Paul Clemence on How Skyscraper Crowns Become Landmarks of Shanghai

In a guest essay for designboom, photographer Paul Clemence reflects on how the distinctive crowns of Shanghai's skyscrapers serve as navigational landmarks in the city's vast urban fabric. Staying at the Park Hyatt Shanghai on the 81st floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center (2008, by Kohn Pedersen Fox), Clemence observed the skyline at all hours, noting the eclectic mix of crown designs that range from symbolic to technological. He highlights two projects by John Portman & Associates: Tomorrow Square (2003), whose pointed apex of four pyramid corners is clad in aluminum and hosts the world's highest library on its 60th floor, and the Bund Center (2002), inspired by the lotus flower, with a 58-meter-wide, 582-ton garland of lotus petals atop a cream terracotta and glass tower. Clemence also discusses the Jin Mao Tower (1999), designed by Adrian Smith's team at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which drew from traditional Chinese pagoda typology and the number 8, symbolizing prosperity. He contrasts this with the Shanghai World Financial Center's abstract crown, which references the 'moon gates' of Chinese gardens through an inverted trapezoid opening. Clemence argues that these crowns are landmarks in both senses: geographical markers and markers of their eras, reflecting Shanghai's cultural DNA and evolution. The essay is part of designboom's 'Modes of Habitation' chapter, exploring how spaces shape our lives.