The world's tallest building, at 2,723 feet (829.84 meters), is the Burj Khalifa (previously Burj Dubai) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is also the highest occupied building in the world.
The second-highest office building in the US is Two Wall Street - A Dow Jones Company, at 792 feet (241.9 meters). It is now under construction and will be the new home of Dow Jones & Company when it opens in early 2014.
The third-highest office building in the US is One Wall Street - also known as The Wall Street Building - at 781 feet (237.4 meters). It was completed in 1917.
Four buildings in Chicago, Illinois, make up the group of tallest skyscrapers within city limits: The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), John Hancock Center, Trump Tower, and Rogers Centre are all between 750 and 800 feet (230 to 240 meters) tall.
In Manila, Philippines, there are three skyscrapers over 500 feet (152 m): the PhilTrust Bank Headquarters, the PNB Plaza, and the Pan Pacific Hotel. The former two are currently the tallest buildings in the country; they were both completed in 1990.
The Burj Khalifa At 829.8 meters, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper is the world's tallest building (2,722 ft). Guyed masts (such as telecommunication masts), self-supporting towers (such as the CN Tower), skyscrapers (such as the Willis Tower), oil platforms, electrical transmission towers, and bridge support towers are among the structures included. The list of objects that do not qualify as buildings but which are still used for telecommunications purposes includes radio telescopes, space stations, and large military guns.
The current record holder is the Tianyi 1 antenna in China at 556 meters (1,914 ft). It was built in 1998 by Shanghai Astronomical Observatory to provide coverage over a wide area using several smaller antennas mounted on one structure.
Other notable examples include the Martin Vission 400T monolith on Martins Island in Washington State, United States, that measures 394 m (1,307 ft) high.
Its construction started in 1964 and it was opened for service in 1969. It is owned and operated by Telstra.
Another very tall structure that no longer operates as a communications tower is the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, California. It stands 776 m (2,547 ft) tall and was completed in 1982. It has been listed as one of the "Seven Modern Marvels" of America by Smithsonian Magazine.
The Burj Khalifa Since 2010, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai has held the title of world's tallest structure at 2,716 ft. The Vincom Landmark 81 tower in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is the smallest structure on the list, standing at 1,513 feet. Only one US tower, New York City's One World Trade Center, made the top 17. It measured 2,722 feet when it was completed in 2014.
The reason for this is that no one knows how people will react to a tower that high. In fact, no one knows what people will do with all that space. Some might say this is a good thing for design. After all, if we always knew exactly how people would use something, then nothing interesting would ever get created.
However, there are those who question why such a huge building isn't used for more useful purposes than entertainment. Some argue that money could be saved by not building such a luxury hotel first-in-the-world, while others think that less harmful ways can be found to generate revenue from tourists.
Finally, there are those who simply enjoy the view from up so high.
There are currently just three such structures: the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which rises at 2,717 ft. and was finished in 2010, the Shanghai Tower, which was completed in 2015 in Shanghai, China, and sits at 2,073 ft., and the Makkah Royal Clock Tower, which stands at 1,972 ft. and was built in 2009.
The tallest tower of its kind has ever been planned by Frank Lloyd Wright for his "Guggenheim Museum" in New York City. It would have reached 1,454 feet but wasn't constructed due to lack of funding.
New York has been home to many a skyscraper over time, some of which still stand today. The Chrysler Building, now a luxury hotel, was once the world's tallest building until it was surpassed by the Sears Tower in Chicago in 1970. The Empire State Building is still one of the most famous buildings in New York and was also designed by Wright. It was completed in 1931 and at that time was the largest structural steel framework ever built. Today, it is known for being the site of several movies' end scenes.
In London, England, there is also a building called the Shard, which is actually two connected towers of equal height. The lower section was opened in 2012 while the upper section is expected to be completed in 2016. Both sections are office buildings. When both are complete the Shard will be the tallest building in Europe.
The Burj Khalifa, Dubai's tallest structure, stands 828 meters (2,717 ft) tall and has 210 storeys. It is also the world's tallest building with an integrated lift system.
The tower was designed by Fazlur Khan of Pakistani origin who also designed the Burj Al Arab, another famous skyscraper in Dubai. It was built by Zaha Hadid Architects, which is a leading international architecture firm. Its construction began on January 23, 2009 and it was inaugurated on April 4, 2010, exactly one year after its opening date. The cost of the project was estimated at $140 million at that time but later reports indicated it could have been as high as $500 million.
It is worth mentioning that the original height of the Burj Khalifa was 828 m (2,717 ft), but this was reduced by 20 m (66 ft) at the request of the owner, the Emir of Dubai, because people were complaining about being able to see it from far away.
This isn't the only skyscraper in Dubai; there are others that reach higher than the Burj Khalifa.
Although the skyline is not as thick as in most of the other cities on our list, each structure is an architectural wonder in its own right. The Burj Khalifa is the world's tallest man-made skyscraper, with 163 storeys reaching a height of 585 meters (1,918 feet), however the apex of its spire reaches 829 meters (2,722 feet). It is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The Shanghai World Financial Center, commonly called the Shanghai Tower, is the second highest building in China and the third highest in the world. It is also the first supertall building in Asia and has become one of the most recognizable landmarks in Shanghai. With a height of 551 metres (1,821 feet), it is also the largest concrete structure in the world by volume. It was completed in 2010 and has 49 floors above ground plus another 456 meters (1,542 feet) below ground in a shaft that connects to two underground malls.
The Citic Square is a skyscraper in Beijing that is currently the fifth tallest building in the world. It has been called China's Sears Tower due to its similar design to Chicago's Sears Tower. The building has 104 stories and is 928 meters (3,022 feet) tall. It was opened in 1998 and is owned by the Citic Group.
The Sky City is a mixed use complex in Auckland, New Zealand.
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