TOKYO (AP) - Japanese planners this week revealed the design of a huge broadcast tower that is set to become the world's tallest structure upon completion in 2011, eclipsing even Canada's CN Tower. The tower will stand 613.5 metres tall, according to Tobu Railway Co., which has provided land for the project. Once finished, it will claim the title from the CN Tower in Toronto, 553-metre-tall communications structure and outlook point which is currently the world's tallest freestanding structure.
Dubbed the "New Tokyo Tower," the building will replace a 332-metre 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 colour 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 wedged between the Sumida and Arakawa rivers and known for its old-Tokyo ambiance.
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.
