Shanghai World Financial Center

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The Shanghai World Financial Center is a supertall skyscraper in Pudong, Shanghai, China. It is a mixed use skyscraper which consists of offices, hotels, conference rooms, observation decks, and shopping malls on the ground floors. Park Hyatt Shanghai is the hotel component containing 174 rooms and suites. Occupying the 79th to the 93rd floors, it is the highest hotel in the world, surpassing theGrand Hyatt Shanghai on the 53rd to 87th floors of the neighboring Jin Mao Tower.

On 14 September 2007 the skyscraper was topped out at 492.0 meters (1,614.2 ft) and became the second-tallest building in the world; as well as the tallest structure in the People's Republic of China, including Hong Kong. It also had the highest occupied floor and the highest height to roof, two categories used to determine the title of "The World’s Tallest Building".

On 28 August 2008, the SWFC officially opened for business and two days later, the world's tallest observation deck opened with a view from three levels. The highest view is at 474 m (1,555 ft) above ground level. It continues to have the tallest observation deck in the world surpassing even the Burj Khalifa.

The SWFC has been lauded for its design and was named by architects as the best skyscraper completed in 2008.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

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Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates and the eighth largest mosque in the world. It is named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder and the first President of the United Arab Emirates, who is also buried there. The mosque was opened for worship since Eid Al Adha December 2007.

The design of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque has been inspired by both Mughal and Moorish mosque architecture, particularly the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore and the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca being direct influences. The dome layout and floorplan of the mosque was inspired by the Badshahi Mosque and the architecture was in

spired by both Mughal and Moorish design. Its archways are quintessentially Moorish and its minarets classically Arab. The design of the Mosque can be best described as a fusion of Arab, Mughal and Moorish architecture.

The Mosque is large enough to accommodate 40,000 worshippers. The main prayer hall can accommodate up to 9,000 worshippers. Two rooms next to the main prayer hall, with a 1,500-capacity each, are for the exclusive use of women.

There are four minarets on the four corners of the mosque which rise about 115 m (377 ft) in height. There are 57 domes covering the outside yard and the main building as well. The domes are decorated with white marble and the interior decoration is made of marble. The courtyard is paved with floral marble designs and measures about 17,000 m² (180,000 sq ft).

CN Tower model

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CN Tower

The CN Tower, located in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a communications and observation tower standing 553.3 metres (1,815 ft) tall. It surpassed the height of the Ostankino Tower becoming the tallest free-standing structure on land in the world for the next 31 years. On September 12, 2007, the CN Tower was surpassed in height by Burj Khalifa (formerly known as Burj Dubai). It remains the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere, the signature icon of Toronto's skyline, and a symbol of Canada,attracting more than two million international visitors annually.

CN originally referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower. Following

the railway's decision to divest non-core freight railway assets, prior to the company's privatization in 1995 it transferred the tower to the Canada Lands Company, a federal Crown corporation responsible for real estate development. Since local residents wished to retain the name CN Tower, the abbreviation is now said to expand to Canad

a's National Tower rather than the original Canadian National Tower; however, neither of these names is commonly used.

In 1995, the CN Tower was declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It also belongs to the World Federation of Great Towers, where it holds second-place ranking.

Link: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/detailsmid=7a234447c43f6933fbe9fdad8b483f69

Masjid al-Haram in Mecca (new upload)

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Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām (Arabic: المسجد الحرام‎, 

pronounced [ʔælˈmæsdʒɪd ælħɑˈrɑːm], "The Sacred Mosque") is the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Mecca, it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims worldwide turn towards while performing daily prayers and is Islam's holiest place. The mosque is also known as the Grand Mosque.^[1]

The current structure covers an area of 356,800 square metres (88.2 acres) including the outdoor and indoor praying spaces and can accommodate up to four million Muslim worshippers during the Hajj period, one of the largest annual gatherings of people in the world.