Miami. But rather than regular ground-level or subterranean parking, the pièce de résistance of this $560m building is its three drive-in elevators. When the building is completed next year, its drive-in lifts will allow residents to bring their beloved vehicles right up to their apartments. Apparently there’s space for up to four cars in some units.

Umeda Sky Building, Osaka: Osaka’s 19th-tallest building consists of two 40-storey towers connected by a ‘floating garden observatory’ on the top two floors. But just for a bit of added fun, the empty space between the buildings is criss-crossed by the world’s highest glass escalator. Those suffering from vertigo may wish to look away now.

Castalia, The Hague: In the Netherlands, this pair of towers is desperate to blend in with its nation’s architectural heritage – not easy when you’re 104 metres tall. Constructed in 1998 using the core of an older building, the renovation added a 35m Dutch gabled roof on each tower – purely for decoration. Home to the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Castalia is more fondly known as ‘the tits’ of Den Haag, thanks to those perky rooftops.

Abraj Al-Bait Towers, Mecca: Rising over the holy mosque of Mecca in western Saudi Arabia, this 600m Big Ben copy (also known as the Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel) is the third tallest building in the world – with the world’s largest clock face, naturally. The tower looms over what was once a desert but is now home to luxury apartments, shopping malls and hotels for all the pilgrims who travel to this holiest of sites at this time every year.

Aqua, Chicago: Designed by American architect Jeanne Gang in the city that invented the skyscraper, Chicago’s 82-storey Aqua tower happens to be the tallest building in the world designed by a woman – but that’s not why we’re including it. To capture the urban views, balconies jut out into the sky giving the tower its undulating figure, resisting the angular typologies of Chicago’s traditional tower design.

Tianzi Hotel, Langfang: This bizarre 10-storey creation made it into the Guiness Book of Records for being the world’s ‘biggest image building’. Perhaps not a skyscraper in the traditional sense, the beaming depictions of Fu, Lu and Shou (Chinese gods of fortune, prosperity and longevity) certainly stand out against the skyline. Enter the hotel through the white bearded fellow’s right foot, and take a nap in the hotel’s most luxurious suite – located in his giant peach.

Robot Building, Bangkok: Just down the road from the Elephant Building, architect Sumet Jumasi designed the HQ of the United Overseas Bank as a 20-storey robot representing the computerisation of banking and friendly face of modern technology. Every feature of this android has a practical use: the eyelids are sunshades, the eyes are meeting rooms, and the antennae are lightning rods. Jumasi said his robot was a protest against ‘bland international style in architecture’.

AlDar Headquarters, Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates boasts the world’s tallest skyscraper, the 830m Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and now is also home to the world’s first circular skyscraper. No longer restricted to using steel-frame technology to create tall, straight towers, the UAE-based MZ Architects have built a revolutionary ‘stacked dinner plate’ prototype – at a cost of around £1bn.

Antilia building, Mumbai: The 27-storey private residence of Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, was named after a mythical island in the Atlantic, and is said to have more floor space than the Palace of Versailles. The building boasts three helicopter pads, underground parking for 160 cars, and requires some 600 staff to run it – all for a family of five.

Fake Hills, Beihai : Is your overly flat city in need of some rolling hills? Why not just build them, as the Chinese coastal town of Beihai did. This ‘does what it says on the tin’ residential development, designed by MAD Architects, combines high-rise and groundscraper typology to emulate mother nature’s contours in what is otherwise a very low-level city.

Lippo Centre, Hong Kong: Nicknamed the Koala Buildings for the way their extrusions cling to the glass towers, American architect Paul Rudolph – best known for his brutalist concrete structures – hoped to make this skyscraper a little less ominous by adding the C-shaped extensions to Lippo’s exterior. Instead he made it look like something straight our of Transformers.

Sutyagin House, Arkhangelsk: Wooden skyscrapers could be the future of flat-pack cities, but one man in Russia set the precedent almost 25 years ago. Nikolai Sutyagin (a former gangster) spent more than 15 years piecing together this wooden house on the outskirts of Arkhangelsk, continuously adding new levels until it grew to 13 storeys. Without a permit for his precariously balanced structure, the building’s tower was demolished a few years ago, and the remaining four storeys burned to the ground shortly afterwards.

‘Cell Phone Building’, Kunming: Despite appearances, this 11-storey building in China’s southern Yunnan province is actually quite functional. The screen is the upper-storey window for the penthouse office, while the buttons let light into the lower offices. But we can’t help thinking this old-school handset is due an upgrade by now.

