Construction is shortly to get underway on British firm, Atkins, competition winning proposal for a new development in the Binhai New area of the Chinese port city of Tianjin.
Nicknamed "the pile of boxes" by the local Chinese population, the TEDA project was a competition narrowed down with six finalists from leading architecture companies including Chicago firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
Atkins, who worked alongside Shenzen based Chinese architect KY Cheung, came up with a Koolhaas-esque winning design that consists of three towers, each made up of a series of blocks of eight floors that are stacked on top of each other just like the nickname.
Subtly rotating from the one directly below it should add a slightly chaotic look to the traditional glass slab. They will offer a mixture of office, residential, retail plus a five star hotel plus landscaping inbetween.
There will also be sky-gardens spiralling up one corner of each section of the tower of the towers animating the buildings with human activity. During the day they will prove highly visible due to the transparent nature of the cladding and almost beacon-like at night thanks to illumination within.
The buildings will be clad in glass curtain walling and are crowned with mesh-like blocks that house a partly exposed core and wind turbines providing green electricity. Taking the environmental element further the designs also use a groundwater based heating/cooling system.
The tallest tower will be 80 floors and 356 metres in height whilst the shorter blocks will be 200 metres and 100 metres tall respectively. Currently, the tallest skyscraper in Tianjin is only 238 metres high although the local TV tower reaches 415 metres.
Costing 4 billion yuan it is expected to be completed in 2009 - typically quick fashion for a building of such size in a country that doesn't hang around in their current great leap forward for modernisation.

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=827

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/827AtkinsPileOfChineseBoxesForTianjin_pic1.jpg

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/project/uploaded_files/809_TianNight-red.jpg

All the propsals
http://www.skyscrapers.cn/forum/attachments/200512111841862860_SXvcKLg5J2Zj.jpg

this tower looks like the first design of the freedom tower.

Nice complex but it reminds me Capital City Towers in Moscow-City

It will look great in tanjing

Amazing concept. :okay:

Maybe somebody is interested in seeing all the former proposals. Here they are:

Atkins, UK (the winner)
http://www.cnzs.com.cn/UploadFile/2005-12/2005121118434924012.jpg

SOM, USA
http://www.cnzs.com.cn/UploadFile/2005-12/2005121118441448363.jpg

Portman, USA
http://www.cnzs.com.cn/UploadFile/2005-12/2005121118422564354.jpg

SBA, Germany
http://www.cnzs.com.cn/UploadFile/2005-12/2005121118451460176.jpg

Nikken Sekkei, Japan
http://www.cnzs.com.cn/UploadFile/2005-12/2005121118444274643.jpg

Lee Harris Pomeroy Associates, USA
http://www.cnzs.com.cn/UploadFile/2005-12/2005121118432481166.jpg

Very innovative design ! I love it !

Certainly a high standard of entry in the competition, I'd like to see the SBA design pop up somewhere else, well the main tower anyway.

(As a side question, do many losing entries end up being built elsewhere after these types of competitions?)

Wowz0rs these designes are nice!!
This tower is gonna rock very hard!!

that's a very unique design!! i love the top part :okay:

the other proposals look interesting too, especially that last one

Doesn't it look like a project in Russia Moscow?

I think the best design won in this case!

Wind turbines! Yey!

woah......

I am speechless!

Tianjin will be the next Dubai or Shenzhen!

i think the SOM one is the BEST!

que originales

Would be the most recognizable of China up-and-coming 300+m towers.

Pretty sweet. Really reminds me of the Park Hyatt in Mumbai, though.

Great looking towers!

Thanks for the info and the model pics z0rg!

Doesn't it look like a project in Russia Moscow?

These 2 shifting towers will be built in Moscow soon:)

http://*******************/gallery/d/6309-2/vu01_r2_final_v004_city_booklet.jpg

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/5276/panorama1rie1.jpg
by Axort

I like proposals 1-2-5-6, 3-4 look like other average towers

By popeye. The plot in the bottom left.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/20090521_675bc6b7381cd0d90cfbhTzTqt.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/20090521_3e1f164a0b4f38eddcfaWLjhuR.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/20090521_da929cf2bb0f81831c333bx10e.jpg

^^ Extremely slow progress . I mean in 2007 they announced that the construction would start and i seriously can't see any growth .This is ridiculous . I guess they got hit hard by the financial crisis or something like that.

^^ The whole area didn't even exist back then. They wouldn't construct a supertall in the middle of nowhere till the area has been urbanized.

I see a hrbour in the background. Is this is Tanggu?

