In Shanghai's Pudong district, U.S. architectural firm Gensler is building what will be China's tallest skyscraper: the 2,073-foot Shanghai Tower.

The tower, which will be the world's tallest after the Burj Khalifa, when completed, will be outfitted with a state-of-the-art bullet elevator developed by Mitsubishi Electric, which will be capable of speeds of about 40 miles per hour, or about 1,080 meters (3,543 feet) per minute.

According to Mitsubishi, the elevators--the building will have a whopping 106 of them--will be aerodynamic and have a built-in energy regeneration converter, lowering energy use by up to 30 percent. Roller guides will reduce shaking as the elevator rockets up and down the tower, and passengers should be able to go all the way up from the ground floor, without having to stop at so-called sky lobbies as in many other supertall towers. An air pressure control system will keep passengers from having to pop their ears as they move up and down.

Here is a model of the so-called bullet elevator that Mitsubishi presented earlier this week:

China