The public can never get enough of death-defying diversions, from flagpole sitters in the 1920s to today’s ever-crazier rollers coasters. The last two “Mission Impossible” movies—which featured Tom Cruise actually scaling the outside of the Burj Khalifi and hanging onto the wing of a jet in flight—combined did nearly $1.4 billion in box office sales internationally. And one of the attractions of “extreme” sports and recreation is that the participants live to tell about it.
Thrill-seekers who happen to be in Shanghai can now literally live on the edge by dangling off of a safety rope from a 3.9-foot-wide skywalk with a see-through platform that wraps around the 88th floor of the Jin Mao Tower in Lujiazui, a peninsula locality in that metropolis.
The 60-meter (197-foot) skywalk is touted as the highest fenceless and all-transparent walkway in the world. At 1,115 feet above ground, the skywalk, which opened on July 29, provides breathtaking views of the city from a tower that is one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers.
For the equivalent of US$58, visitors can spend up to 60 minutes in the open air, taking in Shanghai's modern cityscape. Image: 163.com via Mashable
Up to 15 visitors at a time can be harnessed to an overhead rail, and hang 10 over the ledge of the Jin Mao walkway for up to an hour. (They must sign waivers as a prerequisite, of course.) The height of the skywalk and time allowed on it outdo Macao Tower Skywalk X, which lets visitors take a 15- to 20-minute open-air stroll around the outer rim of the Macao Tower, 233 meters above the ground, according to China.org.
Skywalkers pay 388 yuan (US$58) for the Jin Mao attraction, with a discounted rate (298 yuan) for students.
An aerial view of the 420.5-meter-tall Jin Mao Tower, one of the world's tallest skyscrapers. Image: BU BIAN/Imagine China/AP
The 402.5-meter-tall Jin Mao Tower, designed by architect Adrian Smith, was completed in 1999, according to the Wall Street Journal. It’s owned by Jinmao Hotel and Jinmao (China) Investments and Mana
Related Stories
| Nov 18, 2014
New tool helps developers, contractors identify geographic risk for construction
The new interactive tool from Aon Risk Solutions provides real-time updates pertaining to the risk climate of municipalities across the U.S.
| Nov 18, 2014
Fan of the High Line? Check out NYC's next public park plan (hint: it floats)
Backed by billionaire Barry Diller, the $170 million "floating park" is planned for the Hudson River, and will contain wooded areas and three performance venues.
| Nov 6, 2014
Studio Gang Architects will convert power plant into college recreation center
The century-old power plant will be converted into a recreation facility with a coffee shop, lounges, club rooms, a conference center, lecture hall, and theater, according to designboom.
Sponsored | | Nov 5, 2014
Welcome to sports central
The Fieldhouse Sportscenter in Springfield, Mo., serves as a community center for basketball and volleyball leagues and tournaments.
| Oct 30, 2014
New hotel to be developed at future Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters
The Omni property will be one of the only full-service upscale hotels in the area, and serve as a cornerstone of the mixed-use development, which will be anchored by the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters and Frisco’s Multi-Use Event Center.
| Oct 20, 2014
Singapore Sports Hub claims world's largest free-spanning dome
The retractable roof, which measures a whopping 1,017-feet across, is made from translucent ETFE plastic panels supported with metal rigging that arches over the main pitch.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
