Tencent spiele: Every game company that Tencent has invested in — Mitspielen — Vampire Live in München

Every game company that Tencent has invested in

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(Image credit: Riot Games)

Tencent is the world’s largest games publisher. It’s both an internet and entertainment giant in China—the equivalent of Facebook or Google—but gamers worldwide are probably more familiar with Tencent’s investments into a growing number of game developers and publishers.

But with over 300 investments in its portfolio, staying on top of every company that Tencent has a stake in can be a little daunting.

That’s why I’ve created this reference listing each of Tencent’s public investments in foreign gaming companies (basically, companies outside of China), including, where possible, how much of that company Tencent owns. As part of our ongoing coverage of PC gaming in China, it’s also important to understand the growing influence Chinese gaming companies like Tencent have on the global market. US President Trump recently issued an executive order banning transactions with Tencent’s WeChat app, but has since clarified that this won’t affect the company’s gaming offers.

In 2011, Tencent went from being Riot Games’ publishing partner in China to its majority stakeholder after paying $400 million for a 93 percent stake in the League of Legends developer. Four years later, Tencent scooped up the remaining 7 percent equity for an undisclosed amount, taking full control over Riot Games just as League of Legends was exploding as an esport around the world.

Tencent’s purchase of Riot was nothing short of prescient—League of Legends is the most popular PC game in the world, pulling in an estimated $1.4 billion in revenue last year. Riot Games remains largely free to steer the game how it pleases, but that relationship has some ugly downsides. Wanting to cash in on the mobile gaming boom, Tencent tried to get Riot to make a mobile version of LoL. When the developer refused, Tencent went ahead and made their own mobile clone of LoL called Arena of Valor that became one of the most profitable mobile games in Asia—and Riot wasn’t very happy about it. That is now mostly water under the bridge now that Tencent has abandoned Arena of Valor in the West and Riot is now making a mobile version of LoL. Squabbles aside, Tencent’s purchase of Riot has cemented it as the king of esports.

Epic Games — 40 percent

Tencent’s $330 million investment in Epic Games back in June 2012 triggered one of the most dramatic shifts in PC gaming of the last decade, ushering in a new era of free-to-play games as a service. Seeing that «the old model» of selling games wasn’t working, Epic founder Tim Sweeney decided to join forces with Tencent to better learn about operating live-service games. It paid off.

With Tencent’s investment, Epic scrapped Unreal Engine 4’s monthly subscription in favor of a free version where Epic earned royalties on sales. Though developers might pay more for a successful game in the long run, it opened Unreal Engine up to an enormous community of indie developers and helped fuel intense competition between rival engine, Unity, which up until then was considered to be the best technology for small developers. At the same time, Epic began experimenting with live-service games like the Paragon and Fortnite: Save the World. While both games were failures, Save the World put Epic in the perfect spot to jump on the battle royale bandwagon and—almost by accident—create the biggest gaming pop culture phenomenon since Minecraft and Pokémon. Last year, Fortnite made $2.4 billion, making it the most profitable game that year.

(Image credit: PUBG Corp)

Bluehole (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) — 11.5 percent

Yes, Tencent a piece of both Fortnite and PUBG, the two dominant battle royales. What’s even more amusing is that Tencent also has rights to publish both games in China, meaning it’s actually in competition with itself—not a bad place to be in. Tencent’s investment into Bluehole first began in 2017 with Tencent first acquiring 1.5 percent of Bluehole before increasing that investment to an undisclosed amount rumored to be around 10 percent. That’s probably just the beginning, though, as Tencent is rumored to be seeking a complete acquisition of Bluehole.

Ubisoft — 5 percent

Tencent was one of several investors that helped Ubisoft survive a hostile takeover last year from Vivendi, who at the time was Ubisoft’s largest stakeholder. For years, Vivendi had been steadily acquiring more stake in Ubisoft in hopes of ousting founder Yves Guillemot and seizing control for itself—putting thousands of jobs in jeopardy in the process. The situation looked grim until Ubisoft struck a deal with Vivendi that saw the French conglomerate divest its stake to a variety of investors that included Tencent.

