Macau, China’s MGM Cotai has won information specialist Emporis’ annual Skyscraper Award. The unusual US$3.4 billion building rises to a height of 495 ft (150 m) and contains a casino and hotel.
MGM Cotai was designed by American architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), which also won the award last year and is responsible for many of the world’s tallest buildings.
The building is conceived as nine oversized Chinese jeweler’s boxes stacked atop each other to form two interconnected towers. Its interior includes the casino and hotel, as well as a multifunctional area that boasts the world’s largest free-span, grid-shaped glass roof.
This area is certainly worthy of the name The Spectacle and is covered by 8,073 sq m (86,898 sq ft) of glazing that’s not supported by any internal columns. The entire structure weighs around the same as 1,000 cars.