^^yes

This tower has been revised upwards to 455m. It will be started in 2010 and completed within 2013.
http://www.tj.gov.cn/zwgk/zwxx/zwdt/wbjdt/200909/t20090916_103697.htm
http://www.buildnet.cn/Html/News/2009/09/54730.shtml
http://www.tanggu.net.cn/news/shownews.asp?newsid=80271
http://economy.enorth.com.cn/system/2009/09/15/004200554.shtml
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/200909160301.jpg

looks quite nice but it looks like the city of capitals in moscow

TEDA Landmark Tower (450m) is located in the same location. What is the final project?

me likes!!! especcialy cus it in tanggu!! tanggu gna be amazing

The design has changed. Final design: 530m, 96 floors.
Ground breaking ceremony took place today.
Developer: Chow Tai Fook Group
Name: Chow Tai Fook Binhai Center
http://news.enorth.com.cn/system/2009/11/20/004282992.shtml

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/5523.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/63463.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/3532.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/32523.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/2535.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/others3/2352.jpg

I'll try to find decent renders later.

The design has changed. Final design: 530m, 96 floors.
Ground breaking ceremony took place today.
Developer: Chow Tai Fook Group
Name: Chow Tai Fook Binhai Center
http://news.enorth.com.cn/system/2009/11/20/004282992.shtml

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/5523.jpg




I'll try to find decent renders later.

That's a shame, although the height is impressive the previous design looked so much better but it's too early to say as like you said, you'll need to find a clearer render before we can judge.

Better pic. Maybe it isn't final at all, who knows. No info about the architect...

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/others3/35252352352.jpg

wow!! I like it!

Now TJ should make sure other tall buildings will surround this cus so far both this tower and the 117 tower are quite lonely

wrong thread

Hey, not bad! Are these ceremonies a bit prematurely or can we expect ground work anytime soon?

Now i've seen it, it's actually quite a nice design and aesthetically pleasing and will definitely put Tianjin as a major player on the map. Although the original design was unique and had character, not discounting a lone megatall either.

Better render
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/others3/796976.jpg

According to several press articles this tower has been designed by Cesar Pelli, but I can't find it in the website porftolio. Certainly the available renders look a little like Shanghai IFC, so it is very likely to be the final design anyway.

I went by today and this whole area was quite busy. Was in a taxi, though, without my camera, and didn't have time to take pictures. Not 100% sure which plot was for the supertall, either. Will head back maybe in March to get a better look.

By zsy5852
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/others3/114.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/others3/111-1.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/others3/113.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/others3/112-1.jpg

^^PREP?

They are already prepared, check out the tent :lol:

So 2 CTFC tower in China with the same height, this in Tianjin and the other in Guangzhou (East Tower). :)

The tent are for the workers. Without the workers, you can't have a supertall in here !

Lastest development.The lot at the bottom half. http://pic.qnpic.com:83/r.jsp?fn=//fanjoin/share/2010/4/10/-5468-5927-798f-6ee8-6d77-4e2d-5fc3.jpg

^^ Do you know what's the thing in the plot behind? Should be an empty space according to the model.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/5523.jpg

i guess it will be an open area, a square or even a garden/square/park. I really hope Chinese cities can have open areas in the form of a park/garden and less squares of concrete, they should make every open area from now on functional and green

Another render:

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/7950/20100411a2c413edf3f338d.jpg (http://img52.imageshack.us/i/20100411a2c413edf3f338d.jpg/)

btw i think it clearly shows that the "middle area" won't be so empty.

i guess it will be an open area, a square or even a garden/square/park. I really hope Chinese cities can have open areas in the form of a park/garden and less squares of concrete, they should make every open area from now on functional and green

chinese cities suffer with too many parks .

chinese cities suffer with too many parks .:lol:

Looks like this tread should be moved from Proposed to under construction.

Another render:

btw i think it clearly shows that the "middle area" won't be so empty.

Yes, that's good. I like seeing towers which has its base revealed, ie petronas, jin mao, 2ifc etc...

What about those two curved sides? are they going to be empty? I guess there will be a garden on each side or some low, one/two story buildings

^^ Do you know what's the thing in the plot behind? Should be an empty space according to the model.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/5523.jpg


Yeah. I wonder what is going on too. First I though 4 small buildings might share a common foundation but they clearly dont. May be an underground car park? It looks serious foundation work going on tough. It might be a surprise.

by popoeye:

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/8469/45282188.jpg (http://img202.imageshack.us/i/45282188.jpg/)

There is more but not about towers site itself, but the rest of the development.

^^ Where did you find that pic? How could you access bohaibbs from Poland?

Well, I could :D


..vpn is the keywordl ;)

goddamn it, now I've got more competition for updates :D

Absolutely stunning structure. It will definitelty take Tianjin out of Beijing's shadow!

looks fab. so many 500m+ (megatalls) now underway arouind world

Yeah.. maybe we should have another sub forum just for "megatalls" (over 500m) :)

^^
I second that. :)

Any new pictures of the site? This building is absolutely amazing! Isn't this company building the East Tower the same height in Guangzhou?