As part of the agreement, though, Tencent is just a silent partner who cannot increase voting rights or ownership stake in Ubisoft—making a hostile takeover by Tencent impossible. The acquisition of Ubisoft shares also heralded in a strategic partnership where Tencent would publish Ubisoft games in China, which caused its own flurry of backlash over censorship.

(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

Activision Blizzard — 5 percent

Years before Ubisoft, Tencent helped another company escape Vivendi: Activision Blizzard. Activision fell under Vivendi’s control way back in 2007 when it merged with subsidiary Vivendi Games in order to join forces with Blizzard and benefit from the enormous success of World of Warcraft. Five years later, the merged companies of Activision Blizzard announced a deal to buy back Vivendi’s stake in the company and become independent, and Tencent jumped at the opportunity to buy 5 percent of the company for an undisclosed amount.

Grinding Gear Games (Path of Exile) — 80 percent

In 2018 Tencent snatched up a majority stake in the New Zealand developer of Path of Exile, Grinding Gear Games. The purchase alarmed Path of Exile players who feared the Chinese publisher would start implementing more aggressive microtransactions or changes to Path of Exile’s delicate in-game economy. But, like many of Tencent’s acquisitions, Grinding Gear Games has supposedly kept its independence over Path of Exile’s operation. In the year since, little has changed about Path of Exile’s economy or microtransactions despite the game’s continued growth.

(Image credit: Grinding Gear Games)

Other investments worth noting

Supercell — 84.3 percent: Tencent’s $8.6 billion dollar investment in this Finnish mobile developer is one of the biggest purchases in videogame history. But considering 60 percent of Tencent’s $19.13 billion in gaming revenue last year came from mobile games, and Supercell’s enduring hits like Clash of Clans, the acquisition makes a lot of sense. Like Riot Games, Supercell reportedly retains most of its independence and is still located in Finland.

Platinum Games — Undisclosed investment: At the beginning of 2020, Tencent invested an undisclosed amount into Platinum Games, but the terms of the deal aren’t specified. Kenichi Sato, Platinum’s president and CEO, said Tencent «has no effect on the independence of our company, and we will continue operations under our current corporate structure.»

Yager — Undisclosed investment: In February of 2020, Tencent also invested an undisclosed amount into Yager, the developer of Spec Ops: The Line among some more recent but less notable free-to-play games. Similar to Platinum Games, Yager’s infusion of cash allows the company to keep its independence while upscaling its operations.

Frontier Developments — 9 percent: Tencent invested £17.7 million into the developer of Elite Dangerous and Planet Zoo in 2017 as part of a strategic partnership to capitalize on increased interest in space and «themepark» games in China.

Kakao — 13.5 percent: Kakao is a South Korean internet and entertainment company whose games subsidiary is responsible for the mega-hit Black Desert Online, which surpassed $1 billion in gross sales last year, and also publishes PUBG in South Korea.

Paradox Interactive — 5 percent: When Swedish grand strategy publisher Paradox first went public in 2016, Tencent swooped in to buy 5 percent for $21 million. Part of the sale was motivated because Steven Ma, the head of publishing at Tencent Games, is a big fan of Hearts of Iron 2.

Fatshark — 36 percent: Warhammer: Vermintide 2’s success led Tencent to acquire a large minority stake in Swedish developer Fatshark in early 2019 for an estimated $56 million.

Funcom — 29 percent: Tencent’s most recent purchase was 29 percent of Funcom, the makers of Conan Exiles and The Secret World. More recently, Tencent has announced plans to acquire Funcom entirely.

Sharkmob — 100 percent: This new studio comprised of ex The Division and Hitman devs was fully bought by Tencent in early 2019, though it hasn’t announced its first game yet.

