Asia Ascending: Age of the Sustainable Skyscraper City
Dates: 19 - 21 September 2012
Congress Venue: Grand Hyatt, Jin Mao Building, Shanghai
That the 21st Century will be the age of the Asian Skyscraper seems indisputable. Already, as much of the data in this brochure illustrates, the past two decades have witnessed a major shift in tall buildings from west to east. Many of the major advances in the tall typology are now taking place in Asia, often with a collaboration of eastern and western expertise. With global urbanization approaching 200,000 people every day, the need for a new or extended city of a million inhabitants every week is driving massive growth in hundreds of Asian cities simultaneously - from Mecca to Manila, Istanbul to Incheon, Karachi to Kunming.
At the same time, there is still intense global debate on whether the extrapolation of our cities vertically off ers the best chance to combat global climate change, or whether a more sustainable pattern of life can be better achieved through other means. Tall
buildings are not the only solution for achieving increased urban density, and the higher embodied energy of constructing and existing at greater heights may off set gains in land and infrastructure efficiency. The impact on inhabitants of future vertical cities must also be better understood. In all cities, infrastructure, long-term planning and joined-up thinking are essential. The major issues are no longer focused on just individual buildings, but how these buildings fi t into the larger urban whole.
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat brings its 9th World Congress to the dynamic skyscraper city of Shanghai to examine these poignant issues. Is the skyscraper a sustainable building type? Can tall buildings truly reduce and harvest enough energy to become carbon-neutral? What is the full impact on the city and the lives of its inhabitants by developing skyward? And what
support mechanisms and urban infrastructure are required for such growth?
The 2012 Congress will convene the world's leading tall building owners, developers, contractors, architects, engineers, planners, policy-makers, and others to ultimately answer the question: does the vertical city offer the best chance for human survival in our rapidly-populating, urbanizing, consuming, and resource-dwindling world?
Congress Themes
As well as the central Congress theme of “Asia Ascending: Age of the Sustainable Skyscraper City," there will be three themed tracks running
across the three-day event:
- Track 1: Planning & Infrastructure for Sustainable Skyscraper Cities
- Track 2: Best-Practice Urban and Building Case Studies: Asia
- Track 3: The Latest Design & Technical Advances in Tall Buildings
Each day of the Congress will begin with a common plenary session before proceeding into three simultaneous track sessions for the remainder of the day.
Several of China's leading developers, architects and engineers are speakers for the World Congress, the premier global event for professionals involved in the development of tall buildings.
Confirmed speakers from within China include:
- Jian Ping Gu, president of the Shanghai Tower Development Group
- Harace Lin, chief executive of Taipei Financial Center Corporation (Taipei 101)
- Zhang Junjie, chairman of the East China Architectural Design Institute (ECADI)
- Jiemin Ding, chief executive of Tongji Architectural Design Group (TJAD)
- Xue Yi Fu, chief engineer, China Construction Design International (CCDI)
In addition, representatives from the Greenland Group, the Shanghai Institute of Architectural Design & Research (SIADR), Shanghai Construction Group, Yuanda Aluminium, Tongji University and the China Academy of Building Research will be speaking.
Four important projects to be discussed at the Congress:
Shanghai Tower, Taipei 101, Wuhan Center, and Sinosteel International Tower (Tianjin). Picture: CTBUH
This roster of regional leaders will be complemented by some of the most significant experts in tall building design and construction internationally, including:
- Richard Tomasetti, founding principal of Thornton Tomasetti Structural Engineers
- Adrian Smith of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
- William Baker of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
- Chris Wilkinson of Wilkinson Eyre Architects
- John C. Portman III of Portman Holdings
- Ole Scheeren of Buro Ole Scheeren
- James Goettsch of Goettsch Partners
- and many more...
There will be 93 speakers overall, across three keynote sessions and four simultaneous tracks. Other international firms represented on the speaker rostrum include Arquitectonica, Arup, AECOM, ArcStudio, Buro Happold, Gensler, Kohn Pedersen Fox, KONE Elevators, Magnusson Klemencic Engineers, Meinhardt, Rolf Jensen Associates, Moshe Safdie Associates and Schindler Elevators.
"This will undoubtedly be the most significant conference we have held in recent history," said Timothy Johnson, chairman of the CTBUH. "Asia is at the forefront of all the questions facing tall building construction. How do you make skyscrapers a sustainable building type? What technologies are changing the industry? What is the full impact on a city of developing vertically? The congress will engage with all these topics."
Further Information:
www.ctbuh2012.com
