TOKYO – Japanese planners on Friday revealed the design of a huge broadcast tower that is set to become the world's tallest structure upon completion in 2011.
The tower will stand 610 meters (2,013-feet) tall and will claim the title from the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada, which is currently the world's tallest structure at 553 meters (1,815 feet), according to Tobu Railway Co., which has provided land for the project.
Dubbed the "New Tokyo Tower," it will replace a 333-meter-tall (1,090-foot) tower built in 1958.
The new tower, designed by award winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando and sculptor Kiichi Sumikawa, will stand on a triangular foundation, but its slender body will turn into a cylinder as it stretches upward, its bluish-silver color blending into the sky.
The tower is being built by Japan's six top broadcasters and is expected to greatly bolster television and radio transmissions in the capital.
Though it now competes with a plethora of skyscrapers, the old tower is one of Tokyo's most visible landmarks and is visited by 2.5 million tourists each year. The new tower will stand in the capital's Sumida ward, an area known for its old-Tokyo ambiance, wedged between the Sumida and Arakawa rivers.
Sumida ward beat out 15 other areas in Tokyo to host the tower, many of which were dropped after failing broadcast feasibility tests or coming up short in other ways, including the availability of mass transit.
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