Canton Tower

           Canton Tower, formerly known as Guangzhou TV and Sightseeing Tower, is an observation tower near Chigang Pagoda, Haizhu,Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It was topped-out in 2009 and became operational on September 29, 2010 for the 2010 Asian Games. The tower briefly held the title of tallest completed tower in the world, replacing the CN Tower, which had previously held the title for 34 years, before being surpassed by Tokyo Sky Tree in 2011. It is still the tallest structure in China (followed by Shanghai World Financial Center), the Canton Tower is the seventh tallest structure and the third tallest freestanding structure in the world. It is named after "Canton", the traditional European name of the city.

          The tower is designed by the Dutch architects Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit of Information Based Architecture together with Arup, the international design, engineering and business consulting firm headquartered in London, UK. 2004, Information Based Architecture and Arup won the international competition, in which many internationally large architectural offices participated. The same year the IBA - Arup team in Amsterdam, developed the tower's concept design. In later stages, IBA cooperated mainly with the local Chinese office of Arup and a Local Design Institute. The tower, although not fully completed yet, is since 1 October 2010 open to the public.

           For a long time, the city-government of Guangzhou wavered to decide on the Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower's name. On 29 September 2010, it was officially announced that it was simply going to be called Canton Tower, after the city's traditional European name

The Canton Tower

General information
Type : Restaurant, observation, telecommunications
Location : Guangzhou, China
Coordinates :  23°06′23.3″N 113°19′28.5″ECoordinates: 23°06′23.3″N 113°19′28.5″E
Construction started :  November 2005
Topped-out : August 2009
Completed :  2010
Height
Antenna spire : 600 m (1,968.5 ft)[2]
Roof : 459.2 m (1,506.6 ft)
Technical details
Floor count : 108 (plus 2 below ground)
Floor area : 114,054 m2 (1,227,700 sq ft)
Elevator count :  6
Design and construction
Architect : Mark Hemel, Barbara Kuit; IBA
Structural engineer :  Arup