china completes the largest building in the world

‘new century global center’ chengdu, china
image courtesy loveever

it’s one of the superlatives destined for a record book: ‘what is the world’s largest building?’ a year ago the answer would have been dubai’s international airport terminal 3, but as of july 1st the new century global center in the fiercely-growing mega-city of chengdu undoubtedly takes the title.  with 1.2 million square feet spread out over 18 stories in a glass and steel structure, the program includes what one might expect for a building of this scale: a 14-screen imax theater, shops, restaurants, offices, hotels (yes, plural), the reconstruction of an entire mediterranean village, an artificial beach with realistic sunsets and sea breezes orchestrated by the help of an LED wall (in a contemporary ‘truman show’ fashion), and a 500,000 ft2 art center next door designed by none other than zaha hadid. to make some spatial comparisons, the building could comfortably house three pentagons or 20 sydney opera houses. it’s important to add as well that the entire structure was constructed in just a year, and stands as a testament to the will and ability of the chinese

image courtesy of telegraph

image courtesy of the roosevelts

interior lobby
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artificial beach
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hotel balconies
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workers on the large glass roof
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image courtesy loveever

aerial view
image courtesy loveever