While it is obvious that the Zifeng Tower is the tallest building in Nanjing, slightly less well known is the fact that, upon its completion, it was the second tallest building on the Chinese mainland, behind the Shanghai World Financial Centre.
Now of course, its position has slipped. At time of writing, Zifeng is the 10th tallest building in China, 14th in Asia and 19th in the world.
Formerly known as Nanjing Greenland Financial Centre, Zifeng stands 450 metres tall, of which 316.6 metres are occupied.
After 6 years of construction, Zifeng was completed in January of 2010, but it would take almost another year’s work on the interior of the now-iconic, 89-floor building before it opened to the public.
Zifeng draws as its influences three central elements key to Nanjing’s rich history. There’s the Yangtze River for one, and the green garden landscapes, together with the dragon and column elements that are central to traditional Chinese architecture.
The columns speak for themselves. To achieve the former, the tower’s two main interlocking forms were intended as dancing dragons, while Zifeng’s upper façades were to feature staggered, angled panes of glass to suggest the scales of a fish.
But none of these are the most interesting aspect of this building. Neither are they what makes it special.
That is in fact to be found nearer ground level. Or more specifically, the first batch of floors that comprise offices, conference rooms and that part of the retail and restaurant space and that is above ground.
The building’s plot almost necessitated it be a wedge. Architects, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, took this to extremes. They made the vertice razor sharp and then pointed it at the very centre of the Gulou roundabout that sits adjacent to the traditional Gulou, or the drum tower that was the centre of many a Chinese city, situated on high ground from where signals could be beaten out far and wide.
When all things considered, it was little wonder that in 2012, Zifeng scooped up an award from the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (USA), for “Best International Project Over $150 Million”.
But the sun is sinking on Zifeng’s empire. Eclipsing it in a few years shall be the 499.8-metre tall Jinmao International Financial Centre. As another Greenland project, at least Nanjing’s tallest building will be keeping it in the family.
