On July 20, a groundbreaking ceremony was held in Changsha, China, for Sky City, an 838-meter-tall, 202-floor mixed-use tower that, if completed, would be the tallest building in the world. The $1.47-billion project is the brainchild of Changsha-based Broad Group, which plans to use its own modular fabrication and construction techniques to erect the supertall building in only seven months. The ambitious plan has drawn worldwide attention as well as the ire of Chinese government authorities, who say the Broad Group lacks the proper permits to begin construction.
Plans for Sky City are ambitious, even for a supertall building that aims to outdo the Burj Khalifa's height by 10 m. With 1.05 million sq m of build area, Broad Group hopes the tower will someday serve as a self-contained city: a home for more than 30,000 residents who will live and work entirely within the building.