| Canton Tower, formerly Guangzhou TV astronomical and Sightseeing Tower, is an observation tower in the Haizhu District of Guangzhou, historically known as Canton or Kwangchow, Guangdong, China. Topping out of the tower was in 2009 and it became operational on 29 September 2010 for the 2010 Asian Games. The tower briefly held the title of tallest completed tower in the world, replacing the CN Tower, before being surpassed by the Tokyo Sky Tree in 2011. It is the tallest structure in China, the seventh-tallest structure in the world, and the fourth-tallest freestanding structure in the world. It is named after "Canton", the traditional European name of the city. The tower was designed by Information Based Architecture and Arup. The Arup team led by structural engineer Prof. Dr. Joop Paul introduced near mass customisation to the joint design, in combination with parametric design methods, and applied a simple structural concept of three elements: columns, rings and braces, to this more complex geometry. The waist of the tower contains a 180 m (590 ft) open-air skywalk where visitors can physically climb the tower. There are outdoor gardens set within the structure, and at the top, just above 450 m (1480 ft), a large open-air observation deck. The interior of the tower is subdivided into programmatic zones with various functions, including TV and radio transmission facilities, observatory decks, revolving restaurants, computer gaming, restaurants, exhibition spaces ... |
