World's tallest buildings

TOP 25
WORLD’S TALLEST
HIGH-RISE
BUILDINGS

Chicago

Atlanta

Hong Kong

Dubai

New York

Guangzhou

Shanghai

Kuala Lumpur

Pyongyang

Shenzhen

Taipei

Kaohsiung

Los Angeles

Wu Han

Makati

1. TAIPEI 101
(also known as Taipei Financial Center)
Architect: C. Y. Lee and Partners

Location
City: Taipei Country: Taiwan
Technical Data
Height: 509 m (1,671 ft)
Floors: 101
Construction: 2004
Building in General
Type of Construction: High-Rise Building
Style: Oriental Revivalism
Status: Completed

-An 800-ton tuned mass damping system will help stabilize the tower. This
system will be held in an exposed spherical structure near the top of the
building, between the restaurant level and the observation deck.
-This will be one of the few buildings in the world equipped with double-
deck elevators.
-Each elevator is designed with an aerodynamic body, pressurization and
emergency braking systems, and the world's first triple-stage anti-
overshooting system. The cost for each elevator is over $US 2 million.
-The 89th floor will be an indoor observation area, and an outdoor
observation deck will be located on the 91st floor. -Taipei 101 will hold
3 of the World's Tallest Building titles when it is topped out: Tallest to
structural top, Tallest to roof and Highest occupied floor.
-It is one of the few supertalls in the world in which the design inspiration
comes from traditional Chinese buildings.
-The tower's design and specifications are all based on the "8", a lucky
number in traditional Chinese culture. This kind of "8-design" was also
widely used in the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai.

2. PETRONAS TOWER 1
(also known as Menera Petronas 1)
Architect: Cesar Pelli and Associates
Location -The foundation under each tower is a 4.5 meter thick,
32,500 tonne raft containing 13,200 m³ of grade 60
City: Kuala Lumpur concrete, supported by 104 barrette piles driven into
the soft rock.
Country: Malaysia
-A steel skybridge connects the towers 170m (558
Technical Data feet) above the ground at the 41st and 42nd floors.
The bridge is open to the public.
Height: 452 m (1,483 ft)
-The two towers have a total of 76 lifts, including 29
Floors: 88 double-decker high speed passenger lifts in each
Construction: 1998 tower. Each double-decker elevator can carry 26
persons.
Building in General
-The architectural and engineering team was chosen
Type of Construction: on the basis of its experience with the Miglin-
Beitler Skyneedle, a world's-tallest proposal from
High-Rise Building Chicago with a narrow concrete structure that was
very similar to the Petronas design.
Style: Post Modern
-Shared the world's tallest building title with its twin
Status: Completed from 1996 to 2003.

3. PETRONAS TOWER 2
also known as Menara Petronas 2
Architect: Cesar Pelli and Associates
Location -The skybridge is now open to the public, and
connects both towers at levels 41 and 42. It
City: Kuala Lumpur is 58.4 meters long (192 feet) and weighs
Country: Malaysia 750 tons.

Technical Data -The tower has 29 double-decker elevators.

Height: 452 m (1,483 ft) -Shared the world's tallest building title with
its twin from 1996 - 2003.
Floors: 88
Construction: 1998
Building in General
Type of Construction: High-Rise
Building
Style: Post Modern
Status: Completed

4. Sears Tower
Architect: Skidmore Owings and Merill

Location
City: Chicago Country: U.S.A.
Technical Data
Height: 442 m (1,450 ft)
Floors: 108
Construction: 1974
Building in General
Type of Construction: High-Rise
Building
Style: International Style
Status: Completed

-World's tallest building from 1974 - 1996; surpassed by the Petronas Towers in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
-Until Taipei 101 was topped out in 2004, the Sears Tower held title to the world's
highest roof and highest occupied floor.
-The two antennae on the roof give the tower the highest "tip height" of any
skyscraper in the world.
-The lobby contains the moving sculpture "The Universe" by Alexander Calder.
-The structure is formed from 9 bundled square tubes, each 75 feet wide with no
columns between the core and perimeter. Two of the tubes are 50 floors high,
two are 66 floors, three are 90, and two are 108.
-This has been the tallest building in Chicago since 1974. For a timeline of
Chicago's tallest building through history, start with Holy Name Cathedral.
-The lobby floor is decorated with metal tiles in a stylized design based on the
bundled tube structure.
-This is not the original Sears Tower; the previous headquarters of Sears Roebuck
was a vast building on Chicago's West Side that included the Sears Merchandise
Building Tower.
-A renovation in the 1980s added a barrel-vaulted entrance pavilion to the west side
and a small cut-away atrium inside the east entrance.