Discord: Discord has received $158 million in funding last year, including an undisclosed amount from Tencent (among many other investors).

That covers most of the companies that PC gamers will care about. It also owns around 20 percent stake in Sea, a South-East Asia esports and publishing company, an undisclosed majority stake in web game publisher Miniclip, and about a half a dozen minority stakes in a variety of mobile game companies to boot.

Update, 10/9/2019: This article originally claimed that Tencent had a 48.4 percent stake in Epic Games, but that was slightly misleading. Tencent purchased 48.4 percent of the remaining shares in Epic at the time, which equates to an overall total of a 40 percent stake in Epic Games. We’ve updated the article to reflect that.

Update, 10/7/2019: Originally this article stated Tencent owned a 39.7 percent stake in Sea but that number was outdated. We’ve updated the article to reflect that.

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With over 7 years of experience with in-depth feature reporting, Steven’s mission is to chronicle the fascinating ways that games intersect our lives. Whether it’s colossal in-game wars in an MMO, or long-haul truckers who turn to games to protect them from the loneliness of the open road, Steven tries to unearth PC gaming’s greatest untold stories. His love of PC gaming started extremely early. Without money to spend, he spent an entire day watching the progress bar on a 25mb download of the Heroes of Might and Magic 2 demo that he then played for at least a hundred hours. It was a good demo.

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Tencent 2021: Alle Gaming-Investitionen des chinesischen Riesen auf einen Blick

Viele Wege führen zu Tencent. In der Welt der Nicht-Gamer ist der chinesische Internet-Gigant vor allem für seine Sofortnachrichtendienste, Sozialen Netzwerke, Webportale, Online-Handel und Werbung bekannt. Für uns ist Tencent der mächtige Strippenzieher hinter vielen bekannten Spielen und Entwicklern. Laut Statista war das Unternehmen mit seinem weltweiten Umsatz von 5,65 Milliarden Euro allein im 4. Quartal des vergangenen Jahr und einer Marktkapitalisierung von rund 460 Milliarden Euro Branchenführer im Bereich Videospiele — auch wenn die Aktie kürzlich aufgrund von starker Kritik aus den staatlichen Meiden kurzzeitig am Sinken war. Das hat Tencent vorrangig durch seine Akquisitionen und Investitionen in viele unterschiedliche Entwickler und Publisher geschafft. Durch diese Beteiligungen ist Tencents Portfolio inzwischen so groß geworden, dass es schwer wird einen Überblick zu behalten. Aber dafür habt ihr ja uns.

Wir listen für euch alle bekannten Investitionen des Markt-Giganten auf und zeigen euch wie hoch die Anteile von Tencent am jeweiligen Entwickler oder Publisher sind und wiegen diesen Prozentsatz — sofern möglich — mit dessen Marktwert auf. So kommen wir am Ende (hoffentlich) in die grobe Nähe der Summe, die Tencent aktuell in der Videospielbranche besitzt. Die marktwirtschaftlichen Zahlen stammen, wenn nicht anders angegeben von Google Finanzen, Stand: 3. August 2021. Dabei beginnen wir mit den Unternehmen, die Tencent vollständig besitzt oder zumindest den größten Anteil der Aktien hält. Danach kommen wir zu den Minderheitsbeteiligungen. Zum Schluss schauen wir uns noch die Unbekannten in der Gleichung an. Wir haben also einiges vor uns.

Besitzt über 50 Prozent

Riot Games (100%): League of Legends, Valorant und Co. stammen aus dem Hause Riot. Nachdem Tencent erst als Publishing-Partner an Riots Seite stand, kaufte sich das chinesische Unternehmen 2011 mit 93 Prozent die Mehrheit des amerikanischen Entwicklers. Den Rest holte sich Tencent vier Jahre später hinzu. Nun besitzt der Tech-Riese die gesamten 100 Prozent, was laut Schätzungen etwa 21,2 Milliarden Euro entspricht.

