say what?

The Shanghai World Financial Center, the world’s second-tallest building that some say resembles an elegant bottle opener, was named on Thursday by architects as the best skyscraper completed this year.

"The simplicity of its form as well as its size dramatizes the idea of the skyscraper," said Carol Willis of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, an international group of architects and engineers.

The Shanghai tower was design by architectural firm Kohn Pederson Fox Associates, which was founded in New York and has offices worldwide.

Architect Tim Johnson, who led the council’s selection committee, cited the building’s innovative structural design. Steel trusses gird against the forces of wind and earthquake and "made the building lighter, made it use less steel, and contributed to its sustainability," he said in an interview.

The tower’s tapered form creates the impression it is dissolving into the heavens, he added.

The Council on Tall Buildings is the body that determines the world’s tallest building — a designation that seems to jump around the globe and will soon shift to Dubai.

Willis, who heads New York’s Skyscraper Museum, said there are periodic predictions that the skyscraper is dead but super-tall buildings are back in vogue — especially across Asia and the oil-rich Middle East and Russia.

Signature skyscrapers have become a tool for cities like Dubai, Moscow, and Shanghai to showcase themselves as global financial centers and provide a comfort zone for executives, Willis said. The towers in Dubai project an image of modernity for the desert capital.

The 2001 terror attacks that brought down the World Trade Center towers conjured fears for many about living and working in landmark buildings, but those concerns seem to have largely subsided, the experts said.

Hurdles

Twenty-four buildings of at least 800 feet tall were completed this year, compared to just eight in 2005, according to Emporis, a company that compiles building data. Next year, 47 towers of that height or taller are scheduled to be completed, though the economic downturn could halt construction on a few, the firm’s Daniel Kieckhefer said.

A significant hurdle for the 101-story, 1,614-foot-tall Shanghai tower was a long construction hiatus from the mid-1990s to 2000. Construction resumed after China emerged from the Asian economic downturn. Another hurdle was a revision in the plans for a taller tower with a trapezoidal hole at the top in answer to complaints that a round hole in the original design evoked Japan’s rising sun symbol.

The Shanghai tower was chosen by the group over three newly completed buildings in other regions that received praise: the New York Times Building in New York, 51 Lime Street in London, and the Bahrain World Trade Center in Manama.

The Shanghai tower contains 4 million square feet of floor space (377,000 sq m) to be occupied by some 12,000 office workers on 70 floors, with retail space and a conference center below, a hotel above, and topped by an observation deck.

The tower stands second in height to the 1,667-foot-tall Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan, but both will soon be eclipsed by the Burj Dubai under construction in Dubai. Once its spire is finished, the mostly residential Burj Dubai is expected to soar 2,625 feet into the sky though its ultimate height has been kept a secret.

Developers of another planned residential tower in Dubai say that it will be 1 kilometer, or 3,280 feet, high.

 

credits: abscbnnews

comments: i think they deserve that recognition..

A delegation of elementary and high school students showed the world the Filipino students’ prowess in mathematics after they hauled 39 medals in the recently-concluded 2008 International Mathematics Competition (IMC) in Thailand.

In a statement from the Mathematics Trainers Guild-Philippines Friday, Dr. Simon Chua, MTG president and IMC Philippine delegation head, said Filipino students won two gold medals, 15 silvers and 22 bronze medals in the contest, held in the northern city of Chiang Mai from October 21 to 31.

The first gold was won by Ma. Czarina Angela Lao of St. Jude Catholic School. She was the lone gold medalist from the country in the individual competition in the elementary level. The other gold was won by Philippine Team A composed of Geraldine Baniqued of St. Paul College Pasig, Carmela Antoinette Lao of St. Jude Catholic School, Aileen Giselle Chua of Grace Christian High School and Jillian Kristel Sy of Chiang Kai Shek College.

Philippine Team A in the elementary level, composed of Austin Edrich Chua, Ma. Czarina Angela Lao, John Thomas Chuatak, all of St. Jude Catholic School and Aldrich Aldwin Mayoralgo of Xavier School, meanwhile, won a silver in the team competition. Philippine Teams E and A bagged bronzes in the group category.

The silver medalists from the Philippines in the elementary individual contest are Dielle Tio of St. Stephen’s High School, Hubert Yao of Iloilo Central Commercial High School, Sean Timothy Cheng of Grace Christian High School, and Aldrich Aldwin Mayoralgo of Xavier School.

In the secondary division, the individual silver medalists are Carlo Francisco Adajar of PAREF Southridge in Alabang, Vance Eldric Go of St. Jude Catholic School, Ricci Ryan Rojo of Zamboanga Chong Hua High School, Geraldine Baniqued of St. Paul College Pasig, John Russell Virata of Gideon Academy and Jillian Kristel Sy of Chiang Kai Shek College. 

The bronze medalists in the individual contest in the IMC are Philip Lizarda of San Beda College Alabang, Austin Edrich Chua of St. Jude Catholic School, Andrew Joelle Caguntas of Bangkal Elementary School, Jakov Ivan Dumbrique of St. Paul College of Ilocos Sur, Martin Lewis Koa of St. Jude Catholic School, Richard Milante of Legazpi Hope Christian School, Jason Allan Tan of Jubilee Christian Academy, Arnold Lindros Lau of Xavier School, Mary Kryslette Bunyi of San Beda College Alabang, Regina Paz Onglao of St. Paul College Pasig, Carmela Antoinette Lao of St. Jude Catholic School, Evan Niccolo Lao of Xavier School, Alvin Uy Lim of Quezon City Science High School, Ervin Fredrick Dy of Chiang Kai Shek College, Elvis Jeremy Ayroso of Philippine Science High School;

Arielle Elise Chua of St. Jude Catholic School, Aileen Giselle Chua of Grace Christian High School, Charles Rainier Belga of Taguig Science High School, Joel Edward Cardinal of Makati Science High School, Sterling Alvin Tiu of St. Stephen’s High School, John Thomas Chuatak of St. Stephen’s High School, Aileen Jennifer Cu of UNO High School, Joelle Sophia Pena of Saint Pedro Poveda College, and Sarah Jane Cua of Pangasinan Universal Institute, who is the youngest contestant in the Philippine Team in the high school division.

The Philippines placed fourth among 25 countries with math powerhouse China topping the contest with 51 medals followed by host Thailand with 49 and Indonesia, 41. Trailing the Philippines are Taiwan, 37; Bulgaria, 25; Hong Kong, 23; Singapore, 16; Malaysia, 10; and South Korea, 10.

“Our contestants rose above the challenge and proved that they can compete with other students from other countries. We at the Mathematics Trainers Guild Philippines are very happy with their outstanding performance,” Chua said.

Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and Education Minister Srimuang Charoensiri opened the math competition on October 26, underscoring the importance of the contest, which drew 25 countries including math powerhouse China.

Last year, the Philippines won 14 medals in the same contest held in Hong Kong.

Besides the Philippines, other countries that participated in the contest are Australia, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Thailand, Canada, Laos, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Germany, Iran, Rwanda, South Africa, and Cyprus.

The trainers and coaches of the students are Dr. Eduardo Dela Cruz, dean of the School of Education and Normal of Arellano University; Sid Aguilar, supervisor of DepEd Taguig City;  Priscilla De Sagun, assistant schools division superintendent of Makati; Levita Portugal of the Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology; Roberto Degolacion, Manuel Kotah, Emmanuel Pena, Jonathan Glorial, all team and deputy team leaders.

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