COUNTRY
CITY
YEAR
FEET
METERS
UAE
Dubai
2010
2 717
828
The Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft) and a roof height (excluding antenna) of 828 m (2,717 ft), the Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure and building in the world since its topping out in 2009.
The primary structure is reinforced concrete. The building was opened in 2010 as part of a new development called Downtown Dubai. It is designed to be the centrepiece of large-scale, mixed-use development. The decision to construct the building is based on the government’s decision to diversify from an oil-based economy, and for Dubai to gain international recognition.
It contains a total of 57 elevators and 8 escalators. The building broke numerous height records, including its designation as the tallest building in the world.
COUNTRY
City
YEAR
FEET
METERS
CANADA
TORONTO
1976
1 815
553
The CN Tower is a 553.3 m-high (1 815 ft) concrete communications and observation tower located in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built on the former Railway Lands, it was completed in 1976. Its name “CN” originally referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower.
The CN Tower held the record for the world’s tallest free-standing structure for 32 years until 2007 when it was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa. It is now the ninth tallest free-standing structure in the world and remains the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. In 1995, the CN Tower was declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
COUNTRY
CITY
YEAR
FEET
METERS
USA
NEW YORK
2014
1 776
541
One World Trade Center (also known as One WTC, 1 World Trade Center, 1 WTC, or Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. One WTC is the tallest building in the United States, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the sixth-tallest in the world. The supertall structure has the same name as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The new skyscraper stands on the northwest corner of the 16-acre (6.5 ha) World Trade Center site, on the site of the original 6 World Trade Center.
The building’s architect is David Childs, whose firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) also designed the Burj Khalifa and the Willis Tower. On May 10, 2013, the final component of the skyscraper’s spire was installed, making the building, including its spire, reach a total height of 1,776 feet (541 m). Its height in feet is a deliberate reference to the year when the United States Declaration of Independence was signed.
COUNTRY
City
YEAR
FEET
METERS
MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR
1998
1 483
452
The Petronas Towers, also known as the Petronas Twin Towers, are twin skyscrapers. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)’s official definition and ranking, they were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 and remain the tallest twin towers in the world. The buildings are a landmark of Kuala Lumpur.
The 88-floor towers are constructed largely of reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass facade designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia’s Muslim religion. Another Islamic influence on the design is that the cross section of the towers is based on a Rub el Hizb, albeit with circular sectors added to meet office space requirements.
The towers were designed by Argentine architect César Pelli. A distinctive postmodern style was chosen to create a 21st-century icon for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Because of the depth of the bedrock, the buildings were built on the world’s deepest foundations.
COUNTRY
CITY
YEAR
FEET
METERS
USA
CHICAGO
1974
1 451
442
The Willis Tower is a 110-story, 1,450-foot (442.1 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At completion in 1973, it surpassed the World Trade Center in New York to become the tallest building in the world, a title it held for nearly 25 years; it was the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere for 41 years, until the new One World Trade Center surpassed it in 2014.
Willis Tower is considered a seminal achievement for architect Fazlur Rahman Khan. It is currently the second-tallest building in the United States and the Western hemisphere – and the 16th-tallest in the world. Each year, more than one million people visit its observation deck, the highest in the United States, making it one of Chicago’s most popular tourist destinations.
COUNTRY
City
YEAR
FEET
METERS
USA
NEW YORK
1931
1 250
381
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and completed in 1931. The building has a roof height of 1,250 feet (380 m) and stands a total of 1,454 feet (443.2 m) tall, including its antenna. Its name is derived from “Empire State”, the nickname of New York, which is of unknown origin. As of 2019 the building is the 5th-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States and the 28th-tallest in the world. The Empire State Building stood as the world’s tallest building for nearly 40 years until the completion of the World Trade Center’s North Tower in Lower Manhattan in late 1970. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, it was again the tallest building in New York until the new One World Trade Center was completed in April 2012.
