Guangzhou TV Tower / Canton Tower / 广州塔 by Information Based Architecture

Canton Tower, formerly known as Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower, design by Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuitis, an observation tower near Chigang Pagoda, Haizhu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. The tower is the tallest tower in the world, replaced the CN Tower at 553 m in Canada, which previous held the title for 34 years.

Also the tallest structure in China (preceded by SWFC) and East Asia, the Canton Tower is the fifth tallest structure and the second freestanding structure in the world (after Burj Khalifa). Guangdong Province or Guangzhou City also spelled “Canton”, the source of tower’s name. Thanks by Francisco Peláez young architect, who now works with us and who previously has been collaborating with the study of Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit.

© Canton Tower / 广州塔. Information Based Architecture.

Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit and their practice Information Based Architecture from Amsterdam, designed the Canton Tower while competing in an international invited competition. The competition was held in 2004. It asked for the design of the tower, a 17.9ha park at its base and the master-plan for the surrounding 56.6ha which includes an elevated Plaza, pagoda-park, retail facilities, offices, television centre and hotel.

In the competition for the Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower we cooperated with Arup, initially their Amsterdam office, then later their offices in London, Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Most of the other offices participating in the competition were large commercial practices with lots of high-rise experience - Cannon Design, KPF, Richard Rogers and Coop Himmelb(l)au, among others.

CREDITS.-

Architects.- Information Based Architecture. Mark Hemel + Barbara Kuit.

Engineer.- Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd.

LDI.- Guanzhou Design Institute.

Client.- Guangzhou Construction Investment & Development Co, Ltd, Guangzhou TV station.

Height.-

Antenna or spire.- 600 m (1,968.5 ft).
Roof.- 454 m (1,489.5 ft).

Technical details.-

Floor count.- 108 (excl. 2 below ground).
Floor area.- 114,054 m² (1,227,700 sq ft).
Elevators.- 6.

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More information

Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit Information Based Architecture

Information Based Architecture is an architecture studio founded by Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit. Mark & Barbara are both dutch and have worked together for more than 15 years. They started their practise IBA in London, UK. But since 2003 they are now based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Their work ranges from the very small scale to the very large; so have they designed furniture, houses, a villa, hotels, student housing , but also the world's tallest TV tower; the 610 meter tall Guangzhou TV tower in China.

Barbara Kuit graduated from the Technical University Delft, The Netherlands. She worked as a local architect in cooperation with Philippe Starck in London on the Sanderson and St Martins Lane Hotels. Subsequently she worked at the office of Zaha Hadid in London, on the Mind zone in the Millennium Dome in London-Greenwich; on the Contemporary Arts Centre in Rome; the Wolfsburg Science Centre in Germany; and on many other competitions and projects. In 1998 she founded Information Based Architecture together with Mark.

Mark Hemel studied at the Technical University of Delft and Architectural Association in London. He received several scholarships for research in Africa and Asia from the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture.

From 1999 to 2008 he taught as Unit-master at the Architectural Association in London since 1999 and later in the post-graduate Environment and Energy program. In 2003 he received the RIBA Bronze Medal Tutor Award. In 1998 he and Barbara founded Information Based Architecture. Those first years IBA was based in London, but since 2003 they operate from Amsterdam, The Netherlands.