Marina City, Chicago: In the 1960s, when the US’s obsession for the automobile was in full swing, architect Bertrand Goldberg designed these two, 65-storey residential towers with no fewer than 896 parking spaces inside each one. Incredibly, the lower 19 floors of the skyscrapers still house nothing more than a spiral parking ramp. With Chicago now facing an affordable housing crisis, maybe it’s time to put the cars outside?

Tour Triangle, Paris: While many major cities have witnessed a high-rise boom, Paris has remained relatively low-rise thanks to restrictive building regulations. But the ban was finally lifted in 2010, and this 42-storey glass pyramid is due to land, UFO-like, in the 15th arrondissement in 2020. As the first modern tower to be built in central Paris for more than 40 years, it’s going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Cross Towers, Seoul: Danish studio BIG (architects of the New York Dry Line) has proposed the godfather of all clickbait architecture for South Korea’s Yongsan Business District development: ‘the Hashtag’ skyscraper. Designed to get around height regulations while maximising density, the two high-rises are connected by horizontal towers, forming a hash. Although still waiting for the green light, it seems only a matter of time before this #bigdream becomes a #bigreality.

                           

Tower Infinity, Seoul: Also coming soon in Seoul, the 450m Tower Infinity was dubbed the world’s first ‘invisible tower’ by its designers, GDS Architects. Projectors and cameras on the façade will capture the view around the skyscraper before stitching them together in a real-time display, giving an illusion of invisibility – perhaps not the best idea given the tower’s location, right next to Seoul’s Incheon Airport.

Full Moon Tower, Baku: With AlDar’s headquarters having set the precedent for disk-shaped skyscrapers, the Azerbaijani capital will soon be home to not one but two new massive rotund buildings – known as the Full Moon and Crescent Moon hotels. Designed by South Korean firm Heerim Architects, some are suggesting the Full Moon Hotel – with its indented hole and slick facade – took inspiration from the Death Star in Star Wars.

Phoenix Towers, Wuhan: The British architects Chetwoods has unveiled plans for this pair of skyscrapers in the Chinese city of Wuhan. When completed, the taller of these colourful towers should top the Burj Khalifa by 172m, and is intended to beat Saudi Arabia’s impending Kingdom Tower to the title of world’s tallest building when it opens in 2017/18. As if that’s not enough, the smaller tower promises to house the world’s tallest garden.

Indian Window Washers & Other High Rise News

The chaps from Adventure 18 in Mumbai, India regularly sleep out.

DDB Mudra Mumbai and Adventure 18 urge Corporate India to step Outdoors: MUMBAI: Corporate India is overworked and exhausted. While the rest of the world works 50 to 60 hours a week, corporate India clocks in 80 hours. Their lives revolve around their desks, and their time away from work is the time they spend playing solitaire or browsing the internet. DDB Mudra Mumbai and Adventure 18 saw this as an opportunity to urge corporate India to get away from their dreary workstations and step out and have an adventure. Apart from this, the other challenge faced by the team was execute the campaign in a cost-effective way. The team used a surprisingly overlooked, yet effective medium of communication – Window Washers, to do the job.

Window Washers, dressed up in adventure gear, were sent down office buildings located across the city of Mumbai. In a sight worth a watch, mountaineers, rock climbers and para gliders descended on to buildings across the city. The result was overwhelming. There were a few who were scared, some were amused, but everyone took note of the men in adventure gear. And when the window washers had the attention of the office they revealed their message: “Don’t you wish you were outdoors?” The message continued to give the website address of Adventure 18.

Speaking on this activity, Louella Rebello, Executive Creative Director, DDB Mudra Mumbai, said, “Sometimes you are at work, you look out of the window and wish you could be in the great outdoors instead. We decided to actually put a guy out there telling you to do just that. Adventure 18 was a great partner in making this happen.'” Adding to this, Mohit Oberoi, Owner, Adventure 18, said, “It’s a great concept. More importantly, it’s brought attention to what we do and stand for as a company. That is to give people an unforgettable experience of the outdoors.”

Windows are work ethic wonder: I recently read somewhere that, according to New York window cleaners, a third of all the computer screens they can see through the windows of the skyscrapers they are cleaning are occupied with the electronic version of Solitaire. Somewhere else I read that 11% of US office workers spend between an hour and two hours a day of work time Facebooking and Twittering. Surveys, as we all know, are mostly so much old tat but generally contain a kernel of truth. I prefer to trust the New York window cleaners. In fact, I would be perfectly happy if some of my tax rands were spent on window cleaners to check up on what was really going on in our schools, clinics and Department of Cooperative Governance, and who was actually giving the taxpayers their full eight hours of public service toil, and who was shirking in the coffee room.