The Empire State Building is an American cultural icon and has been featured in more than 250 TV shows and movies since the film King Kong was released in 1933. A symbol of New York City, the tower has been named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
COUNTRY
CITY
YEAR
FEET
METERS
USA
LOS ANGELES
2017
110
335
Wilshire Grand Center is a 1,100-foot (335.3 m) skyscraper in the Financial District of Downtown Los Angeles, California, occupying the entire city block between Wilshire Blvd. and 7th, Figueroa and Francisco streets. It is the tallest building in Los Angeles, the tallest building in California, the tallest building west of the Mississippi River and outside of New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia, and the 11th tallest building in the United States.
The building is part of a mixed-use hotel, retail, observation decks, shopping mall, and office complex, expected to revitalize downtown Los Angeles and the area surrounding the building.
COUNTRY
City
YEAR
FEET
METERS
USA
San Francisco
2018
1 070
326
Salesforce Tower, formerly known as the Transbay Tower, is a 1,070-foot (326 m) office skyscraper in the South of Market district of downtown San Francisco. It is located at 415 Mission Street between First and Fremont Streets, next to the Transbay Transit Center site. Salesforce Tower is the centerpiece of the San Francisco Transbay redevelopment plan. The plan contains a mix of office, transportation, retail, and residential uses. This was the last building designed by César Pelli to be completed in his lifetime.
Upon its completion in 2018 it became the tallest skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline, with a top roof height of 970 feet (296 m) and overall height of 1,070 feet (326 m), surpassing the 853 feet (260 m) Transamerica Pyramid. It is also the second-tallest building west of the Mississippi River after the 1,100 feet (335 m) Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles, though the Salesforce Tower is taller when Wilshire Grand Center’s decorative spire is excluded, but has a shorter roofline than Los Angeles’ U.S. Bank Tower.
COUNTRY
City
YEAR
FEET
METERS
UNITED KINGDOM
LONDON
2012
1 004
306
The Shard, also referred to as the Shard of Glass, Shard London Bridge and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 95-storey supertall skyscraper, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, in Southwark, London, that forms part of the Shard Quarter development. Standing 309.6 metres (1,016 ft) high, the Shard is the tallest building in the United Kingdom, the tallest building in the European Union, and the fifth-tallest building in Europe.
Renzo Piano, the project’s architect, designed The Shard as a spire-like sculpture emerging from the River Thames. The Shard’s construction began in March 2009; it was inaugurated on 5 July 2012.
COUNTRY
CITY
YEAR
FEET
METERS
France
Paris
1889
984
300
The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Constructed from 1887 to 1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair, it was initially criticised by some of France’s leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015.
During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the world.
COUNTRY
City
YEAR
FEET
METERS
GERMANY
FRANKFURT
1997
850
259
Commerzbank Tower is a 56-story, 259 m (850 ft) skyscraper owned by Samsung of Korea since September 2016 in the banking district of Frankfurt, Germany. It is the tallest building in Frankfurt and the tallest building in Germany.
Commerzbank Tower was designed by Foster & Partners. Construction of the building began in 1994 and took three years to complete. The building provides 121,000 m2 (1,300,000 sq ft) of office space for the Commerzbank headquarters, including winter gardens and natural lighting and air circulation. The building is lighted at night with a yellow lighting scheme that was designed by Thomas Ende who was allowed to display this sequence as a result of a competition.
COUNTRY
CITY
YEAR
FEET
METERS
POLAND
WARSAW
1955
757
231
Palace of Culture and Science, is a notable high-rise building in central Warsaw, Poland. With a total height of 237 metres (778 ft) it is the tallest building in Poland, the 6th-tallest building in the European Union (including spire) and one of the tallest on the European continent. It houses various public and cultural institutions such as cinemas, theaters, libraries, sports clubs, university faculties and authorities of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the European office of Champions Cardio company. Since 2007 it has been enlisted in the Registry of Objects of Cultural Heritage.
