Four years into the construction of Beijing's tallest skyscraper, its architects received an unexpected request from the city's authorities. Despite already being more than half built -- and despite the fact its shape was explicitly based on a "zun," a ceremonial wine vessel popular in the Shang dynasty -- the tower needed to be more "Chinese."
"Apparently, the client got a call from the vice mayor's (office) saying they were doing a review of all new construction in Beijing," recalled Robert Whitlock, design principal at Kohn Pederson Fox (KPF), the US-owned architecture practice behind the 1,731-foot skyscraper. "And (they) thought that the flat top of the building wasn't Chinese enough."
"Apparently, the client got a call from the vice mayor's (office) saying they were doing a review of all new construction in Beijing," recalled Robert Whitlock, design principal at Kohn Pederson Fox (KPF), the US-owned architecture practice behind the 1,731-foot skyscraper. "And (they) thought that the flat top of the building wasn't Chinese enough."