Sivir aus League of Legends ist auch ganz wild auf das große Geld.

Funcom (100%): Erst letztes Jahr sicherte sich Tencent mit einer Zahlung von 125 Millionen Euro alle Anteile am norwegischen Entwickler Funcom. Wie der sagt euch nichts? Dieser Entwickler ist für Spiele wie Anarchy Online, The Longest Journey und Dreamfall bekannt. Auf dem Markt ist das Studio 126 Millionen Euro Wert — die ja nun im Besitz von Tencent sind.

Leyou Technologies (100%): Dieses chinesische Unternehmen entwickelt keine Spiele, sondern hält Kapitalbeteiligungen an Firmen aus der Videospielbranche. Seit dem Jahr 2013 investiert die Holding-Firma in Studios und besitzt Anteile an mehreren Studios. Einen Marktwert für Leyou konnten wir leider nicht ermitteln.

Sumo Group (100%): Tencent hält alle Anteile einer britischen Holding-Gesellschaft für Videospiele. Zu seinen Studios zählt auch Sumo Digital, das hinter Sackboy steht. 998,81 Millionen ist die Firma auf dem Markt wert — Tencent hat das Unternehmen dieses Jahr für 1,07 Milliarden Euro gekauft.

Supercell (84%): Im Jahr 2016 sicherte sich Tencent eine Mehrheitsbeteiligung an Supercell für 7,3 Milliarden Euro. Damit hat Tencent auch das finnische Studio hinter Clash of Clans, Clash Royale und Brawl Stars in der Hand. Die Marktkapitalisierung von Supercell beträgt 9 Milliarden Euro. Somit besitzt Tencent hier einen Wert von 7,56 Milliarden Euro.

Grinding Gear Games (80%): Seit 2018 gehört auch der Entwickler von Path of Exile zum Portfolio von Tencent — kein Wunder, immerhin war das Unternehmen auch schon vor der Übernahme der chinesische Publisher von PoE. Die Mehrheitsbeteiligung erwarb Tencent für etwa 60 Millionen Euro. Auch bei diesem neuseeländischen Studio war es uns nicht möglich einen Marktwert herauszufinden.

Besitzt unter 50 Prozent

Epic Games (40%): Der Steam-Konkurrent ist ganz knapp an einer Mehrheitsbeteiligung vorbeigerasselt. Der Macher der Unreal Engine, Betreiber des Epic Games Stores und Entwickler hinter Fortnite steht seit 2012 auf der Liste von Tencents Investitionen. Da der Wert des Entwicklers auf etwa 24,59 Milliarden Euro geschätzt wird, besitzt Tencent mit hier 40 Prozent 9,8 weitere Milliarden in der Videospielbranche.

Fortnite bringt Epic Games vieeeel Knete ein.

Pocket Gems (38%): Für etwa 75 Millionen Euro hält der chinesische Games-Gigant ordentlich Anteile an Pocket Gems, dem Entwickler hinter dem Mobile-Strategiespiel War Dragons. Mit einem Marktwert von 508,82 Millionen Euro besitzt Tencent hier einen Anteil von 193,4 Millionen.

Fatshark (36%): Auch bei Warhammer: Vermitide hat Tencent seine Finger im Spiel. Auf dem Papier ist der Entwickler 67,47 Millionen Euro wert — was Tencent einen anteiligen Wert von 24,3 Millionen verschafft.

Sea Limited — Garena (25,6%): Die Sea Group ist eine Aktiengesellschaft aus Singapur, die zusätzlich den Publisher Garena betreibt. Ihre Marktkapitalisierung beträgt zurzeit 125,98 Milliarden Euro, was Tencent mit ihren Anteilen etwa 32,25 Milliarden reicher macht.

