A "dragon" is set to rise from the Huangpu River in Shanghai over the next four years, following the announcement on Monday of the results of an international design contest.

An artist's impression of the Shanghai Center. In the background is the Shanghai World Financial Center (right) and the Jinmao Tower.

Ren Lizhi, deputy dean and architect with the Architectural Design & Research Institute of Tongji University, said the winning design for the multipurpose Shanghai Center was submitted by US firm Gensler and was selected after three rounds of judging, which began in 2005.

The design, which resembles a huge dragon, will be developed in collaboration with the institute, he said.

Set to become China's tallest skyscraper, the center - commissioned by a consortium of State-owned companies - will cost at least 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) to build and is scheduled for completion in 2012, Ren said.

"It will be over 580 m tall, and have more than 120 stories," he said.

Once completed, the center, to be built in the Lujiazui financial zone of the Pudong New Area, will dwarf its neighbors, the 492-m Shanghai World Financial Center and the 420-m Jinmao Tower, Ren said.

The 434,000-sq-m center will help meet the soaring demand for office space in Shanghai, as well as housing hotels, leisure facilities and several viewing platforms, he said.

The design and build team will include Shanghai Chengtou Corp, Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone Development Co Ltd, and Shanghai Construction Group.

Construction is scheduled to start later this year, Ren said.

(China Daily June 25, 2008)