{Inter} Cultural Japan

In Europe you will not easily find any imposing skylines (but we have those cosy red-tiled roofs), while in Asia skyscrapers are shooting up one after another. Italian Luigi Diserio has made a list of his 15 favorite skylines and no wonder that 6 of the 10 best ones can be found in Asia.

No. 1 is Hong Kong with 43 buildings higher than 200 meters, of which 30 were built since 2000 (wasn’t there an Asia Crisis at the time?). Hong Kong possesses 15 of the world’s tallest buildings and the view of the city from Victoria Peak is of course nothing less than sublime. No. 2 is Chicago, where the first skyscraper ever was built in 1885. Shanghai scores third, not surprising for the fastest growing city in Asia; its top building now is the 486 meters tall Oriental Pearl TV Tower. No. 4 is New York, with 47 buildings higher than 200 meters still the skyscraper capital of the world.

[Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buildings by Tange Kenzo. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]

Tokyo comes next at fifth position and the author remarks:

Its skyline has a number of unique characteristics that set it apart from other big city skylines, among them 15 structures at over 200 metres tall (including the Tokyo Tower which changes colors every night). But because of the density and vast size of the city, every corner appears to have its own skyline. (…) Tokyo is filled with neon lighting and unique, contemporary architecture, and like New York City is also often portrayed in movies for its aesthetic and eye-catching cityscapes.

No. 6 is Singapore, 7 Toronto, 8 Kuala Lumpur (Petronas Towers), 9 Shenzhen (in 1970 still a sleepy fisher’s village!) and 10 is Seoul (and the list continues, read the article).

If you love skyscrapers, also have a look at Skyscraperpage.com, which boasts beautifully drawn diagrams. Here, too, 7 out of 10 buildings are Asian. And, finally, here is another website even putting Tokyo in third place, after Hong Kong and New York!

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