Dontod Entertainment (22,63%): Das französische Studio hinter Life is Strange, Vampyr und Remember Me steht ebenfalls auf Tencents Liste von Minderheitsbeteiligungen. Bei einem Wert auf dem Markt von 128,53 Millionen Euro macht das für Tencent einen Besitzt von etwa 29 Millionen Euro.

Marvelous (20%): Dieser japanische Entwickler steht hinter Games wie Doraemon Story of Seasons und God Eater 3 sowie den bekannten Anime Tokyo Ghoul und Seven Deadly Sins. Immerhin 360 Millionen Euro ist das Studio auf dem Markt wert. Tencent freut sich über weitere 72 Millionen Eurönchen.

Wangyuan Shengtang (20%): Das chinesische Studio ist für das Rollenspiel-Franchise GuJian bekannt. Leider lässt sich hier der Marktwert nicht ermitteln.

iDreamSky (18,6%): Dieser Entwickler und Publisher aus China ist auf Mobile-Games spezialisiert und bringt immerhin 680 Millionen Euro auf die Waage, von denen Tencent 126,5 Millionen in der Tasche hat.

Netmarble (17,66%): Südkoreas größter Mobile-Game-Entwickler, der den Handyspielen zu Blade&Soul, BTS und Seven Deadly Sins steht, ist auf dem Markt ganze 9,64 Milliarden Euro wert. Für Tencent bedeutet das einen Anteil von 1,7 Milliarden.

Kakao (13,54%): Tencent ist auch Investor des koreanischen Spielentwicklers Kakao Games, einer Tochtergesellschaft der Kakao Corp. Das wohl bekannteste Spiel des Studios ist das MMORPG Black Desert Online. Bei einem Marktwert von 47 Millionen Euro besitzt Tencent etwa 6,4 Millionen davon.

Sex Sells, huh?

Bluehole (11,5%): Der Krafton-Gründer ist auf dem Markt 6 Milliarden Euro wert. Davon schneidet sich Tencent mit ihren Anteilen ein 690-Millionen-großes Stück ab. Nom, nom.

Krafton (10%): Schätzungen zufolge ist die südkoreanische Holdinggesellschaft hinter den PUBG Studios 14,89 Milliarden Euro wert. Damit sichert sich der chinesische Videospiel-Gigant weitere 1,49 Milliarden auf dem Gaming-Markt.

Frontier Developements (9%): Planet Zoo und Jurassic World Evolution wurden von diesem feinen britischen Studio entwickelt. Tencent besitzt bei einem Marktwert von knapp 1,5 Milliarden Euro mit seinen 9 Prozent einen Anteil von etwa 103 Millionen.

Activision Blizzard (5%): Call of Duty und World of WarCraft sind auch einfach zu saftige Argumente, um nicht zumindest ein paar Anteile zu besitzen. Von Activision Blizzards 59,85 Milliarden Euro Marktwert mischt Tencent immerhin mit knappen 3 Milliarden mit.

Paradox Interactive (5%): Der Entwickler und Publisher hinter Stellaris und Mount & Blade ist ebenfalls Teil von Tencents kleinen Einkäufen und profitiert von dessen Investitionen. Da Paradox auf dem Markt 1,87 Milliarden Euro wert ist, besitzt Tencent hier einen Anteil von 93,5 Millionen Euro.

Ubisoft (5%): Ubisoft profitiert ebenfalls von Tencents Gunst, ohne zu viel von seinen Anteilen aufgegeben zu haben. Wir kennen das französische Unternehmen von Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed, dem Tom-Clancy-Versum und vielen weiteren bekannten Franchises. 7,03 Milliarden ist Ubisoft aktuell wert, das macht dann 352 Millionen Euro für Tencent.

Assassin’s Greed.

