Online Encyclopedia

Skyscraper

Taipei 101, the world's tallest skyscraper by roof height on high rise.

"What is the chief characteristic of the tall office building? It is lofty. It must be tall. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and pride of exaltation must be in it. It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line."

—Louis Sullivan's The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered (1896)

The word skyscraper was originally a nautical term for a tall mast or sail on a sailing ship. Today the word is used exclusively to refer to a tall habitable building, usually higher than 152 metres (500 feet). A skyscraper is also sometimes referred to as a highrise, a term which is generally used to refer to a residential building.

Until the 19th century, buildings of over six stories were rare. It was impractical to have people walk up so many flights of stairs, and water pressure could only provide running water to about 50 feet (15 m).

The development of steel, reinforced concrete, and water pumps have made possible the construction of extremely tall buildings, some of which are over 300 metres tall. The other development essential to practical skyscraper development was the invention of the elevator.

The skyscraper first emerged in the land-strapped areas of New York City and Chicago toward the end of the 19th century. William LeBaron Jenney designed the first skyscraper in Chicago, The Home Insurance Building. The ten-story structure was constructed in 1884-1885 and was destroyed in 1931 for the Field's building.

The weight-bearing components of skyscrapers also differ substantially from those of other buildings. Buildings of about four stories are supported by their walls, while skyscrapers are larger buildings that must be supported by a skeletal frame. The walls then hang off this frame like curtains. Special consideration must then be given for buildings that are over 40 stories tall because of the force that wind puts on the structure.

See world's tallest structures for a discussion of the tallest skyscrapers and other man-made structures, as determining the "world's tallest..." depends greatly on matters of definition.

Contents

1 Top 50 Skyscrapers by structural/architectural height

2 History of tallest skyscraper

3 Top 15 by pinnacle

4 Comparison of top modern skyscrapers

5 See also

6 External links

Top 50 Skyscrapers by structural/architectural height

The Sears Tower in Chicago, the world's tallest skyscraper from 1974 to 2004. Retained Highest pinnacle on a high-rise

This table is adapted from [1] http://www.emporis.com/en/bu/sk/st/tp/wo/ and utilizes the criteria set by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). It ranks high rises by the highest architectural detail, and does not include the height of structural components that do not count as architectural structures, such as antennas and masts. This sort of ranking allows buildings that look smaller in height to be ranked higher if another building's spire is adjudged to be a large antenna and thus excluded. This results in such rankings as the Petronas Towers being ranked higher then the Sears Tower despite having a much lower highest point and occupiable floor. Also, the list does not include free-standing buildings that are not classified as high rises, such as the CN Tower, TV masts, bridges, or oil platforms. The table is up to date as of 2004, with destroyed buildings removed, notably the World Trade Center which would be in the top ten. (Note: the height given is the highest architectural detail and may not be highest point on building.)

Rank	Building	City	Height		Floors	Built
1	Taipei 101	Taipei	509 m	1,671 ft	101	2003
2	Petronas Tower 1	Kuala Lumpur	452 m	1,483 ft	88	1998
3	Petronas Tower 2	Kuala Lumpur	452 m	1,483 ft	88	1998
4	Sears Tower	Chicago	442 m	1,450 ft	108	1974
5	Jin Mao Tower	Shanghai	421 m	1,380 ft	88	1998

6	Two International Finance Centre	Hong Kong	415 m	1,362 ft	88	2003
7	CITIC Plaza	Guangzhou	391 m	1,283 ft	80	1997
8	Shun Hing Square	Shenzhen	384 m	1,260 ft	69	1996
9	Empire State Building	New York City	381 m	1,250 ft	102	1931
10	Central Plaza	Hong Kong	374 m	1,227 ft	78	1992

11	Bank of China Tower	Hong Kong	367 m	1,205 ft	72	1990
12	Emirates Office Tower	Dubai	355 m	1,163 ft	54	2000
13	Tuntex Sky Tower	Kaohsiung	348 m	1,140 ft	85	1997
14	Aon Center	Chicago	346 m	1,136 ft	83	1973
15	The Center	Hong Kong	346 m	1,135 ft	73	1998

16	Censored page	Chicago	344 m	1,127 ft	100	1969
17	Ryugyong Hotel	Pyongyang	330 m	1,083 ft	105	1992
18	Burj Al Arab	Dubai	321 m	1,053 ft	60	1999
19	Chrysler Building	New York City	319 m	1,046 ft	77	1930
20	Bank of America Plaza	Atlanta	312 m	1,023 ft	55	1992

