A United States-based architects organization has crowned the Shanghai World Financial Center the best skyscraper completed in 2008, praising its state-of-the-art design. The 492-meter tower - the world's second-tallest - opened in August in Pudong's Lujiazui area and immediately became a landmark feature of the Shanghai skyline.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a Chicago-based organization supported by architects and engineers, hosts the annual awards to honor the best skyscraper designs around the world as well as remarkable professionals.

The SWFC entered the final screening phase in August to compete for the international honor after winning as the top Asia/Australia building of 2008.

Other candidates for the top prize were the New York Times Building in New York, 51 Lime Street in London and the Bahrain World Trade Center in Manama.

The organization looks for tall buildings that possess seamless integration of architectural structure, building systems and sustainable designs. The buildings should be "models of innovation and creativity" and have environmentally responsible elements incorporated into their construction and maintenance.

The council said it favored the SWFC for its revolutionary design and "a clear and elegant form, dramatic at all scales."

"It speaks to where tall-building design is now ... the building's structure is nothing short of genius," said Tim Johnson, awards committee chairman.

Steel trusses gird against the forces of wind and earthquake and "made the building lighter, made it use less steel, and contributed to its sustainability," Johnson said.

The tower's tapered form creates the impression it is dissolving into the heavens, he added.

The SWFC contains 377,000 square meters of floor space, to be occupied by some 12,000 office workers on 70 floors, with retail space and a conference center below, a hotel above, and topped by the world's highest observation deck.

(Shanghai Daily November 24, 2008)