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Tallest Buildings in the World

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World’s Tallest Building

Sky City Tower – World’s Tallest Building
26 + 23 Nov 2012 – Construction is scheduled to commence in December 2012 on the world’s tallest building in Changsha, China. The tower is due to be completed in only 90 days.

World's Tallest Building China
World Tallest Building image © BROAD Group

World Tallest Building – Sky City Tower

The tower is due to have 220 floors and be 838 m high.

It has been titled Sky City tower but is also known as SKYCITY – J220

Expected completion: Mar 2013
Contractor: Broad Sustainable Building (BSB)
Elements: schools, hospital, apartments for over 30,000 people
Unusual feature: 17 helipads
Status: awaiting planning permission

Tallest Trends and the Burj Khalifa

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat ratifies official height and “World’s Tallest” status of the Burj Khalifa

History and Progression of the “World’s Tallest” building

Chicago, 11th March 2010 – The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has received and examined detailed drawings of the Burj Khalifa submitted by building owner Emaar, and can now confirm the official building height at 828.00 meters (2716.54 feet), as well as the title of “The World’s Tallest Building”. With the official completion of the building on January 4th, 2010, the Burj Khalifa surpassed the previous “World’s Tallest” (Taipei 101) by 320 meters, an unprecedented increase of 61%.

The Burj Khalifa has become the 16th building to hold the title of the “World’s Tallest” and stands an additional 773 meters higher, or 15 times taller, than the world’s first “tall building” (the Home Insurance Building completed in Chicago in 1885).
125 years on from the completion of the first skyscraper, the tall building typology continues to evolve at a rapid pace. The Burj Khalifa exemplifies four major trends in current tall building construction, with respect to location, function, structural material and height.

Worlds Tallest Building
World Tallest Buildings image © CTBUH

Location
Until the 1990’s, the world of tall buildings was dominated by the North American continent and the United States in particular. In 1990, 80% of the world’s tallest 100 buildings and nine of the tallest ten buildings were located in North America. Two decades later, these numbers have fallen to 35% and two respectively. This trend is the result of a dramatic (and continuing) increase in tall building construction in both Asia and the Middle East. The Burj Khalifa becomes the third consecutive “World’s Tallest” to be located outside North America.

Burj Khalifa World's Tallest Building
image from Emaar

Function
The mixed-use but predominantly residential function of the Burj Khalifa is also in line with current tall building trends. 20% of the world’s current 100 tallest buildings are now mixed-use; a figure which will increase dramatically in the next few years, as a large number of mixed-use buildings complete around the world. The Burj Khalifa is the first mixed-use building to hold the “World’s Tallest” title.

Structural Material
For many years, steel was the material of choice for the tall building, a fact displayed in the first twelve “World’s Tallest” buildings. Currently, composite, concrete and mixed-structure construction is much more prevalent in tall buildings. Only 24% of the world’s current 100 tallest buildings contain a purely steel structural system, down from 57% in 1990.

Height
As exemplified by the Burj Khalifa, the average height of supertall buildings is also increasing. The number of completed supertalls (buildings over 300 meters in height) now stands at 44, up from 11 in the year 1990. This figure is predicted to increase significantly over the next decade, with 70 projects 300 meters or taller currently under construction internationally.

In addition to becoming the “World’s Tallest,” in the primary height category of “Height to Architectural Top”, the Council confirms that the Burj Khalifa has surpassed previous record heights in the “Height to Tip” and “Highest Occupied Floor” categories and lists these heights at 829.84 meters (2722.57 feet) and 584.50 meters (1917.65 feet) respectively. The building also contains a record-breaking number of floors, at 163; a record previously held by New York’s World Trade Center Towers at 110 floors. The Burj Khalifa’s observation deck becomes the second highest in the world at 452.10 meters (1483.27 feet), surpassed only by that of the Shanghai World Financial Center at 474 meters (1555.12 feet).

About the CTBUH
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, based at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, is an international not-for-profit organization supported by architecture, engineering, planning, development and construction professionals, designed to facilitate exchanges among those involved in all aspects of the planning, design, construction and operation of tall buildings.

The Council is the arbiter of the criteria upon which tall building height is measured, and thus the title of ‘The World’s Tallest Building’ determined. CTBUH is the world’s leading body dedicated to the field of tall buildings and urban habitat and the recognized international source for information in these fields.

World Skyscrapers – The Tallest Towers

Burj Khalifa skyscraper, Dubai
Design: SOM
Burj Khalifa tower - Worlds Tallest Building
photograph : Imre Solt
World’s Tallest Tower – Burj Khalifa : 828 m high

Skyscraper Buildings

Skyscraper Images : A-B

Skyscraper Developments : C-H

Skyscraper Designs : I-N

Tower Designs : O-R

Tower Images : S-Z

World Skyscraper Designs

23 East 22nd Street, USA
Office for Metropolitan Architecture
Manhattan skyscraper - Worlds Tallest Building
image from Office for Metropolitan Architecture

Absolute Tower, Canada
MAD
Absolute Tower - Worlds Tallest Building
image from architect

Bahrain World Trade Centre, Bahrain
Atkins
Bahrain World Trade Centre - Worlds Tallest Building
photo from architects

Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong
IM Pei
Bank of China Tower
photo © Andrew McRae

Busan World Business Centre, Korea
UNStudio Architects
Busan skyscraper
image : UNStudio 2007

City Palace Tower, Russia
RMJM Architects
City Palace Tower - Worlds Tallest Building
image from architect

Dorobanti Tower, Bucharest
Zaha Hadid Architects
Dorobanti Tower - Worlds Tallest Building
image from architects

Empire State Building, New York City, NY, USA
Shreve, Lamb & Harmon
Empire State Building
photo © Andrew McRae

Iris Bay skyscraper, Dubai, UAE
Atkins
Iris Bay Tower - Worlds Tallest Building
image © from Atkins

KLCC Towers, Malaysia
Cesar Pelli
KLCC Towers
photo © Tom Ravenscroft

Phare Tower Paris, France
Morphosis
Phare Tower
image from architect

Ras Al Khaimah Tower, UAE
Snøhetta
Ras Al Khaimah Tower
picture : MIR

Tall Buildings

Selected High-rise architecture by country:

English Skyscrapers

German Skyscrapers

French Skyscrapers

Sears Tower Chicago

World’s Tallest Buildings

World’s tallest hotel building : Burj al Arab tower
Burj al Arab
image from architect

World’s Tallest Skyscraper (former) : Shanghai World Financial Center
Shanghai World Financial Center
photo © Andrew McRae

World’s Fastest Elevators – Skyscraper Buildings News
Taipei 101. Building
photo : Daniel Shih

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