IAR 221: China's Modern Skyline

Shanghai

• Contains some of the tallest buildings in the world.
• The skyscrapers in Shanghai are very expensive to produce and build.
• The skyline in Shanghai has a lot of modern characteristics.

Skyline in Shanghai, China

China contains some of the most modern buildings in the world today. With its city being so big and filled with culture there's no wonder why there are such a variety of different skyscrapers.  I really appreciate the contrasting shapes within the buildings and all the buildings combined.they sort of have a unity that is brought together by their differences. In the Shanghai district the skyline seriously looks like something straight out of a fantasy movie. This skyline contains both modern and classical influences. There are some buildings that contain the classical Roman columns and some buildings with elegant draped fabric. I feel like the contrast and similarities between these types of buildings not only shows the advancement of China, but also the history of the world. 

The modern buildings in Shanghai evoke many different emotions. I would say that some of these buildings are unwelcoming. I say this not only because its hard to find the entrance on half these buildings, but because they look very machine like.

Skyline in Greensboro, NC

If I had to compare the Shanghai skyline to another placed based off of extreme differences, I would choose Greensboro. These are two very different looking skylines. Though there are some similarities, the differences definitely out weigh them. First Greensboro is built off land with no body of water near by unlike Shanghai. Secondly Shanghai has more of a color palette to their buildings instead of grays, blacks, and beiges. The reason I feel that the skyline in Shanghai is so colorful is because they want those buildings to be seen anyway. Not only does size matter in advertising these large skyscrapers, color also plays an important role. 

Skylines can be seen in a lot o f different cities. The most common factor that you will see in all of them is a sense of modernism and size.

Skyline in New York City, USA

I feel like most skylines in the USA have a sort of business conventional style instead of more fantasy modern like buildings. The buildings in the USA are modern, its just displayed in a different way.

Sources

en.wikipedia.org

rasktravel.com

visitingdc.com