Posted by popeye. The pics are supposed to show the plot, but I can't identify it, actually none of the buildings appear in the previous updates as far as I can notice.
http://pic.qnpic.com:83/r.jsp?fn=//fanjoin/share/2010/6/22/-5468-5927-798f-6ee8-6d77-4e2d-5fc3.jpg

http://pic.qnpic.com:83/r.jsp?fn=//fanjoin/share/2010/6/22/21277211363796.jpg

This is the site. Just from new angle. Compare horizontal line of workers hauses with old photos and you will see its the same.

by 万里台风, bohaibbs.org

http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/351/10080619132282a6c86991e.jpg

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/9272/1008061912a744f3fb1433e.jpg

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/716/1008061912bcf384889d06c.jpg

http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/948/1008061912c9b6dab3a8197.jpg

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/8981/1008061913bb7723b85c1a4.jpg

Who's Chow Tai Fook and what does he need all these centers for?

Where's all the activity gone? Weird!

Who's Chow Tai Fook and what does he need all these centers for?

Wiki:
Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd. is a diversified, Hong Kong-based company engaged in the property development, hotel, casino, transportation, jewelry, port and telecommunications businesses.

Chow Tai Fook is a private company owned by Dr. Cheng Yu-tung, who is its chairman, as well as the chairman of New World Development Co. Ltd.

Chow Tai Fook is the major shareholder of New World Development Co. Ltd. (HKSE: 0017).

Cool, sounds like they're involved in a lot of profitable business, makes me more confident that their 500+m towers will be built without money woes interfering. :)

October 3 by ziwang
http://pic.qnpic.com:83/r.jsp?fn=//fanjoin/share/2010/10/19/101014083027072d4086b07507.jpg

By 一块红布
http://pic.qnpic.com:83/r.jsp?fn=//fanjoin/share/2010/11/20/20101106305.jpg

December 22 by hdpilhb
http://pic.qnpic.com:83/r.jsp?fn=//fanjoin/share/2010/12/22/11293026756552.jpg

http://pic.qnpic.com:83/r.jsp?fn=//fanjoin/share/2010/12/22/3333333.jpg

Looks like we are going to have to wait awhile for this one. Seems they are building a subway next to it. Does anyone know how far away Goldin 117 from this project?

^^Goldin Finance 117.........................................53,86 Km (33,47 Miles)......................................Chow Tai Fook Binhai Center
http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/9103/distance.jpg

Goldin Finance 117 plot
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/7550/117uqd.jpg

Chow Tai Fook Binhai Center plot
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4131/chowe.jpg

Bye! :)

Looks like we are going to have to wait awhile for this one. Seems they are building a subway next to it. Does anyone know how far away Goldin 117 from this project?

They aren't building a subway next to it, that's just usual foundation works.

ty Cristobal_illo for the mapping info

Thank you so very much Christbal:) Wow 53 Kilometers!! That way farther than I thought...

53km... wow such a huge city. thats like the distance from me to cologne o_O but with goldin finace being build a bit outside the city and this monster on the very east. I wonder if its possible to see both buildings if you stand like in an open area in between haha

53km... wow such a huge city. thats like the distance from me to cologne o_O but with goldin finace being build a bit outside the city and this monster on the very east. I wonder if its possible to see both buildings if you stand like in an open area in between haha

no way, they're so far apart

no way, they're so far apart

Google maps don't lie.....

my eyes don't lie, they're like 2 completely separate cities really

it's been a month, long time nothing heard from this project.

3.4 bohaibbs.net

http://i.imgur.com/mJkuK.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ArPNl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/23haJ.jpg

Glad to say I've been to Tianjin, but looking at that map it seems I didn't see anything.

the second picture of the last ones looks like Guangzhou o_O and the chow tai fook center even stands at a similar position like in guangzhou, i got mindfucked

Glad to say I've been to Tianjin, but looking at that map it seems I didn't see anything.

don't worry, even I haven't visited many of these projects, the public transportation to some of them is a little lacking during the construction stage. Many of these new projects are whole new cities, Goldin Finance 117, Xiangluowan, Yujiapu, Chow Tai Fook, and Sino-Singapore Eco City are all basically newly-built cities by themselves!

Not liking this master plan :( need more skyscrapers near it and density.

Not liking this master plan :( need more skyscrapers near it and density.

:lol: are you kidding me! Probably just because the Chow Tai Fook center makes the rest of the buildings look tiny. i think a smaller twin would look nice.

Not liking this master plan :( need more skyscrapers near it and density.

it has a bit of the Taipei 101 feeling. I like it and well there are still enough plots around it i do not think it will stay the only 200m+ building for long

3.28 gaoloumi.com

http://i.imgur.com/IyEOJ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/NoynH.jpg

Thanks Barbaric! Looks like pre-prep to me.

no spire and only 96 floors at 530m?

By 月儿379
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg64/z0rgggg/others2/others3/1104230434fcfb5dd5fd3751d8.jpg

5.11 bohaibbs.net

http://i.imgur.com/SxXhL.jpg

cant wait to see the main tower rising

5.21 bohaibbs.net

http://i.imgur.com/UKp6C.jpg

Nice supertall

10.6 bohaibbs.net

http://i.imgur.com/Ib339.jpg

well at least they finished the street. Hopefully they will begin soon.