O China, land of contradictions, Dragon of the East. Fastest trains in the world, but the streets of every city are clogged, cars, bicycles, mopeds, and most people aren’t getting very far very fast. A booming, economic superpower poised to take over the world, yet millions live in poverty, in crowded, crumbling buildings just outside of the gleaming skyscraper zones, and in remote villages without electricity or modern plumbing. Not to mention the sweat shops. The pollution is so bad in most cities lots of people wear surgical masks and in Beijing, they show sunsets on a big screen for the gathered crowds, because the real thing is totally obscured by smog,* but yet they can build something like this.
Prosposed Phoenix Towers in Wuhan – the big one is over a kilometer high
It is an extremely cool project, I’ll give it credit for that. The system of letting the water rise through a series of filters and then reused to create an urban green space, a garden tower, is downright poetic. It flows, it is cyclical, it is water, air, and a bit of earth and fire.
They say it will be totally self-sustaining, scrub pollution out of the air with it’s special coating, and provide energy to the surrounding community. If that’s even 2/3rds true, any two out the three thirds true, it will be a major step forward for urban design and the future of the human race.
I’m glad to see it built, but I suspect that China’s environmental concerns are secondary. If they wanted to do something good for the environment, there are a lot of smaller projects which they could have done for the same amount of money, which might have produced greater and more widespread results. But then, they wouldn’t be able to say they’ve got the tallest building in the world.
That’s what this is about and I must admit, despite being somewhat stunned at the pettiness of the mindset, I am impressed. I thought Burj Dubai would hold that title forever. But China said no.
What China is announcing by building this building is “anything anyone can do, anywhere in the world, we can do better, or, at least, bigger.
Game on.
* I read that somewhere.
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