Wuhan is to become home to one of the world's tallest pair of towers.
The 1km-tall Phoenix Towers will dominate a newly developed 47ha site on an island in a lake in the centre of Wuhan, a city of 10 million on the Yangtze River, and is intended to function as a tourist attraction.
Chetwoods Architects were instructed to create a structure that would distinguish the metropolis from other major Chinese cities. One tower will house the world's tallest "living wall", a garden that grows vertically through its interior; the other will contain the world's tallest kaleidoscope. Housed in vast globes and linked by skywalks, suspended restaurants will hover between the two. Named Feng and Huang after two mythical Chinese birds, the towers will house a mixture of offices, hotels, residential units, shops and leisure facilities. The $2.3 billion development awaits final approval from Wuhan's mayor. Building is expected to begin next year, with the towers to be ready by 2018.
Saudi Arabia's planned Kingdom Tower in Jeddah will also be 1000m tall. The Burj Khalifa at 828m in Dubai is the world's tallest building.
