interestingengineering.com
World's Highest Horizontal Skyscraper at 250 Meters Opens in China
The Crystal 'horizontal skyscraper' observation deck, part of Raffles City Chongqing in China, opened its doors this weekend, selling out its daily number of tickets in a matter of minutes.
International
If you have a fear of heights, this might be a good time to look at away. China's impressive Raffles City Chongqing construction is still ongoing, however, the complex's "horizontal skyscraper", the Crystal, has opened to the public.
The striking sky bridge sits at 250 meters above ground, boasts a park, and an observation deck with a glass bottom.
The entire Raffles City Chongqing project is designed by Moshe Safdie and consists of eight skyscrapers. In a similar fashion to the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, four of its towers hold up the horizontal skyscraper structure 250 meters above ground (820 ft.), which is called the Crystal.
The Crystal measures 300 meters (984 ft.) and weighs a hefty 12,000 tons — hoisted up with the engineering help of Arup.
The journey to the Exploration Deck on the world's tallest horizontal skyscraper begins at ground level thanks to a National Geographic exhibition detailing the history and development of the city of Chongqing. Then visitors zoom up to the top in just 50 seconds, to then walk through another exciting exhibition, one that depicts what a futuristic life on Mars would look like.