Chances are you’ve been in a vertical skyscraper––but a horizontal skyscraper? That’s news to us all.
Chongqing, China is preparing to become home to the world’s first horizontal skyscraper, a hulking 10,893,077-square-foot structure spanning eight towers and a skybridge. Architect Moshe Safdie is leading the project, which is expected to be completed by mid-2019.
Once finished, the skyscraper will have sky gardens, restaurants, housing, lookouts for sightseeing, and, of course, an infinity pool. It will also house 1,400 residential units, ample office space, and a 754,593-square-foot shopping mall.
The entire project is being called Raffles City, but the skybridge has its own name: Crystal. At 820 feet in length, it’s also the longest skybridge in the world. At night, Crystal will show off its true colors by displaying a light show high above the city.
Altogether, the project is budgeted at $3.8 billion. But you can bet that the views will be unbeatable, given its location between the Yangtze and Jialing rivers. Completion is a long time coming: Construction has been ongoing for six years. As if enough records weren’t being broken, it’s also set to have the tallest observation deck in the western China region, according to CNN.