5. Jin Mao Tower
(also known as Jin Mao Mansion, Jin Mao Building)
Architect: Skidmore Owings and Merill
Location
City: Shanghai Country: China
Technical Data
Height: 421 m (1,380 ft)
Floors: 88
Construction: 1998
Building in General
Status: Completed

-The tower has an observatory (with a floor space of 1,520 square metres)
on the 88th floor, at a height of 340.1 metres. It is the largest and
highest observation deck in China. Admission is 50 rmb (about $6 US).
-The building's shape draws on traditional Chinese forms, especially the
tiered pagoda. -Offices occupy floors 3 through 50. A 5-star Grand
Hyatt Hotel fills the top 38 floors with 555 rooms.
-The tower is designed to withstand an earthquake of 6 on the Richter scale
and the strongest level of typhoon.
-The hotel atrium starts at the 53rd floor and extend upwards to the 87th
floor. It has a clear height of 152 meters and a diameter of 27 meters,
making it one of the tallest atriums in the world.
-Designed by Adrian D. Smith, FAIA, RIBA Design Partner at Skidmore
Owings & Merrill LLP.
-Contains the world's highest hotel rooms, and is the world's tallest building
with a hotel inside. The Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea is still
considered the world's tallest hotel because it is a pure hotel and not
mixed-use.
-Replaced King Tower as the tallest building in Shanghai. -Currently the
tallest building in the People's Republic of China (replacing CITIC
Plaza), and the fifth tallest in the world.

6. Two International Finance Center
(also known as Taipei Financial Center)
Architect: Rocco Design Ltd., DLN Archts & Engrs

Location
City: Hongkong Country: China
Technical Data
Height: 415 m (1,362 ft)
Floors: 88
Construction: 2003
Building in General
Style: Post Modern
Status: Completed

-It is one of the few buildings in the world equipped with double-deck
elevators.
-The Hong Kong Monetary Authority bought several floors in the top
portion of the tower for 0.48 billion USD.
-Financial Times, HSBC, and Cathay Pacific put up an advertisement on
the facade from October to November of 2003 that stretched more than
50 stories tall, covering an area of 0.2 million square ft and a length of
230m; making it the world's largest advertisement ever put on
skyscraper.
-This is the tallest building in Hong Kong, surpassing Central Plaza.
-2 IFC's reign as Hong Kong's tallest will not be long, as Union Square
Phase 7 is under construction and will claim the title in 2007.
-More than 3500 workers from various places around the world worked at
the construction site during the peak construction period.
-This building was featured in the Hollywood movie "Tomb Raider 2".
-The 88th floor of the tower contains the office of the Chairman of the
HK Monetary Authority.
-The tower is attached to the second phase of IFC Mall.
-An exhibition area and a library of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Information Centre occupy the 55th floor and are open to the public.

7. CITIC PLAZA
(also known as Sky Central Plaza,
China International Trust and Investment Plaza)

Architect: DLN Architects and Engineers
Location
City: Guangzhou Country: China
Technical Data
Height: 391 m (1,283 ft)
Floors: 80
Construction: 1997
Building in General
Style: Modern
Status: Completed

8. SHUNG HING SQUARE
(also known as Di Wang Commercial Building,
Di Wang Commercial Center)
Architect: K. Y. Cheung and Associates
Location
City: Shenzhen Country: China
Technical Data
Height: 384 m (1,260 ft) Floors: 69
Construction: 1996
Building in General
Style: Post Modern Status: Completed
-Tallest “steel” building in China
-Buildings was constructed with fast pace, four
storeys in nine days.

9. EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
(Architect: Shreve, Lamb and Harmon Associates)

Location
City: New York Country: U.S.A.
Technical Data
Height: 381 m (1,250 ft)
Floors: 102
Construction: 1931
Building in General
Style: Art deco/Art modern
Status: Completed

-The Empire State Building is a legend. Built in the midst of the
Depression, it was, and still remains a testament to American fortitude
and ingenuity.
-An international icon, it has been visited by more than 117 million people,
who come to marvel at the 80-mile view into New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Connecticut and Massachusetts.
-Built in 1930 to be the tallest structure on earth, the Empire State Building
was then considered the largest commercial venture and investment
ever.
-The façade is composed of more than 200,000 cubic feet of Indiana
limestone and granite, and utilizes several setbacks to offset the optical
distortion of its 102-story height.
-Construction took just over 18 months.
-Decorated with enormous bronze medallions celebrating the craftsmen
responsible for the building, and a metal mosaic featuring the building
as the center of the universe, the lobby is without peer.
-The lobby is a five-story Art Deco masterpiece crafted in rich granite and
marble, and highlighted by brushed stainless steel.

-Declared a National Historic Landmark
on October 23, 1986.
-Initially the building was intended to
have a flat roof until a "hat" or metal-
plated tower on top of the building
was designed. It initially served
double duty as a zeppelin mooring
mast and an observatory.
-The metal-plated tower on top of the
building was planned as a zeppelin
port. Yet it was used for only one
zeppelin landing because the winds
were too strong at such heights
making mooring dangerous and also
because the golden age of zeppelins
was quickly slipping into the past.
-The tower was one of the first to employ
the then new fast-track construction
technique.

10. CENTRAL PLAZA
Location
City: Hong Kong
Country: China
Technical Data
Height: 374 m (1,227 ft)
Floors: 78
Construction: 1992
Building in General
Style: Post Modern
Status: Completed

-The tallest building in Hong Kong until completion of Two
International Finance Center.
-Was the tallest building in Asia from 1992 until Shun Hing Square
was built in 1996.
-World's tallest reinforced concrete building until the completion of
CITIC Plaza in Guangzhou.
-Took the tallest building in HK title away from the Bank of China
when completed in 1992.
-The tower mast is 102m tall, although some of the mast is not
exposed.
-The highest floor with the pyramidal atrium is the world's highest
church.
-It was the second building outside the United States to break the
1000 foot mark. That also means it was the tallest outside
America from its completion year, 1992, through the completion
year of Shun Hing Square, 1996.

11. BANK OF CHINA TOWER
Architect: Ieoh Ming Pei Partners
(Pei Cobb Freed and Partners)
Location
City: Hong Kong Country: China
Technical Data
Height: 367 m (1,205 ft)
Floors: 72
Construction: 1990
Building in General
Style: Structural Expressionism
Status: Completed

-Many critics have stated again and again, "One of the most outstanding
achievements in modern architecture".
-Grouping of four triangular glass and aluminum towers of varying heights
that emerge from a granite podium.
-The changes in geometry, from a square base through several geometric
changes to a single spire, result in a multifaceted facade of angles and
profiles that reflect the light and seem almost crystalline in composition.
-The silver reflective glass is glazed in a low maintenance dry gasket
system, and the curtain wall is a unitized design assembled off-site
under factory conditions. This enabled close quality control of all
aspects of the frame assembly, which numbers over 10,000 pieces in
total.
-The megastructural steelwork is expressed externally by naturally
anodized panels that form part of the curtainwall.
-Virtually every aspect of this building was challenging from moving
material to a height never before achieved outside of the USA, to
glazing the largest 25mm thick pattern cut lights ever produced. All
required not only careful planning but also the development of new
erection techniques.
-The inspiration of the design of the BOC is derived from the elegant poise
of bamboo; its sectioned trunk being propelled higher and higher by
each new growth. The BOC Tower is symbolic of strength, vitality and
growth.