Century Huatong (5%): Auch hier hat Tencent in ein Unternehmen aus dem eigenen Land investiert. Century Huantong betreibt die von Funplus entwickelten Spiele. Funplus ist für King of Avalon, Guns of Glory und seine E-Sport-Teams bekannt. Die Marktkapitalisierung liegt bei 5,02 Milliarden Euro, was Tencent 251 Millionen weitere Euro auf Konto spielt.

Game Science (5%): Dieser chinesische Entwickler könnte euch durch die Arbeit an Black Myth: Wukong bekannt vorkommen. Leider ist es uns auch hier nicht möglich euch den Marktwert des Studios zu nennen.

Remedy Entertainment (3,8%): Mit Control, Alan Wake und Max Payne hat sich Remedy einen Namen gemacht. Dieser wird mit einem Marktwert von 561,451 Millionen Euro belohnt. Tencents Anteil davon beträgt 21,3 Millionen Euro.

Unbekannte Beteiligungen

Natürlich gibt es auch einige Unbekannte Beteiligungen in der Gleichung. Diese haben wir euch ebenfalls aufgelistet — auch wenn wir hier nicht bestimmen können, wie hoch Tencents Anteile an diesen Entwicklern sind.

Yager Development: Deutscher Entwickler von The Cycle. Unbekannte Mehrheitsbeteiligung.
Stunlock Studios: Schwedischer Entwickler von kompetitiven Online-Spielen wie Battlerite. Unbekannte Mehrheitsbeteiligung.
Klei Entertainment: Kanadisches Studio, das hinter Don’t Starve steht. Unbekannte Mehrheitsbeteiligung.
10 Chambers Collective: Schwedischer Spieleentwickler, arbeitet an GTFO. Unbekannte Mehrheitsbeteiligung.
Miniclip: Betreibt eine Website, die Online-Spiele hostet. Unbekannte Mehrheitsbeteiligung.
Bohemia Interactive: Tschechisches Studio hinter Arma und DayZ. Unbekannte Minderheitsbeteiligung.
Voodo: Entwickler aus Frankreich, bekannt für Mobile-Games wie Helix Jump. Unbekannte Minderheitsbeteiligung.
Playload Studios: Britischer Entwickler von Terra Tech. Unbekannte Minderheitsbeteiligung.
Discord: Sprachchat, der ursprünglich für den Gaming-Bereich entwickelt wurde. Unbekannte Beteiligung.
Roblox Corporation: Amerikanisches Softwareunternehmen hinter der Spieleplattform Roblox. Unbekannte Beteiligung.
Lockwood Publishing: Britisches Studio hinter Avakin Life. Unbekannte Beteiligung.
Platinum Games: Japanischer Entwickler von Bayonetta und Nier: Automata. Unbekannte Beteiligung.
Aiming: Japanisches Studio von World of Demons und Caravan Stories. Unbekannte Beteiligung.

Zusätzlich plant Tencent den Kauf von King’s-Bounty-Entwickler 1C Entertainment.

Dann wollen wir doch mal sehen, wie viele Euros sich da auf Tencents Stapel angesammelt haben. Rechnen wir alle uns bekannten Anteile zusammen rund 80,2 Milliarden Euro. Einige Millionen und vielleicht die ein oder andere Milliarde kommen sicher noch durch die vielen unbekannten Beteiligungen hinzu. Mit diesem angesammelten Wert in der Videospielbranche steckt Tencent Unternehmen wie Activision Blizzard, Nintendo oder EA locker in die Tasche.

Skyscrapers: Building History • Interior+Design

Ole Scheeren designed two skyscrapers with concave surfaces and honeycomb patterns on the facades in Singapore. The project was designed to «symbolize the close relationship between Malaysia and Singapore».

Morpheus Hotel, Zaha Hadid Architects, Macau, 2018. The hotel, located in the City of Dreams complex, has large, fluid openings, and an exoskeleton outer mesh wrapping around a reinforced concrete core provides lateral stability to the entire structure.

NBBJ architects designed the headquarters of Tencent International Corporation in Shenzhen. The skyscrapers are designed to accommodate 10,000 office workers.