View from the Shard: Western Europe's tallest building, The Shard in London, opened its viewing platform to the public on Friday but a group of BBC School Reporters from Bermondsey's Harris Academy were allowed a sneak preview before the official launch.After leaving the second lift, the School Reporters took the short walk up to floor 69 where a spectacular view of London awaited. One student said: "Outside the windows I can see some window cleaners and all they have got is a seat but we've got ground and they must be petrified!"

New Tower Changes Skyline of Zhengzhou: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), which has been active in China for more than 20 years, continues to shape the skylines of rapidly growing cities around the country. In the north-central city of Zhengzhou, in Henan Province, the firm recently completed a partially hollow, 60-story, mixed-use tower with a glass-enclosed roof. The 280-meter-tall structure, which opened to office tenants in fall 2012, is the tallest building in the city. The column-shaped tower has a glass exterior that is screened by aluminum louvers. Oriented to cut glare coming inside, the louvers are set three to seven feet from the glass skin to leave a gap for window cleaning. Painted white, the sun screens were fabricated off-site in three- to five-story sections and then lifted into place. Close up, the building seems to be coated in aluminum, but the glass behind the louvers becomes evident further away.

South Korean firm aims for the sky in L.A. - Korean Air's $1-billion hotel skyscraper, a symbol of South Korea's status as an up-and-coming economic powerhouse will feature 73 stories, 900 guest rooms, office space and stores. The sail-shaped skyscraper will light up at night and dwarf many of its neighbors. Most of the building will be devoted to a hotel, though an operator has yet to be named. Arriving guests would be whisked by high-speed elevators to the “sky lobby” on the 70th floor for check-in. According to the plan, the 71st floor will be a restaurant. The floor above that will house window-washing gear and engineering equipment, clearing the top floor for an infinity swimming pool and observation deck.

Near street level will be about three floors of restaurants and shops, topped by 30 floors of offices for rent. Elevators will be double-decked, carrying two stacked cabs of passengers for additional capacity during peak hours. Perched at the very top of the building will be a decorative “crown” and a mast-like spire that will have embedded LED lighting that can change colors. The display will be eye-catching and visible for miles, but it will not be used for advertising, said Christopher Martin, chief executive of AC Martin. “It's not Coke bottles, it's art,” he said.

With the spire reaching to 1,100 feet, the Wilshire Grand would become one of the tallest structures in the country, surpassing the 1,046-foot Chrysler Building in New York, which has 77 stories. The contemporary design of the Wilshire Grand, with its floor-to-ceiling windows, is intended to set it apart from surrounding granite-clad office towers, said architect David Martin, who is Christopher Martin's cousin.

The world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, has the world's highest windows. Dallas joins the team whose heart-stopping job it is to clean them.

What’s so great about being an architect? You don’t have to look far beyond the advent of the term “starchitects” to understand. This refers to the biggest personalities in architecture and “starchitecture” refers to their signature, high-profile buildings. The wide exposure of starchitects has greatly increased the status of architectural profession to the general public that in some circles top architects enjoy rock star status. Even before the recent explosion of starchitects to the mainstream, architects have enjoyed a reputation of being a highly respected profession. Speaking of starchitects, Frank Gehry is one of the first architects you profile. You can see part of the first segment with Frank Gehry on the Web site. It was quite a coup getting Gehry to participate. But after I explained why the show was so important to me and to architects, he agreed to be involved. And I must say, he did not disappoint! I can’t wait to share the story of the Ruvo Center in Las Vegas in the premiere episode. Cool Spaces with Stephen Chung.

Up, up and away with dirty windows (ORANGE BEACH, Ala.) - A crew of window washers was hard at work March 7 on one of the towers of Turquoise Place in Orange Beach. The gleaming towers are 30 stories high. Click pictures to enlarge.

Lucino Zurita (left) and Juan Lopez with MTB Services, a Grandview window cleaning business, extend their lift a long way across McGee Street to clean The Link walkway to the Sheraton Hotel.

Pyramid daredevils moved on to Dubai for more amazing photos: It is a view of Dubai usually reserved for window cleaners, construction workers - or intrepid photographers. But some Russian tourists have shared with the world a rare perspective of the city by taking photographs from the edge of some of its most famous skyscrapers. Including stunning shots of the Marina and breathtaking views of Downtown, the pair have posted the images to their blog, 'Dedmaxopka'. The Russian duo recently avoided serious penalties when they climbed atop the Pyramids in Egypt for a photo opportunity.

