Jin Mao Tower, Shanghai, China, Perspective

The Jin Mao Tower is part of the first generation of supertall buildings in Asia, which often looked to traditional Chinese architecture and numerology for design inspiration. One of the most interesting features of the Jin Mao Tower is its incorporation of two different floor plans—a central elevator bank for the first 50 floors and a dramatic 30-story open atrium for the Shanghai Grand Hyatt in the upper floors, which provides a signature image for this building that draws on the hotel chain’s legacy of iconic atrium lobbies by John Portman. Adrian Smith has been responsible for designing many record-breaking tall buildings, including the current world’s tallest structure—the half-mile-high Burj Khalifa in Dubai, completed in 2010.