Two towers in Kuwait City (Kuwait City) by the architectural firm Gensler. One of the skyscrapers is an office building, the second is a hotel with interiors designed by Yabu Pushelberg designers.

The XI, architecture firm BIG, New York.

The skyscrapers represent one of the most fatal utopias of the twentieth century. For some, even today they remain monuments of human ambitions. For some, they have become symbols of progress. And some find the idea of the Tower of Babel still attractive and even sexy.

Skyscrapers embodied the desire of man to reach heaven. From time immemorial, this desire was symbolized by the Tower of Babel. High-rise buildings testify to the overcrowding of the world, when many people are concentrated on a small plot of land. They symbolize the city as such, the metropolis, that is, again, Babylon.

The tallest building in western Canada is a 56-story glass skyscraper with rounded corners designed by Arney Fender Katsalidis.

Skyscrapers, monuments of human ambition, have always been more symbolic structures than practical ones. For many companies, it is a matter of prestige to scratch the sky with their office.

Tallest building in Europe. Lakhta Center was created to accommodate the headquarters of Gazprom and open public spaces. Built on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. The total area of the facility is 400 thousand square meters. meters.

Skyscrapers appeared in the second half of the 19th century in Chicago. A large number of employees in large companies required office space. The fire of 1871 freed the area in the city, and then the technology arrived in time. Steel frame structures made it possible to build buildings of greater height than traditional ones. One of the pioneers of new technologies was the architect Louis Sullivan, who built the first skyscrapers in Chicago.

His Guarantee Building had only 13 floors, but for that time it was a giant. Sullivan was a great admirer of Nietzsche and argued that upwardly growing architecture expressed vitality. Nietzsche’s idea of a superman in a skyscraper is indeed visible. The second most important technical breakthrough that accelerated the emergence of high-rise buildings was the invention of the elevator. In the middle of the 19th century, engineer Elisha Otis created a system that, even if the rope broke, kept the cabin in the shaft.

Generali Tower of CityLife, Zaha Hadid Architects, Milan.

The height of the Prism Tower is 144 meters. The architecture of Christian de Portzamparc is easily recognizable by its “flowing” silhouettes – the virtuosity of form makes his objects look like a flowing fabric.

Skyscrapers were originally dressed in traditional decor. It was gothic, art nouveau (like Sullivan) and even classic. They rushed up but for a long time could not block the Eiffel Tower — at that time the tallest building in the world. Only the Chrysler Building succeeded at 1930, and a little later, the Empire State Building broke into the champions. These two buildings have firmly entered the subconscious of Western man.

The mythology of the skyscraper is well portrayed in the science fiction film Metropolis (1927). It captures the city of the future, which has a clear architectural hierarchy: the elite lives in skyscrapers, the proletariat huddles underground. The Chrysler and Empire State Buildings have proven that symbolic meaning is more important than utilitarian goals.

The team of Danish architect Bjarke Ingels built the Shenzhen Energy Mansion skyscraper. The project in China consists of two towers, whose wavy facades dampen the sun’s glare and reduce energy losses.

American Art Deco skyscrapers of the 1930s. It was they who, twenty years later, inspired Soviet architects to build Stalinist skyscrapers. True, the bourgeois source of inspiration was carefully concealed. And the character of Moscow skyscrapers is more traditional. (In the composition of Moscow University, for example, some even see the five domes of a Russian church.) They are less intoxicated with technology and the phallic essence of the verticals. Their role is the role of traditional high-rise accents in the skyline of the city (cathedrals, bell towers).

3WTC New York City by Rogers Stirk Harbor + Partners.

