Tallest_building_in_the_world

List of tallest buildings

List of tallest buildings

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This is a list of the tallest buildings. Tall buildings, such as skyscrapers, are intended here as enclosed structures with continuously occupiable floors and a height of at least 340 metres (1,120 ft). Such definition excludes non-building structures, such as towers.

The 828-metre (2,717 ft) tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai has been the tallest building since 2010.[1] The Burj Khalifa has been classified as megatall.[2]
A diagram showing the tallest buildings as of 2024

History

Historically, the world's tallest man-made structure was the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, which held the position for over 3800 years[3] until the construction of Lincoln Cathedral in 1311. The Strasbourg Cathedral in France, completed in 1439, was the world's tallest building until 1874.

The first skyscraper was pioneered in Chicago with the 138 ft (42.1 m) Home Insurance Building in 1885. The United States would remain the location of the world's tallest building throughout the 20th century until 1998, when the Petronas Towers were completed. Since then, two other buildings have gained the title: Taipei 101 in 2004 and Burj Khalifa in 2010.[4] Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Middle East, China, and Southeast Asia have experienced booms in skyscraper construction.[5]

Ranking criteria and alternatives

The international non-profit organization Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) was formed in 1969 and announces the title of "The World's Tallest Building" and sets the standards by which buildings are measured. It maintains a list of the 100 tallest completed buildings in the world.[6] The organization currently ranks Burj Khalifa in Dubai as the tallest at 828 m (2,717 ft).[6] However, the CTBUH only recognizes buildings that are complete, and some buildings included within the lists in this article are not considered finished by the CTBUH.

In 1996, as a response to the dispute as to whether the Petronas Towers or the Sears Tower was taller,[7] the council listed and ranked buildings in four categories:[8]

  • height to structural or architectural top;
  • height to floor of highest occupied floor;
  • height to top of roof (removed as category in November 2009);[9] and
  • height to top of any part of the building.

All categories measure the building from the level of the lowest significant open-air pedestrian entrance.[10]

Spires are considered integral parts of the architectural design of buildings, changes to which would substantially change the appearance and design of the building, whereas antennas may be added or removed without such consequences. The Petronas Towers, with their spires, are thus ranked higher than the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) with its antennas, despite the Petronas Towers' lower roofs and lower highest point.[8]

Until 1996, the world's tallest building was defined by the height to the top of the tallest architectural element, including spires but not antennae.[8] In 1930, this definitional argument led to a rivalry between the Bank of Manhattan Building and the Chrysler Building. The Bank of Manhattan Building (i.e. 40 Wall Street) employed only a short spire, was 282.5 m (927 ft) tall, and had a much higher top occupied floor (the second category in the 1996 criteria for tallest building). In contrast, the Chrysler Building employed a very large 38.1 m (125 ft) spire secretly assembled inside the building to claim the title of world's tallest building with a total height of 318.9 m (1,046 ft), although it had a lower top occupied floor and a shorter height when both buildings' spires were excluded.

Upset by Chrysler's victory, Shreve & Lamb, the consulting architects of the Bank of Manhattan Building, wrote a newspaper article claiming that their building was actually the tallest, since it contained the world's highest usable floor, at 255 m (837 ft). They pointed out that the observation deck in the Bank of Manhattan Building was nearly 30 m (98 ft) above the top floor in the Chrysler Building, whose surpassing spire was strictly ornamental and inaccessible.[11]

The Burj Khalifa currently tops the list by some margin, regardless of which criterion is applied.[12][13]

Tallest buildings in the world

As of 15 April 2024, this list includes all 96 buildings (completed and architecturally topped out) that reach a height of 340 m (1,120 ft) or more, as assessed by their highest architectural feature. The building is considered as architecturally topped out when it is under construction, structurally topped out, fully clad, and the highest finished architectural elements are in place.[10]

Of these buildings, almost half are in China. Six of the last seven buildings to have held the record as 'tallest building' are still found in the list, with the exception being the North Tower of the original World Trade Center at 417 m (1,368 ft) after its destruction in the September 11 attacks of 2001. If the Twin Towers were never destroyed, and One World Trade Center was never built, the WTC towers would rank 36 and 37 on the list today.

Clear Denotes building that is or was once the tallest in the world
More information Name, Height ...

Alternative measurements

Height to pinnacle (highest point)

Tallest buildings by pinnacle height, including all masts, poles, antennae, etc. in 2014

This measurement disregards distinctions between architectural and non-architectural extensions, and simply measures to the highest point, irrespective of material or function of the highest element.[10]

This measurement is useful for air traffic obstacle determinations, and is also a wholly objective measure. However, this measurement includes extensions that are easily added, removed, and modified from a building and are independent of the overall structure.

This measurement only recently came into use, when the Petronas Towers passed the Sears Tower (now named Willis Tower) in height. The former was considered taller because its spires were considered architectural, while the latter's antennae were not. This led to the split of definitions, with the Sears Tower claiming the lead in this and the height-to-roof (now highest occupied floor) categories, and with the Petronas claiming the lead in the architectural height category.

