I note that Tokyo has completed the tallest tower in the world. You might ask what is the purpose of this structure? Is it a symbol of mankind's greatest; a testament to the financiers arrogance? Or simply a person's desire to make money. In fairness, I am not sure. Maybe this structure is constructed of superior high-strength tensile steels, and will ultimately advance building construction. It is questionable whether such a structure would be commercially sensible; though it might be given the cost of land in central Tokyo.
One is however left with the apparent motive of this building - a rather ambitious structure given that Japan has been struggling to get out of recession for the last 20 years? A supreme act of arrogance. We need only look at the football stadiums built for the World Cup, which are barely used. Hard to justify when the nation even shared the hosting with South Korea.
In any respect, I know someone working in this building. Personally, I think I would resign if my employer's office was in such a building. Why? The structure is untested in a severe earthquake. Now, as a conceptual thinker, I would argue that ideas help us to see around corners. The problem I have with people is that they tend to assume too much. So when you start building structures seemingly 4x taller than any other in the region, I start to wonder whether its sensible assumptions underpinning their thinking. Might this be a testament to the same type of arrogance and evasion that saw Tokyo Electric expose the Japanese people to radiation in the recent earthquake. All it takes is an engineering design flaw; notwithstanding towers will sway; minds sway too when their decision-making is governed by arrogance. All the more common in collectivist countries...which is pretty well all countries, but Japan is among the most collectivist.
One has to ask is this a befitting symbol for Japan? Might the next 'Twin Towers' scandal be an act of incompetence rather than a malicious act. Well, it might be years before we know. One would fully expect 20,000 people to die if this structure fell. This would depend on how it fell. I know nothing of its construction; and broadly I support advancement, but I would first question the underlying motives for building these structures....and nothing I hear tells me they are sound.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
