33-Storey Doughnut Opens in Guangzhou

It could be a giant monument to the glazed, raised, or maybe the world’s largest imperial Chinese coin, but whatever it represents, the Guangzhou Circle is big and round.

The 33-storey tower, which opened this month in southern China is the world’s tallest circular building at 138 metres, and has 85,000 square metres of office space.

Designed by Italian architect Joseph di Pasquale, the Circle is the headquarters of Chinese conglomerate the Hongda Xingye Group, and the new home of Guangdong Plastic Exchange (GDPE), the world largest trading centre for raw plastic material.

While casual observers might liken the Circle to deep-fried dough or ancient currency, commenting in the Dezeen design site, Di Pasquale asserted,

“[It] is inspired by the strong iconic value of jade discs and numerological tradition of feng shui, in particular, the double disc of jade (bi-disk) is the royal symbol of ancient Chinese dynasty that reigned in this area around 2000 years ago,”

Alternative interpretations say that the design suggests jade discs, or with its double-layered construction, the number zero and the infinity symbol.

But it certainly is big, round, and in Guangzhou.