12. EMIRATES OFFICE TOWER
(also known as Emirates Towers 1)
Architect: Hazel W.S. Wong, Norr Group
Consultants Int., Ltd.
Location
City: Dubai
Country: United Arab Emirates
Technical Data
Height: 355 m (1,163 ft) Floors: 54
Construction: 2000
Building in General
Style: Modern
Status: Completed

13. TUNTEX SKY TOWER
(also known as T & C Tower, Tuntex & Chien-tai Tower,
Kaohsiung Sky Tower)
Architect: C. Y. Lee and Partners, Hellmuth, Obata and
Kassabaum
Location
City: Kaohsiung Country: Taiwan
Technical Data
Height: 348 m (1,140 ft)
Floors: 85
Construction: 1997
Building in General
Status: Completed

-Tallest building in Taiwan from 1997 to today.
-This building is owned by the Tuntex Group (Chien-Tai is a
company under the Tuntex Group).
-The building serves 5 major uses: the Chien-Tai Department Store;
offices; private residential apartments; the Grand Formosa Hotel;
and an observation deck. -Currently the 3rd tallest building in
Asia and the 6th tallest building in the world, not including the
spire.
-Contains the highest hotels rooms in Taiwan ROC, and the 2nd
highest hotels rooms in the world, after Jin Mao Tower of
Shanghai.
-Replaced Chang-Gu World Trade Center as the tallest building in
Kaohsiung.
-Replaced Shin-Kong Life Tower as the tallest building in Taiwan.
-The building's shape is based on the Chinese character - Kao, which
is the first word in the city's name.

14. AON CENTER
(also known as Amoco Building, Standard Oil Building)
Architect: Edward Durell Stone and Associates

Location
Technical Data
Height: 346 m (1,136 ft)
Floors: 83
Construction: 1973
Building in General
Style: Modern
Status: Completed

-The "Sounding Sculpture" by Harry Bertoia is found in the east and west
plazas. Its metal rods make soft music in the wind. The sculpture was
originally a single ensemble in front of the building.
-From 1990 to 1992 the building's 43,000 marble cladding panels were
replaced by two-inch-thick Mt. Airy granite panels at a cost of about
$80 million.
-Tallest building in Chicago from 1973 to 1974; surpassed by the Sears
Tower.
-A sunken plaza leads to the main entrance off East Randolph Street.
Before a postmodernization in the 1990's the plaza was a secluded space
with two groves of locust trees flanking a reflecting pool with the
Bertoia sculpture.
-Aon Center is the only regular "box-shaped" building in the world over
300 meters tall.
-This is the tallest building in the world without any major antennae, spires,
or finials at the top.

15. THE CENTER

Location
City: Hong Kong Country: China
Technical Data
Height: 346 m (1,135 ft)
Floors: 73
Construction: 1998
Building in General
Style: Post Modern
Status: Completed

-The Centre has a Cozyvivid low-voltage neon system
consisting of 8 784 red, green and blue neon tubes
that create a slowly changing light show during the
night.
-The Chinese name of the building actually means
"Central Center", where "Central" is the Central
Business District of Hong Kong... emphasizing the
importance of the tower for business.
-The tower is set on a narrow base to add room to the
plaza at street level.

16. JOHN HANCOCK CENTER
Architect: Skidmore, Owings and Merill

Location
Technical Data
Height: 344 m (1,127 ft)
Floors: 100
Construction: 1969
Building in General
Style: Modern
Status: Completed

-John Hancock Center's distinctive X-bracing has made it an architectural
icon, and eliminates the need for inner support beams, greatly increasing
the usable floor area.
-Remodeled in 1995, the lobby features rich travertine marble and textured
limestone surfaces.
-Contains the highest residences in the world.
-A segment of the east antenna was removed in 2000 when a broadcasting
agency's lease terminated.
-Because of space constraints caused by the tower's tapering walls,
common hallways and elevator lobbies are narrower on higher floors.
-A band of white lights around the 100th floor is visible all over Chicago at
night. The lights change color for Christmas, Valentine's Day, St.
Patrick's Day, July 4, and Halloween.
-The eastern antenna was elevated to its full height on Thursday, December
5th, 2002. The top of the antenna now reaches just higher than the
roofline of the Sears Tower across town.
-Tallest building in Chicago (or anywhere outside New York) from 1969 to
1973; surpassed by the Standard Oil Building (now the Aon Center).

