Located at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers, one of the most densely populated areas in the bustling city of Chongqing, The Crystal is one of the most ambitious architectural projects ever undertaken, even by Chinese standards.
Horizontal skyscrapers or skybridges are nothing new. The iconic Marina Bay Sands is a symbol of Singapore, and Beijing’s Link Hybrid is one of the most impressive buildings in the Chinese capital, but The Crystal is in a league of its own! It is the highest horizontal skyscraper and the one that connects the most vertical towers simultaneously.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Junyi Lou
Developed by CapitaLand , one of Asia’s largest real estate companies, The Crystal had an estimated budget of $1.1 billion. The exterior cladding required approximately 3,000 glass panels and around 5,000 aluminum pieces, but putting them all together was the real challenge.
The 300-meter-long horizontal skyscraper consists of seven large segments, some of which were prefabricated at ground level before being lifted 250 meters into the air and assembled using high-precision hydraulics. The rest were mounted directly onto the towers supporting The Crystal.
Knowing that only the steel frame of the world’s highest horizontal skyscraper weighs 12,000 tons, a figure comparable to the weight of the Eiffel Tower, you can truly appreciate the ingenuity of the architects and engineers who made this project a reality.
Apart from acting as a connection between the four conventional skyscrapers supporting it, The Crystal also functions as a habitable and recreational space. One of its main attractions is the Exploration Deck, a 1,500-square-meter glass floor observation deck offering breathtaking views of Chongqing. The skybridge also features rooftop gardens, bars, restaurants, event spaces, and a private club, as well as two 50-meter-long infinity pools.
The Crystal has been praised as an architectural and engineering marvel that offers a novel solution for increasingly dense urban centers. It proves that skyscrapers can “grow” not only upwards, but also outwards.
