Canton Tower,formerly known as Guangzhou TV and Sightseeing Tower,is an observation tower near Chigang Pagoda,Haizhu,Guangzhou,Guangdong,China.It was topped-out in 2009 and became operational on September 29,2010 for the 2010 Asian Games.The tower briefly held the title of tallest completed tower in the world,[9] replacing the CN Tower,which had previously held the title for 34 years,before being surpassed by Tokyo Sky Tree in 2011.It is still the tallest structure in China (followed by Shanghai World Financial Center),the Canton Tower is the seventh tallest structure and the third tallest freestanding structure in the world.It is named after "Canton",the traditional European name of the city.
History
The tower is designed by the Dutch architects Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit of Information Based Architecture together with Arup,the international design,engineering and business consulting firm headquartered in London,UK.2004,Information Based Architecture and Arup won the international competition,in which many internationally large architectural offices participated.The same year the IBA - Arup team in Amsterdam,developed the tower's concept design.In later stages,IBA cooperated mainly with the local Chinese office of Arup and a Local Design Institute.The tower,although not fully completed yet,is since 1 October 2010 open to the public.
For a long time,the city-government of Guangzhou wavered to decide on the Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower's name.On 29 September 2010,it was officially announced that it was simply going to be called Canton Tower,after the city's former name.
The twist
The idea of the tower's design is simple.The form,volume and structure is generated by two ellipses,one at foundation level and the other at a horizontal plane at 450 metres.These two ellipses are rotated relative to another.The tightening caused by the rotation between the two ellipses forms a ‘waist’ and a densification of material half way the tower's height.This means that the lattice structure,which at the bottom of the tower is porous and spacious,becomes denser at waist level.The waist itself becomes tight,like a twisted rope; transparency is reduced and views to the outside are limited.Further up the tower the lattice opens again,accentuated here by the tapering of the structural column-tubes.
The Canton tower's twisted shape or hyperboloid structure corresponds to the Russian Empire patent No.1896 dated March 12,1899 received by Vladimir Shukhov,the Russian engineer and architect.In Ukraine in delta of Dnepr is located the Adziogol Lighthouse (1911,project of Vladimir Shukhov) similar to the Canton tower