- Start
- Aug 28, 200890% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
China's $1BN Skyscraper Mistake
- The Shanghai World Financial Center in Pudong, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox for Mori Building Company, was declared complete on 17 July 2008 and opened on 28 August 2008; cost was RMB 8.17 billion (US$1.20 billion)[2][3]
- The original 46 m circular aperture was protested, including by Mayor Chen Liangyu, as resembling the Japanese flag, and on 18 October 2005 KPF submitted a trapezoidal aperture instead; the tower is nicknamed the bottle opener[3]
- Work halted after foundations in the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and Mori raised the design from 460 m to 492 m and 101 stories in 2003, resuming construction on 16 November 2003[3]
- It topped out on 14 September 2007 at 492 m, and a fire on 14 August 2007 caused slight damage with no injuries[3]
- With Leslie E. Robertson Associates the frame was replaced by a diagonal-braced frame with outrigger trusses, cutting weight by over 10%[2]
- The Park Hyatt Shanghai occupies floors 79-93; the observation deck at 474 m closed permanently in 2023[2][3]
References 385% CONFIDENCE
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]90%youtube.com/watch?v=8eKzeUbiy7Eyoutube.com· Posted Sep 14, 2026· Starts Aug 28, 2008 ✓· 50% of score
Happened as dated, per the source: "The building finished at long last in 2008."
- [2]80%Shanghai World Financial Center - KPFkpf.com· Added Sep 14, 2026· 50% of score
Kohn Pedersen Fox's own project page states the building has stood "since its completion in 2008," consistent with the pin's stored date though without the exact day.[1]
- [3]80%Shanghai World Financial Center - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org· Published Aug 28, 2008· 0% of score
Wikipedia confirms the Shanghai World Financial Center "officially opened on 28 August" 2008, matching the pin's stored date exactly, and details how the circular summit opening was redesigned into a trapezoid after Chinese officials objected it resembled the Japanese flag.
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