Tower of the Americas by the numbers: A window washer dangles on lines as he works on the east side of the Tower of the Americas on April 2, 2008. Check out the link for amazing facts by numbers on the San Antonio tower in Texas.

Superhero window washers: Patients at Akron Children's Hospital were surprised to see a slew of superheroes hanging outside washing their windows. Go to link for even more photos.

New Challenging Skyscrapers For The High Rise Window Cleaner

This artist's drawing of the Parinee Ism shows that today's skyscraper designers don't think small.

Skyscrapers are changing with the times. Here's a look at some of the towers constructed or proposed elsewhere in the world, including one with an infinity pool on every balcony. Warning to acrophobic types: Dive in with extreme caution. About all that glass: We've got one question about these skyscrapers, though: Who's going to wash the windows? If you missed Oregonian writer Kelly House's profile of a Portlander who deep-sixed his fear of heights to take a job as a high-rise window washer, be sure to check it out. You won't take clean windows for granted ever again. Click pictures to enlarge.

The outline and the ripple pattern can be conceived as an abstract representation of the symbol Ohm (Ω). The ripple effect usually generates a vortex-like space in the center. The tower design is trying to recapture the essence of this space by creating a large void in the middle along with a special designed clubhouse form.

Balcony pools: A 37-story residential high-rise designed by James Law Cybertecture for real estate company Wadhwa Group in Mumbai, India, has a striking feature: glass-enclosed swimming pools on the balconies. The planned Parinee Ism has a fluid-looking exterior that's "inspired by the ripple effect generated by water droplets, which is also known as the capillary wave," according to the firm's description.

Designed by MAD Architects, the Absolute Towers located in Toronto, Canada are nearing completion.

Tall trend: When a high-rise project is called the "Marilyn Monroe," the moniker tends to grab your attention. The curvaceous Absolute Towers, a pair of towers nearing completion in a Toronto suburb, were among those selected June 13 as the best tall buildings in the world by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. 

The council, a group of architects and structural engineers, "said there had been a 'renaissance' in skyscraper development," according to Reuters. The 88 towers taller than 200 meters (656 feet) that were completed in 2011 set a record; in 2005 there were only 32 such projects. The council projects that 96 tall buildings will be completed this year, many of them in China.

The buildings are not the conventional high-rise. Take, for instance, the Al Bahar Towers in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, which won an innovation award. The computer-controlled facade of the 29-story structure opens and closes in response to the movement of the sun. The facade is a reinterpretation of the traditional Islamic mashribyia, a wood lattice screen that offers privacy and controls glare and solar gain.

Beach and Howe mixed-used tower.

Vancouver, B.C., skyline: BIG's proposal for the Beach and Howe mixed-used tower next to the Granville Street Bridge in downtown Vancouver takes a twist -- literally. The structure's tight, triangular footprint is due to a 30-meter setback from the bridge -- keeping balconies away from the noise and exhaust fumes of bridge traffic -- and to concerns about not blocking sunlight to an adjacent park. As the tower ascends above the bridge, though, it expands and cantilevers over the site.

The 49-storey residential building will have a twisted form that is set back from the adjacent motorway flyover to prevent any windows or balconies from overlooking it.

"The resultant silhouette has a unique appearance that changes from every angle and resembles a curtain being drawn aside, welcoming people as they enter the city from the bridge," says a BIG press release, which also describes the tower's podium base as a "mixed-use urban village." Bjarke Ingels, BIG founding partner, says the project reclaims a site beneath the bridges that would otherwise be only a "lifeless 'black hole' in the urban fabric." The aim is to seek LEED gold certification for the building.

Danish architects BIG have designed a towering apartment block for Seoul that will be shaped like a hashtag.

Cross Towers: Another BIG proposal, this one in Seoul, also takes an interesting form. "The Cross Towers constitute a three-dimensional urban community of interlocking horizontal and vertical towers," according to Ingels. "Three public bridges connect two slender towers at different levels -- underground, at the street and in the sky," Ingels says in a press release. "Catering to the demands and desires of different residents, age groups and cultures the bridges are landscaped and equipped for a variety of activities traditionally restricted to the ground."

Sky gardens envisioned on the Cross Towers.

The bridges between towers would provide space for sky gardens. "The typical tower inherently removes life from the city it occupies. ... social interactions occur only in lobbies or awkward elevator rides," says Thomas Christoffersen, BIG partner in charge. "We propose a building that ... triples the amount of social interaction and reintroduces the idea of neighborhood within the tower complex."