-The semicircular sunken plaza on the west side is a public oasis with
seasonal plantings and a 12-foot waterfall.
-The observation floor features the highest balcony in America, a screened-
in area called the "Skywalk".
-As an alternative to balconies, about one-third of the residential units have
"sky terraces" - a sort of tiled sunroom separated from living spaces by
glass doors.
-This was the first trussed-tube skyscraper ever built. The idea was
developed by Fazlur Khan, based on a project of Illinois Institute of
Technology graduate student Mikio Sasaki.
-The idea of a tube-framed skyscraper was first realized 2 blocks down the
street at The Plaza on Dewitt.
-As happened later with the Sears Tower, the architects presented the
developer with two options: either a pair of medium-height towers, or a
single very large skyscraper.
-The alternative plan for the complex called for a 70-story apartment
building and a 45-story office building of equal height, positioned at the
northeast and southwest corners of the lot.

17. WUHAN INTERNATIONAL
SECURITIES BUILDING
(also known as China People’s Bank Building)
Location
City: Wuhan Country: China
Technical Data
Height: 334 m (1,097 ft)
Floors: 68
Construction: 2005
Building in General
Style: Modern
Status: Under Construction (topped out)

18. RYUGYONG HOTEL
(also known as 105 Building)
Architect: Baikdoosan Architects and Engineers
Location
City: Pyongyang Country: North Korea
Technical Data
Height: 330 m (1,083 ft)
Floors: 105
Construction: 1992
Building in General
Style: Modern
Status: On Hold

-The building has reached it's full structural height, but it's currently
no more than a massive concrete shell.
-Construction was halted in 1992 because of financial problems, and
the building's future still remains undecided.
-The North Korean government is currently trying to invite a foreign
investment of 300 million US dollars for a new structural system.
-The pyramid-shaped building has a 75-degree slope.
-The building has been incorrectly listed with a height of 300 m for
the past several years. The updated height of 330 m makes it the
world's tallest building intended for hotel use.
-It would have surpassed world's tallest building in purely hotel use
at time of scheduled completion and ranked 7th tallest building in
the world.
-First building outside New York & Chicago with over 100 floors.

19. BURJ AL ARAB
(also known as Chicago Beach Hotel, Arabian Tower)
Architect: W. S. Atkins and Partners
Location
City: Dubai
Country: United Arab Emirates
Technical Data
Height: 321 m (1,053 ft)
Floors: 60
Construction: 1999
Building in General
Style: Structural Expressionism
Status: Completed

-A 24 meter (79 feet) wide helipad projects from the building 210
meters above the ground.
-The Al Muntaha restaurant is located 200 metres above the Arabian
Gulf, offering great views of Dubai. It is accessed by a panoramic
elevator.
-The atrium is 180 metres high, one of the highest in the world.
-Burj Al Arab is the world's tallest structure with a membrane
facade.
-This is the tallest operating hotel building in the world (not
counting mixed-use buildings like Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai or
the unfinished Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea).
-"Burj" is Arabic for "Tower".
-The building's external lighting schemes, from white light to a
multicolored one, change from one to another every 30 minutes
expressing the evening's progress.

20. CHRYSLER BUILDING
Architect: William Van Allen
Location
City: New York
Country: U.S.A.
Technical Data
Height: 319 m (1,046 ft)
Floors: 77
Construction: 1930
Building in General
Style: Art Deco/Art Modern
Status: Completed

-Decorated with Egyptian motifs and a ceiling fresco by Edward
Trumbull entitled "Transport and Human Endeavor" that depicts
buildings, airplanes, and scenes from the Chrysler assembly line.
-A particularly beautiful example of the Art Deco style, the lobby of
Chrysler Building is clad in different marbles, onyx and amber.
-A private lounge called "Cloud Club" and an observation area were
located at the top of the building.
-This aluminum trim culminates in a beautiful, tapered stainless steel
crown that supports the famous spire.
-Metal hubcaps, gargoyles in the form of radiator caps, car fenders
and hood ornaments decorate shaft and setbacks of the white and
black brick skyscraper.
-One of the first large buildings to use metal extensively on the
exterior, the building's ornament makes reference to the
automobile.
-Considered by many tall building fans to be the world's
quintessential skyscraper design.

World's tallest buildings

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