21	US Bank Tower	Los Angeles	310 m	1,018 ft	73	1990
22	Menara Telekom	Kuala Lumpur	310 m	1,017 ft	55	2001
23	Emirates Hotel Tower	Dubai	309 m	1,014 ft	56	2000
24	AT&T Corporate Center	Chicago	307 m	1,007 ft	60	1989
25	JPMorganChase Tower	Houston	305 m	1,002 ft	75	1982

26	Baiyoke Tower II	Bangkok	304 m	997 ft	85	1997
27	Two Prudential Plaza	Chicago	303 m	995 ft	64	1990
28	Kingdom Centre	Riyadh	302 m	992 ft	41	2002
29	First Canadian Place	Toronto	298 m	978 ft	72	1976
30	Yokohama Landmark Tower	Yokohama	296 m	972 ft	70	1993

31	Wells Fargo Plaza	Houston	296 m	972 ft	71	1983
32	311 South Wacker Drive	Chicago	293 m	961 ft	65	1990
33	SEG Plaza	Shenzhen	292 m	957 ft	70	2000
34	American International	New York City	290 m	952 ft	66	1932
35	Key Tower	Cleveland	289 m	947 ft	57	1991

36	Plaza 66	Shanghai	288 m	945 ft	66	2001
37	One Liberty Place	Philadelphia	288 m	945 ft	61	1987
38	Bank of America Tower	Seattle	285 m	937 ft	76	1985
39	Tomorrow Square	Shanghai	285 m	934 ft	55	2003
40	Cheung Kong Centre	Hong Kong	283 m	928 ft	62	1999

41	The Trump Building	New York City	283 m	927 ft	70	1930
42	Bank of America Plaza	Dallas	281 m	921 ft	72	1985
43	OUB Centre	Singapore	280 m	919 ft	63	1986
44	Republic Plaza	Singapore	280 m	919 ft	66	1995
45	UOB Plaza One	Singapore	280 m	919 ft	66	1992

46	Citigroup Center	New York City	279 m	915 ft	59	1977
47	Hong Kong New World Tower	Shanghai	278 m	913 ft	61	2002
48	Scotia Plaza	Toronto	275 m	902 ft	68	1988
49	Williams Tower	Houston	275 m	901 ft	64	1983
50	Wuhan World Trade Tower	Wuhan	273 m	896 ft	58	1998

For a longer listing go to List of skyscrapers

History of tallest skyscraper

Building	Built	Status	Roof		Pinnacle		Floors
Home Insurance Building	1885	Destroyed	180 ft	55 m			12
World Building	1890	Destroyed	309 ft	94 m	349 ft	106 m	20
Manhattan Life Insurance Building	1894	Destroyed	348 ft	106 m			18
Park Row Building	1899	Present	391 ft	119 m			30
Singer Building	1908	Destroyed	612 ft	187 m			47

Met Life Tower	1909	Present	700 ft	213 m			50
Woolworth Building	1913	Present	792 ft	241 m			57
40 Wall Street	1930	Present			927 ft	283 m	71
Chrysler Building	1930	Present	925 ft	282 m	1046 ft	319 m	77
Empire State Building	1931	Present	1250 ft	381 m	1472 ft	449 m	102

1 World Trade Center	1972	Destroyed	1368 ft	417 m	1727 ft	526 m	110
Sears Tower	1974	Present	1450 ft	442 m	1730 ft	527 m	108
Taipei 101	2003	Present	1470 ft	448 m	1667 ft	508 m	101

Disputed Claims:

CN Tower (see also List of towers)
Petronas Towers (only held one height category)

Top 15 by pinnacle

Top 15 by the highest point on the building.

Building	Height		City
Sears Tower	527 m	1730 ft	Chicago
1 World Trade Center (destroyed)	526 m	1727 ft	New York City
Taipei 101	508 m	1667 ft	Taipei
Censored page	457 m	1500 ft	Chicago
Petronas Towers	452 m	1483 ft	Kuala Lumpur
Empire State Building	449 m	1472 ft	New York City

Jin Mao Tower	421 m	1380 ft	Shanghai
2 International Finance Centre	416 m	1364 ft	Hong Kong
2 World Trade Center (destroyed)	415 m	1363 ft	New York City
CITIC Plaza	391 m	1283 ft	Guangzhou
Shun Hing Square	384 m	1260 ft	Shenzhen

Tuntex 85 Sky Tower	378 m	1240 ft	Kaohsiung
Central Plaza	374 m	1227 ft	Hong Kong
Bank of China Tower	367 m	1205 ft	Hong Kong
SEG Plaza	356 m	1167 ft	Shenzhen