DHAKA: The world’s second tallest building, Shanghai Tower, will soon open in the Chinese financial capital with a twist — a 120-degree twist, to be exact.

A softened triangular ‘outer skin’ is literally twisted around a circular core, sending the glass and steel tower spiraling 632 meters (2,086 feet) into the grey sky above the city.

State-backed developer Shanghai Tower Construction and Development Co. views the modern design as a symbol of China's future, a super-tall building in the city's gleaming Pudong financial district, which did not even exist 25 years ago.

People involved with the project said the building will open this summer, with office tenants moving in first, but the developer declined to comment.

“This twist is an iconic symbol of looking forward for the Chinese people,” said Grant Uhlir, practice area leader and principal for Gensler, the US architecture firm whose design was chosen for the building which broke ground in 2008.

“It’s been referred to as a strand of DNA. It’s also been referred to a place where the ground connects with the sky,” he said.

An estimated 16,000 to 18,000 people will pass through the Shanghai Tower every day. The building will sway up to a meter (three feet) in high winds, with a 1,000-tonne "damper" weight near the top reducing the effect.

A golden canopy at the base of the building was originally meant to be green, the color of weathered copper, but the developer rejected the idea because in Chinese, the expression “wearing a green hat” means being a cuckold.

BDST: 2128 HRS, JUNE 21, 2015
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