Actor and Producer Dwayne Johnson admits that the most important character in his latest film is a building. The star of Skyscraper is the fictitious Pearl building in Hong Kong which takes the mantle of the worlds tallest building (if it were real).

Written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, and starring Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell and Chin Han the story follows a former FBI agent who must rescue his family from a newly built skyscraper after it’s taken over by criminals and set on fire. 

Designed by Oscar-nominated Production Designer Jim Bissell, the building is influenced by the ancient Chinese fable of The Dragon and the Pearl.

At 225 stories high it contains a 30 story park, an opera house, hotels, numerous restaurants and has self generating power from central turbines.

Bissell told Dezeen that Skyscraper was never expected to be a hit with architects but he wanted the building to be a “hero” nonetheless: “No matter what we did, we were doomed for failure in the eyes of the architectural community. I had no delusions about the fact that it was going to incite the ire of many of my architectural peers.”

Let’s take a look at the architecture and film sets of Skyscraper:-

Watch Skyscraper – “Designing The Pearl” featurette:-