If the World Trade Center towers were still standing, the North (1,368 feet (417 m)) and South Towers (1,362 feet (415.1 m)) would fall between numbers 35 and 36 on the current list (it can be assumed the rebuilt One World Trade Center would have never been built).

Denotes building with pinnacle height higher than architectural
More information Rank, Building ...

Height to occupied floor

Tallest buildings by highest occupied floor in 2022.

This height is measured to the highest occupiable floor within the building.[10]

More information Rank, Building ...

Height to roof

This list of tallest buildings by height to roof ranks completed skyscrapers by height to roof which reach a height of 300 metres (984 ft) or more. Only buildings with continuously occupiable floors are included, thus non-building structures including towers, are not included. Some assessments of the tallest building use 'height to roof' to determine tallest building, as 'architectural feature' is regarded as a subjective and an imprecise comparative measure. However, in November 2009, the CTBUH stopped using the roof height as the metric for tall buildings because modern tall buildings rarely have a part of the building that can categorically be deemed the roof.[112]

More information Rank, Building ...

Buildings under construction

This is a list of buildings taller than 350 m that are currently under construction.[133] On-hold buildings whose construction was interrupted after it had reached a significantly advanced state are listed in a separate table.

Under construction

More information Rank, Building ...

On Hold

More information Rank, Building ...

List by continent

The following list shows the tallest completed buildings located on each continent listed by greatest to least height (click on name of continent for continent-specific list):

More information Continent, Building ...

Countries with most buildings on list

The following list shows the countries whose buildings are featured on the main list of world's tallest buildings (first list featured above), in order from most amount of buildings on the list to least amount of buildings on the list.

More information Rank, Country ...

See also

Notes

  1. Structurally Topped Out
  2. Marked as under Construction by CTBUH, on-hold according to other sources[173]
  1. The world's tallest building from 2004 to 2010
  2. World's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004
  3. Formerly known, and still commonly referred to, as the Sears Tower; world's tallest building from 1974 to 1998
  4. Tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere[66]
  5. World's tallest building from 1931 to 1972

References

  1. "Burj Dubai now a record 688m tall and continues to rise". Emaar Properties. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
  2. "The Tallest 20 in 2020: Entering the Era of the Megatall". CTBUH. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  3. Collins, Dana M. (2001). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-19-510234-5.
  4. GmbH, Emporis. "History of the World's Tallest Buildings". EMPORIS. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  5. Lynn S. Beedle. "Tallest: Petronas vs. Sears Tower Controversy". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  6. "History of Measuring Tall Buildings". www.ctbuh.org. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  7. "CTBUH changes height criteria, Burj Khalifa height increases". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. 17 November 2009. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
  8. Binder, Georges (August 2006). 101 of the world's tallest buildings. Images Pub. p. 102. ISBN 978-1864701739.
  9. "Tall Buildings In Numbers Vanity Height". Ctbuh.org. Archived from the original on 17 November 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  10. "Most of the World's Tallest Buildings Game the System With 'Vanity Height' – Jenny Xie". The Atlantic Cities. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  11. "Create Lists/Graphics – The Skyscraper Center". www.skyscrapercenter.com. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  12. "KK100 - The Skyscraper Center". www.skyscrapercenter.com.
  13. "Greenland Group Suzhou Center". The Skyscraper Center. Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  14. "CTBUH Changes Height Criteria". Ctbuh.org. 17 November 2009. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  15. "Burj Khalifa". Emporis. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015.
  16. "Shanghai Tower". Emporis. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015.
  17. "International Commerce Centre". Emporis. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015.
  18. "Central Park Tower". Emporis. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020.
  19. "Taipei 101". Emporis. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015.
  20. "Willis Tower". Emporis. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015.
  21. "One World Trade Center". Emporis. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015.
  22. "Princess Tower". Emporis. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015.
  23. "Jin Mao Tower". Emporis. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015.
  24. "Zifeng Tower". Emporis. Archived from the original on 12 July 2015.
  25. "Empire State Building". Emporis. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015.
  26. "Petronas Tower 1". Emporis. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016.
  27. "Petronas Tower 2". Emporis. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021.
  28. "Tuntex Sky Tower". Emporis. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  29. "Aon Center". Emporis. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016.
  30. "All Global Buildings". CTBUH. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  31. "Burj Binghatti Jacob & Co Residences - The Skyscraper Center". www.skyscrapercenter.com. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  32. Monteros, Mario Espinosa de los (26 July 2022). "First views of 'The Line', the 170-kilometer Saudi skyscraper". Diario AS. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  33. "Tour F". CTBUH Skyscraper Center. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  34. "Jeddah Tower". Emporis. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021.
  35. "Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia Will Soon Be the World's Tallest Building". Mashable.com. 19 April 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  36. Jones, W. Vernon. "Report on the Balloon Program" Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, NASA Astrophysics Subcommittee Meeting. 16 April 2013.
  37. Pacheco, Luis Eduardo. "McMurdo Station, Antarctica – Stratospheric balloon launches". stratocat.com.ar. Retrieved 23 September 2017.

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