Blue Sky Tower Explained

Blue Sky Tower
Native Name:Хөх тэнгэр цамхаг
Native Name Lang:Mongolian
Status:complete
Building Type:office, residency, hotel
Cost:200 million
Location Town:Ulaanbaatar
Location Country:Mongolia
Start Date:2006
Completion Date:2010
Opened Date:2011
Height:105 m (344 ft)[1]
Floor Count:25
Elevator Count:5

The Blue Sky Tower (Mongolian: Хөх тэнгэр цамхаг) is an ultra-modern 25 story, 105 meters (344 ft) tall steel and glass skyscraper that stands just to the south of Sükhbaatar Square in Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar. It houses a 200-room hotel, luxury apartments, restaurants, as well as office and conference spaces.[2]

The skyscraper consists of a curtain wall made of blue tinted glass in reference to Mongolia's moniker as "the land of the eternal blue sky", but also as a signal to foreign corporations of Mongolia's transparency and openness to business.[3] Blue Sky Tower serves as a landmark that dominates the central Ulaanbaatar skyline thanks to its location and distinctive shape. Designed in the style of a sail or fin, it appears to be modeled after the Burj Al Arab in Dubai.[4] Mongolians often refer to it derisively as "the meat cleaver" or "the sail boat" and the purpose of a sea-themed edifice in the capital of a landlocked country is unclear.

Construction on the skyscraper, designed in cooperation with a South Korean company, began in 2007 but was temporarily suspended during the political tensions that followed Mongolia's legislative election in June 2008. Upon its completion in 2009, Blue Sky Tower was the tallest building in Ulaanbaatar but has since been overtaken by other buildings erected as part of the city's construction boom.

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20130929050749/http://www.emporis.com/building/blue-sky-tower-ulan-bator-mongolia Emporis: Blue Sky Tower
  2. Book: Dillon, Michael. Mongolia: A Political History of the Land and its People. 2019-11-28. Bloomsbury Publishing. 978-1-78831-695-8. 184. en.
  3. Book: From Socialist to Post-Socialist Cities: Cultural Politics of Architecture, Urban Planning, and Identity in Eurasia. Diener. Alexander C.. Hagen. Joshua. 2016-04-14. Routledge. 978-1-317-58588-6. 153. en.
  4. Book: Aldrich, M. A.. Ulaanbaatar beyond Water and Grass: A Guide to the Capital of Mongolia. 2018-03-02. Hong Kong University Press. 978-988-8208-67-8. 111. en.