Shanghai, Then and Now 3

Shanghai Rising

The architects of the 1,615-foot-high Shanghai World Financial Center came up with a novel plan to reduce wind resistance a gigantic circle cut through the upper floors. But that feature was nixed because it too closely resembled the flag of Japan, a country still resented for its brutal occupation of the city during World War II. The circle was replaced by a trapezoidal cut-out. The 101-floor building, designed by New York's Kohn Pederson Fox Assoc., is two-thirds built and will be completed next year.