Motivated by Polish historical architecture and American art deco high-rise buildings, the PKiN was designed by Soviet architect Lev Rudnev in “Seven Sisters” style and is informally referred to as the Eighth Sister. The Palace was also the tallest clock tower in the world until the installation of a clock mechanism on the NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building in Tokyo, Japan.
Construction started in 1952 and lasted until 1955. A gift from the Soviet Union to the people of Poland, the tower was constructed, using Soviet plans.
COUNTRY
City
YEAR
FEET
METERS
EGYPT
GIZA
2560 BC
455
139
The Great Pyramid of Giza (also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex bordering present-day El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.
Based on a mark in an interior chamber naming the work gang and a reference to the fourth dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu, some Egyptologists believe that the pyramid was thus built as a tomb over a 10- to 20-year period concluding around 2560 BC. Initially at 146.5 metres (481 feet), the Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for more than 3,800 years until Lincoln Cathedral was finished in 1311 AD.
COUNTRY
CITY
YEAR
FEET
METERS
UNITED KINGDOM
LONDON
1859
315
96
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London and is usually extended to refer to both the clock and the clock tower. The official name of the tower in which Big Ben is located was originally the Clock Tower, but it was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
The tower was designed by Augustus Pugin in a neo-Gothic style. When completed in 1859, its clock was the largest and most accurate four-faced striking and chiming clock in the world. The tower stands 315 feet (96 m) tall. Its base is square, measuring 39 feet (12 m) on each side. Big Ben is the largest of the tower’s five bells and weighs 13.5 long tons.
The tower is a British cultural icon recognised all over the world. It is one of the most prominent symbols of the United Kingdom and parliamentary democracy, and it is often used in the establishing shot of films set in London. The clock tower has been part of a Grade I listed building since 1970 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
COUNTRY
City
YEAR
FEET
METERS
INDIA
AGRA
1653
240
73
The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (reigned from 1628 to 1658), to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan, the builder. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.
Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage”. It is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India’s rich history.
COUNTRY
CITY
YEAR
FEET
METERS
ITALY
PISA
1372
186
57
The Leaning Tower of Pisa or simply the Tower of Pisa is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unstable foundation.
The tower’s tilt began during construction in the 12th century, due to soft ground on one side, which was unable to properly support the structure’s weight. The tilt increased in the decades before the structure was completed in the 14th century. It gradually increased until the structure was stabilized (and the tilt partially corrected) by efforts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
COUNTRY
City
YEAR
FEET
METERS
USA
WASHINGTON
1800
70
21
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. The term “White House” is often used as a metonym for the president and his advisers.
The residence was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the neoclassical style. Hoban modelled the building on Leinster House in Dublin, a building which today houses the Oireachtas, the Irish legislature. Construction took place between 1792 and 1800 using Aquia Creek sandstone painted white. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he (with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe) added low colonnades on each wing that concealed stables and storage. In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior. Reconstruction began almost immediately.
COUNTRY
City
YEAR
FEET
METERS
USA
Cupertino
2017
50
15
Apple Park is the corporate headquarters of Apple Inc., located at One Apple Park Way in Cupertino, California, United States. It was opened to employees in April 2017, while construction was still underway. Its research and development facilities are occupied by more than 2,000 people. It superseded the original headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop, which opened in 1993.
Its circular design, courtesy of Norman Foster, and extreme scale have earned the structure a media nickname “the spaceship”. Located on a suburban site totaling 175 acres (71 hectares), it houses more than 12,000 employees in one central four-story circular building of approximately 2,800,000 square feet (260,000 square meters). Steve Jobs wanted the whole campus to look less like an office park and more like a nature refuge. Eighty percent of the site consists of green space planted with drought-resistant trees and plants indigenous to the Cupertino area, and the center courtyard of the main building features an artificial pond.
On June 7, 2011, Steve Jobs presented to Cupertino City Council details of the architectural design of the new buildings and their environs. He did not live to see construction begin, passing away just under four months later.