VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s 636-m tall TV tower is being designed by Nikken Sekkei. The design will be submitted to investors in April.

The seven TV towers designed by Nikken Sekkei.

The design agreement was signed between VTV and Nikken Sekkei in mid-August 2014.

The Vietnam Television (VTV), the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), and BRG, a private group operating in the fields of golf courses and finance-banking, have formed a company to invest in this project.

According to VTV Online, Shigeru Yoshino, chief architect of Nickel Sekkei, is the person in charge of designing the TV tower for Vietnam. On the company website, he is introduced as the person who was responsible for designing the Sky Tree TV tower in Tokyo, which is considered the highest TV tower in Asia today (634m).

Tran Binh Minh, General Director of Vietnam Television, said the tower will be 636m tall, the tallest in the world. The tower will be placed at the center of the Tay Ho Tay (West West Lake) new urban area, on an area of 14 hectares.

The Sky Tree TV tower in Tokyo was built over four years, at the cost of approximately $440 million at the time. In the first week, it attracted 1.6 million visitors.

Nikken Sekkei was founded in 1900, having more than 20,000 projects in 40 countries. It has designed many super high-rise buildings, industrial parks and offices to address high population density.

The company participated in the design of about seven TV towers in Japan and China. This firm is based in Tokyo and has branch offices in China, South Korea, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Nikken Sekkei’s seven TV towers

1. Nagoya TV Tower

This tower was built in September 1953 and completed in June 1954 with the height of 180m and similar design to the Eiffel Tower (France). In addition to two observation decks, the tower has a restaurant and a showroom.

Nagoya TV Tower was built for the purpose of promoting tourism and serving television broadcasting, in the context of Japan’s reconstruction after the war.

Currently, this TV tower mainly serves tourists after Japan stopped using analog broadcasting technology to switch to digital.

2. Sapporo TV Tower

This tower is 147.2 meters high and located to the south of the city of Sapporo, Hokkaido. It was completed in 1957 at a total cost of JPY170 million at that time.

Recently, the plan to re-build the tower was proposed. The new tower will be built on an area of 7,800 m2 with a total height of 650m, surpassing the highest TV tower in the world today. In addition to the main function of broadcasting, Sapporo TV Tower will also have hotel rooms, offices, sports centers.

3. Tokyo Tower

Also designed by architect Tachu Naito, who designed the Nagoya and Sapporo towers, the Tokyo Tower is 333m high and is the second highest TV tower in Japan today. The design of the tower was inspired by the Eiffel Tower but it was painted in white and orange to ensure aviation safety.

The work opened in December 1958, with the total cost of 2.8 billion yen. The tower has two observation decks at a height of 150m and 250m.

Initially, the tower served as an antenna, used by broadcasters such as NHK, TBS, and Fuji TV. However, its height was insufficient to support a complete digital broadcasting for the surrounding area, so Tokyo Sky Tree tower was built in 2012.

Higher than the Eiffel Tower, the Tokyo Tower is lighter, weighing only 4,000 tons. Every five years, the tower will be repainted, which takes 12 months.

4. Fukuoka Tower

Located in Momochihama, Fukuoka, the 234m tower is the tallest work on the coast of Japan. It was completed in 1989, after 14 months of construction at a total cost of about 6 billion yen.

Fukuoka has three observation decks, with the weight of the underground part of 25,000 tons and the on-ground part of only 3,500 tons. The tower is designed to withstand strong earthquakes up to magnitude 5 and gust up to 65 m/s.

5. Dalian Television Tower

The tower was built in the city of Dalian, China, and is the first television tower designed by Nikken Sekkei outside Japan. The work is located on 24 hectares, with the height of 190.5m. The construction began in August 1987 and was completed in June 1990.

The tower has three observation decks, with views to the city of Dalian. On the tower are a giant telescope, restaurants and cafes.

6. Seto Digital TV Wave Station

Seto Digital Tower is a digital TV tower, located in Seto, Aichi, Japan. It is 244.7m and was completed in 2003.

7. Tokyo Sky Tree

At a height of 634m, Tokyo Sky Tree is the tallest TV tower in Japan and also the world. The work was started in 2008 and completed in 2012.

The work was inspired by the temples of Japan, and designed by Shigeru Yoshino, chief architect of Nikken Sekkei, who will be in charge of the Vietnam Television Tower.

From the observation deck of the Tokyo Sky Tree, visitors can see the entire city. The total cost was 65 billion yen.