China to Build World's Tallest Building -- in 90 days.

[imron]

A Chinese company has decided it is going to build the world's tallest building, and it's going to do it in 90 days at that.

You can see a video of them making a smaller skyscraper using a similar construction method that was completed in just 15 days.

It seems the speed comes not at the expense of safety, but rather from using mostly pre-frabricated materials built off-site that are mostly finished before construction actually starts, and the buildings are supposed to be safer and more earthquake resistant than traditional construction methods.

It's the kind of thing that will either be a complete disaster, or something that will totally revolutionise the construction industry.

[roddy]

the company now merely awaits approval from central government.

"Merely", indeed. Won't be surprised if we never hear of this again...

[Kenny同志]

but rather from using mostly pre-frabricated materials built off-site that are mostly finished before construction actually starts

This will be the trend in the construction sector.

[Kenny同志]

I have thought about building houses using pre-fabricated parts and find the idea fascinating. It has at least four advantages. First, buildings can be built in a much shorter period of time; second, houses built in such a way are more quake-resistant because the parts are better integrated than conventional building materials; third, it is environmentally friendly because the parts can be reused; and last, reconstruction is much much cheaper.

The method is especially good for the construction of smaller buildings.

[imron]

Won't be surprised if we never hear of this again...

Maybe not the project if it doesn't get approval, but definitely the company I think. To be honest I was really sceptical until watching their video. I'm still sceptical (are 90 days really enough to ensure the ground beneath the foundations isn't going to shift with the weight of almost 900 meters of building on top of it), but I'm slightly less sceptical after watching that video, and can definitely see its application for smaller sized buildings.

[roddy]

Having read a little more, I suspect this is more marketing than actual plan. I'm not sure what the world's current tallest prefab building is, but there's one under construction in the US which is touted to be it when it's done, at 32 stories.This is to be 220 stories. So it'd be seven times taller than the existing record-holder, which isn't even finished building yet. I'm not sure anyone would sign off on that even if they weren't going to try and build it in a mad rush.

[freshysauce]

Who will the occupants be? Would you want to live or work in such a building?

[imron]

They say it will house 70,000 - 120,000 people - that's more than many towns where I come from. The idea of having an entire town living in building constructed in 3 month boggles the mind.

Anyway, according to the proposed plan, you could live *and* work in the building. And shop, and exercise and more or less anything. All with air 20 times cleaner than outside. In fact, why would you ever want to leave?*

*yes, I am joking, and no, I wouldn't want to live there either.

[skylee]

^{I think I need some help to understand this.}

^{Building using pre-frabricated slabs is nothing new. It's been used for decades in HK (at least in building public housing). What I don't understand is that why it seems like no piling is needed for those tall buildings in China. I know very little about building but it seems to me that over here land formation (平整地盤/基）and piling (打樁) usually take a long time, at least much more time than 90 days. How can a multi-story building be built within weeks? How about the foundation?}

^{Plus China is not like HK. There is no shortage of land on the Mainland. What do they need these tall buildings for?}

[frankwall]

Well, its an incredible idea. I won't believe it until I see it though. I can't imagine a company constructing a building that holds 120,000 people in just 3 months. Look at how long it took to build the Burj and how long its taking to build the new World Trade Center Tower. It would be revolutionary if it worked though.

[xiaocai]

Apparently the time cited in the video does not include the time for laying the foundation, manufacturing the pre-fabricated building blocks and internal furnishing. I would suppose that by saying "build it in 90 days" they actually meant that the main structure of the above the ground part of the building will be completed in 90 days. I know it is kind of like cheating but over 800 m in 3 months is still quite efficient. I am a bit suspicious on those claims they put on their company website though but well, we shall see.

And I don't know the reason behind other tall buildings in China but this project is definitely not aiming to show people how precious land is in China. Just like the ski dome in Dubai is not to flaunt how much snow precipitation the Emirates receives.

[stoney]

It seems almost anything is possible in 3 months.

[SumChoi]

Are they trying to prove something by building this in 3 months?

[icebear]

Are they trying to prove something by building this in 3 months?

Proving the concept is feasible and safe would potentially net massive orders in both China and elsewhere. Whoever has contracted the building may have included a bonus for construction being completed earlier than some date (presumably the 3 months is within that). At the very least it provides a huge amount of PR for the firm.

[Scandinavian]

Skylee. Compared to HK of course the mainland has plenty of land. However, the mainland also has 1.3 billion people who needs food and China does not have too much farmland considering the number of people it needs to feed. A big percentage of China is not usable for food production. However. I do think the trend in highrises in China is more a "look what we can do" thing than anything that relates to the demographical situation.

Maybe it is the start of the downturn of the Chinese economic growth (http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/12/skyscraper-index-china-india-barclays/)

[HusbandOfWuhan]

If the government approves this, they will send in incorruptible inspectors to evaluate the whole project from inception to completion simply because they will not allow the of building the tallest building become the tallest embarrassment in the world.

[renzhe]

This is actually how most stadia and sport arenas are built nowadays.

But building a kilometre of it into the sky?

[Guest realmayo]

I'm more interested in the notion of "incorruptible inspectors"!

[crazy-meiguoren]

I think it's more of a marketing gimmick. Bragging rights if you please. It sounds like a showcase building for the builder, who can say, "Look at what we built. Just think what we can do for you!" Still, I don't have enough confidence in the building's quality to enter a building that big that was put together that fast.

Building the world's biggest or tallest building is just another play in a bigger game of one-upsmanship. Someone else will come up with a taller building before the blueprints on this one are complete.

[roddy]

Happened across this Wired interview with the man behind these cunning plans. It's from September and says of the 220-story building: "The foundation is scheduled to be laid in November at a site in Hunan; if everything goes well, the building will be complete in March 2013."

Anyone want to Google up photos of the construction site?