What is a tall building?

A tall building is a tall building. Traditionally, a building with elevators can be called a high-rise building with more than 9 floors. However, in modern society, due to the increasing number and height of high-rise buildings, a new definition of high-rise buildings has been added. Generally, the floor above 18 is called high-rise building, and the floor above 100 meter can be called super high-rise building or skyscraper. In Chinese mainland, the building code stipulates that the height above 100 meters belongs to super high-rise buildings; In Japan and France, it is a super high-rise building over 60 meters; In the United States, buildings over 500 feet (about 152 meters) are generally considered as skyscrapers. According to the new standards of the World Super Tall Building Association, super tall buildings exceed 300 meters.

First, the development history of high-rise buildings:

The construction of high-rise buildings began in the United States, but in the early days of the United States, the tallest building was a church with a spire. /kloc-in the middle of the 0/9th century, the number of buildings such as parliaments in various states began to increase, exceeding the height of churches. In 1990s, 19, high-rise buildings appeared constantly, but at that time, the height of 15 was extremely high.

Gradually, buildings with more than ten floors can no longer satisfy people's desires. With the continuous maturity of steel structure, glass, concrete, elevator and other technologies, buildings are constantly climbing. The steel structure replaces the reinforced stone wall, reducing the weight, and the concrete improves the reinforcement performance, making the tall building taller, lighter and stronger.

At the same time, the improvement of the elevator has also enhanced the safety, so that people no longer have acrophobia. Glass is widely used in high-rise buildings, making buildings lighter and lighting better. In the 20th century, the height of floors has been increasing. 19 13, the 57-story Woolworth building was built in new york, but by 1930, its height was surpassed, and high-rise buildings showed a trend of chasing after each other.

In terms of high-rise buildings, the United States has always maintained a leading position, and it was not until 1998 that it was surpassed by overseas high-rise buildings. However, the development of high-rise buildings is not limited to the United States. /kloc-at the end of 0/9 century, Britain also began to build high-rise buildings. In the 1960s, skyscrapers began to appear in Africa, Australia and the Middle East, and now they have spread all over the world.

In the process of urbanization all over the world, the world ranking of high-rise buildings has been constantly refreshed, and human yearning for the Tower of Babel seems to have never stopped. However, with the emergence of high-rise buildings, its function and construction significance have also been questioned.

In recent years, with the development of economy, many high-rise buildings have sprung up in China, and they are getting higher and higher. At first, the tallest building in China was Jinmao Tower. This skyscraper with a height of 420.5 meters was once the third in the world and the first in China, but this record was broken by the World Financial Center (492 meters high) in 2008. In addition to Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Nanjing and other big cities, high-rise buildings in some small and medium-sized cities are also emerging one after another. The highest in the province, the highest in the region and the highest in the country ... has evolved into a "high-rise competition" between cities.

Second, the significance of high-rise buildings:

1, landmark symbol

People think that high-rise buildings are the inevitable choice of modern cities. In cities with limited land resources, we can only seek upward development. However, the significance of some high-rise buildings is no longer limited to their use value, but has become a symbol of a city or region. The American Empire State Building, Taiwan Province Province 10 1 Building, Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers and other high-rise buildings are of great symbolic significance. The landscape of high-rise buildings is also one of the poetic urban themes. The poem "Bamboo shoots grow in high-rise cities, and fields bloom in the afternoon" ("At the top of Yangfu Mountain") vividly reflects the magnificent beauty of high-rise buildings in cities.

At the opening ceremony of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the former Malaysian President once said: Every country should have something to look up to, and short people must stand on the steps. The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur are the steps of Malaysia. This passage tells the reason why many countries and cities build tall buildings. To a certain extent, a tall building is a symbol of a city.

2. Economic symbols

This landmark building spread in many areas and gradually evolved into an economic symbol. Huaxi Village in China invested 2.5 billion yuan to build a 60-story skyscraper, which shows that Huaxi Village has a strong economic development and is in sharp contrast with the surrounding village buildings. However, the builder believes that this tall building will narrow the gap between urban and rural areas and will become a landmark building in Huaxi Village.

However, some high-rise buildings lack aesthetic feeling in design and even affect the overall architectural style of the city. Because urban buildings in a period were luxurious, man-made and lacked a sense of design, the New York City Government issued a policy that any buildings and works of art planned to be built on public land in new york must have enough "aesthetic feeling" to pass. Therefore, building a high-rise building in new york must be approved by the art jury first.

Third, the advantages and disadvantages of high-rise buildings:

1, disadvantages

This towering building looks great on the outside, but the internal environment is likely to be closed and extremely uncomfortable. An iconic and well-known building does not guarantee a good office space.

Opponents of high-rise buildings think skyscrapers are flashy buildings. Compared with ordinary buildings, they have no advantages in maintenance cost, comfort and fire safety, and they also face challenges such as lightning protection, earthquake prevention and collision avoidance.

In the first half of the 20th century, some European countries were worried about the development of high-rise buildings, and successively issued some laws to limit the height of buildings, which led to the slow development of high-rise buildings in Europe for a period of time, far behind the United States. Later, Chicago, the "leader" of high-rise buildings, also issued a decree stipulating that the height of buildings should not exceed 40 stories. After the September 1 1 incident, more people began to question the safety of tall buildings. In addition, high-rise buildings consume huge resources, which is not conducive to environmental protection. The Political Bureau of new york once restricted the energy consumption of some super high-rise buildings.

2. Advantages

In the process of questioning and restricting, some green high-rise buildings came into being, and the Cantor nast Building in new york Times Square is a model. This building is equipped with special glass, which can absorb natural light and reduce electricity consumption. At the same time, this kind of glass can keep warm and block ultraviolet rays. There is also a motion sensing device inside the building, which can automatically turn on and off the lights according to the flow of people and control the use of fans. The power consumption of this high-rise building is 35%-40% lower than that of traditional buildings.

In terms of architectural appearance, some high-rise buildings are becoming more and more practical. The Shanghai Tower (632 meters high), which is scheduled to be completed on 20 14, is more practical in design. In order to avoid crowding inside the building, the building is designed in the shape of a multi-layer cake, which is formed by overlapping nine cylinders. In addition, natural lighting is added to avoid excessive use of lighting equipment.