Zifeng Tower, Nanjing

Nanjing’s tallest building at 450 m, with a gently twisting, tapering triangular plan clad in green-tinted glass.

The tower was designed by the American firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with architect Adrian Smith leading the team. Its floor plan is a triangle that tapers and twists gently as it climbs, and the walls are covered in green-tinted glass. The building has offices, shops and a hotel, and at the top there are restaurants and a public observatory. When it opened, it ranked among the twenty tallest buildings in the world.

How is it built?

The tower stands on a site of about 18,700 square metres. Inside, the tower is practical: offices, the hotel and shops occupy the lower and middle parts, while the restaurants and the viewing platform are placed high near the crown. The Nanjing Greenland InterContinental Hotel is part of the building, with hotel floors high up in the tower. From the public observatory near the top, visitors can look out over the whole city.

What else is it called?

Because it belongs to the Greenland Group, it has also been known as Greenland Center-Zifeng Tower, Greenland Square Zifeng Tower and, in its early days, Nanjing Greenland Financial Center. The word Zifeng means purple peak in Chinese. It shows how Chinese cities often name their landmarks after the company that built them or the places that surround them, so one tower can carry several names over the years.

On the globe

The model shows a tall tower with a twisting, tapering triangular shape in green-tinted glass. Look at how the three sides narrow toward the top.