Sobering up after the sultry years of Art Deco came when the functionalist Mies van der Rohe built the Seagram Building in 1958. This simple parallelepiped became a model for numerous buildings of the second half of the 20th century. Including for the Soviet hotel «Intourist». Simplification seemed to be an achievement, but primitive forms quickly got boring. «Intourist» dilapidated and was recently dismantled. Even sadder is the fate of the two more famous parallelepipeds. The twin towers of the World Trade Center, built in 72 Minoru Yamasaki and holding the height record for a long time, were the victims of the 2001 terrorist attack. Unlike them, the Empire State Building survived when it entered at 19The plane crashed on the 45th. Art Deco fans see this fact as indirect evidence of the superiority of their favorite style over modernism.

PwC Tower, architect Daniel Libeskind.

There really is artistic excellence. The fact is that a rectangular skyscraper from the point of view of composition is complete anarchy. There can be any number of floors in it: in this case, a complete composition, a coherent, organized facade is impossible in principle. And when using traditional elements (base or spire), there is at least the appearance of completeness and order.

Architectural studio Penda has published images of a new skyscraper in Tel Aviv. The building, 116 meters high, will house one- and four-room apartments, as well as duplexes and penthouses.

In the 1960s, attempts began and still continue to diversify the shape of skyscrapers. They were built in the form of prisms, needles and phallems. In recent years, two new areas of construction have appeared: ecological and national. The first is represented by Norman Foster’s Mary Eggs Tower. The egg-shaped shape and unique design made it possible to heal many typical «diseases» inherent in giants.

The tallest skyscrapers are currently being built in Asia. The vector of world development is moving from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is interesting that the Petronas Towers twin towers built in Kuala Lumpur do not at all repeat Western designs. They have a pronounced form of Buddhist temples and resemble organic cobs connected by a bridge. Their symbolic recognition by the West was expressed in the fact that the movie “The Trap” was filmed against the backdrop of the Petronas towers, as King Kong once was against the backdrop of the Empire State Building, and its remake was shot against the backdrop of the deceased WTC twins.

Taipei Nan Shan Plaza skyscraper in Taipei. A project by the Japanese studio Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei.

Aspiration to the sky still excites the imagination. The most daring skyscraper project was created by Spanish architects Maria Severa and Javier Pioz. This is a 300-story tower in the center of an artificial island that can accommodate 100,000 people. Whole city! The branched pile foundation is borrowed from the cypress root system. It also looks like a cypress tree. Every creation of nature has an optimal structure. A skyscraper with such data will withstand any earthquakes and collisions with aircraft.

In Singapore, according to the project of BIG and Carlo Ratti Associati, the construction of a skyscraper 88 Market Street with tropical «oases» has begun.

Skyscrapers 400 Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. SOM studio project

One of the tallest buildings in Hamburg will start construction in 2021. The Elbtower will be the tallest building at 235 meters.

Project for a 150-meter residential tower on Alexanderplatz in the center of Berlin. Written by Frank Gehry.

Design by Ole Scheeren for Barclay Village to be built in Vancouver.

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) led by Patrick Schumacher presented a project for a 31-storey tower in Malta. The building will be part of a major redevelopment project in Paceville, a resort town on the island’s east coast.

Glass tower design by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. 160 Front Street will be built in Toronto. Construction will begin in 2019.

Lakhta Center is in the top ten of the world’s best skyscrapers

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Photo: dezeen.com

Liebian International Building, China, Ludi Industry Group

Photo: dezeen.com

Three World Trade Center, USA, Roger Stirk Harbor + Partners

Photo: dezeen.com

Ping An Finance Centre, China, KPF

Photo: dezeen.com

Duo, Singapore, Büro Ole Scheeren

Photo: dezeen.com

Salesforce Tower, USA, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

Photo: dezeen.com

Lakhta Centre, Russia, RMJM and Gorproject

Photo: dezeen.com

China Resources KPF

Photo: dezeen.com

Jade Signature, USA, Herzog & de Meuron

Photo: dezeen.com

Tencent HQ, China, NBBJ

Photo: dezeen.

On 12 мая, 2023 By alexxlab

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