Top 10 Tallest Buildings In The World 2020
When the Empire State Building in New York City was completed in 1931 it was thetallest building in the World at a height of 1,250 feet, and it kept that unique distinction as the tallest building in the World for the next four decades, until the North Tower of the World Trade Center was completed in 1971 a short distance away. The Empire State is America’s favorite building according to the American Institute of Architects, it was ranked first place in their list of America’s favorite architecture in 2010, and it’s iconic history and status epitomizes the United States as the early home of the biggest skyscrapers.
But the biggest skyscrapers of the 21st century are being built a long way from America, the middle-East and Asia is where the new generation of tallest buildings are reaching for the sky, and the race to build the tallest skyscraper of all has never been so hotly contested. The Empire State building is now only the 34th tallest building in the World, but it’s unlikely that any building being built today will be the tallest of all for four decades so fast is the development of new incredible designs. I hope you’ve got a good head for heights as we take a look at the ten tallest buildings in the World today.
#10 – Taipei 101 – Taiwan – 1,670 Feet – 508 m
Taipei 101 in Taiwan was the tallest building in the World upon completion in 2004 and it remained the tallest for the next five years. It was the first building over half a kilo-meter in height but it is one of the most technologically advanced skyscrapers on our list. Architecturally it combines a traditional Taiwanese pagoda-style with high-tech environmentally friendly design and has been awarded the highest certification in Energy and Environmental design. Despite it’s incredible height the building is also one of the strongest ever built. During construction in 2002 a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan causing a crane to topple from the top of the building. Five people died in the incident but the building, supported by hundreds of steel piles driven over 250 feet into the bedrock suffered no structural damage at all. Taipei 101 can also withstand typhoon winds of up to 135 mph and it’s flexible steel design, along with advanced tremor damping features enable it to withstand extremely strong earthquakes in this seismically active region.
#09 – China Zun – China – 1,730 Feet – 528 m
China Zun, in Beijing, was completed in 2018.
At the time of its completion, it became the world's ninth tallest building
with a total height of 1,667 feet.CITIC Tower is a super-tall skyscraper in the
Chinese capital’s business district . The building is the hub of the Central
Business District of Beijing.The building’s intriguing profile – wide at the top and at the base and slender in the middle – is inspired by the zun, an ancient Chinese ritual vessel for drinking wine, which also lends the structure its nickname. It was developed by the CITIC Group, which is why
it is alternatively known as the CITIC Tower. The building was the last
super-tall to be built before Beijing imposed height restrictions upon the
city.
#08 – Tianjin CTF Finance Center – China – 1,740 Feet – 530 m
The CTF Finance Centre in Tianjin holds the title of the world's eighth-tallest building, in a tie with the CTF Finance Centre in Guangzhou. The towers are both 1,740 feet tall. This CTF tower, which stands for Chow Tai Fook, was officially completed in 2019. Its construction began in 2013. The building hosts a total of 97 floors (plus 4 below ground) which are for mixed-use.The design for the Tianjin Chow Tai Fook Binhai Centre uses undulating curves to subtly express three programmatic elements while presenting a bold monolithic expression on the skyline. The 530-meter-tall skyscraper will house offices, 300 service apartments, and a five-star, 350-room hotel. The tower will be a striking new landmark in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA), located just outside Tianjin.The gently curving glass skin conceals eight sloping columns that lie behind the primary bends of the elevation and increase the structure’s stiffness in response to seismic concerns. Strategically placed, multistory wind vents combined with the tower's aerodynamic shape reduce vortex shedding, which in turn dramatically minimizes wind forces.
#07 – Guangzhou CTF Finance Center – China – 1,740 Feet – 530 m
Located in the city of Guangzhou in southern China, the CTF Finance Centre is a mixed-use skyscraper whose construction was completed in October of 2016. It is also 1,740 feet tall and is home to a shopping mall, offices, and a hotel. Guangzhou's CTF Finance Centre is notably home to one of the fastest elevators in the world, which reaches speeds of 71 km (44.7 miles) per hour. The tower’s design is derived from the efficient synthesis of its multiple uses. Its form is sculpted at four major transition points: office to residential, residential to hotel, hotel to crown, and crown to sky. Instead of tapering to accommodate the smaller floor plates required for different programs, the tower steps back at four angled parapets. These four setbacks allow for lush sky terraces and dramatic skylights. The building also employs a number of energy efficient tools to reduce its environmental footprint: the use of high-efficiency chillers and heat recovery from the water-cooled chiller condensers all contribute to the building’s sustainability.
#06 – One World Trade Center – Untied States – 1,780 Feet – 546 m
Standing at 1,780 feet and 104 stories, One World Trade Center is the tallest building not only in New York City, but also in the United States, and the entire Western Hemisphere. Its construction was completed in 2014. Its namesake comes from the North Tower of the original World Trade Center. One World Trade Center was built as a functional building in commemoration of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The building has been praised for its use of renewable energy, which includes the reuse of rainwater. One World Trade Center – also known as Freedom Tower – is located in the city’s bustling financial district in Downtown Manhattan. The skyscraper cost $4 billion USD and took eight years to build between the start of construction in 2006 and the first tenants moving in 2014. Its sheer size, geographic constraints, and safety necessities make it easily one of the Western Hemisphere’s most complex projects ever built.
#05 – Lotte Tower – South Korea – 1,823 Feet – 556 m
Inside, the tower contains a wide variety of program
types, including retail spaces, office floors, a five-star luxury hotel, and an
“officiate.” Commonly found in Korea, officiates offer studio-style apartments
for employees who work in the building and feature service typically found in
hotels such as standard furnishings, front desk services and gym access. Other
features include the shopping mall Avenue, Korea’s best urban aquarium, a
spectacular classical music hall, and Asia’s largest multiplex.
#04 – Ping An Finance Center– China – 1,820 Feet – 599 m
The Ping An International Finance Centre, in Shenzhen, China, is 1,820 feet tall. It is the fourth tallest building in the world. Construction of the building topped out in 2015 before being finally completed in 2017. The Ping An International Finance Centre features a conference center, hotel, and several high-end retail spaces. It is also the home of its namesake, