News: Moscow skyscraper Mercury City topped out today and has overtaken Renzo Piano's The Shard as the tallest building in Europe.
According to buildings analyst Emporis, the tower surpassed the 310-metre-height of Piano's London tower in September and it now stands at 339 metres tall.
The tower is one of five Russian skyscrapers in the list of ten tallest buildings in Europe, while Moscow is also the city with the most high-rise buildings on the continent. As an expert in large-scale construction projects, Emporis reports that the property boom there can be credited to a number of factors. "Many Russian and foreign investors focus on prestigious building projects," said analyst Matthew Keutenius. "Furthermore, there are less building regulations in Moscow than in other European metropolises."
Featuring a shimmering facade of golden glass, Mercury City was designed by Russian architect Mikhail Posokhin and the late American architect Frank Williams, and is due to be inaugurated in early 2013.
However, its reign as tallest building will likely be short-lived, as under construction nearby is the planned 506-metre Federation Tower, which is set to complete next year.
Compared with skyscrapers globally, Europe's buildings are still relatively small. The tallest building in the world currently is the SOM-designed Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which at 828 metres is almost 500 metres higher than Mercury City. Construction has also started on the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, which will be over 1000 metres high once complete.
My god that’s ug-lee.
Beats The Shard in height, not in design.
Just a bit taller, but whole lot uglier.
Now seeing this I actually think the Shard is a very nice building.
Proof that height is no qualifier for design or beauty.
I think it’s quite a good materialisation of the sentiments of Russian politics and culture at this moment in history. It should also be given credit for being the first transformer that turns into a building.
I didn´t know Moscow was in Europe…
Europe does not end with European Union.
It looks surprisingly good on these photos. It's much uglier in real life.
The Shard is ugly as well.
Moscow is not Europe.
Kind of funny that a building by an architect associated so much with a city of capitalism, New York, ends up being the tallest building in Moscow.
LOL… what’s funny about that?
I see that Tron Legacy was a huge hit in Russia :P
Like a stretched-out version of The Mirage. Only needs an enormous fountain display and casino!
Is CCCP sky tower! Nothing has changed!
Pretty standard ugly skyscraper.
1985 called. They want their terrible architecture back.
Moscow is my hometown and it is just sad to see such ugly architecture going up.
SINCE WHEN DID RUSSIA BECOME PART OF EUROPE? Why stop there? China is right next to Russia, is China part of Europe too?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe a bit of free education for the doubters
I have no idea why so many negative people put their comments here, but I think it’s a quite lovely and successful modern design. I think it looks beautiful.
Since when is Moscow in Europe…?
Since very long ago.