By J. T. Quigley | The Diplomat
Article made possible by Craig Coppola of Lee & Associated
In yet another testament to China’s rapid economic rise, the southwestern city of Chengdu has just become home to the world’s largest freestanding structure. The New Century Global Center, which opened on July 1, contains a staggering 1.76 million square meters of floor space. It is roughly 500 meters long, 400 meters wide, and 100 meters tall – large enough to contain 20 Sydney Opera Houses or three Pentagons. The New Century Global Center dwarfs the previous title-holder of world’s largest building, Dubai International Airport Terminal 3, by approximately 500,000 square feet.
Almost as impressive as the sheer size is the fact that the New Century Global Center took only three years to erect. The ambitious project contains typical high-end shopping centers, offices, and two five-star hotels. With all that space, the New Century Global Center has also managed to squeeze in a university complex, a 14-screen IMAX movie theater, a replica of a Mediterranean village, a professional ice-skating rink, and a massive water park called Paradise Island.
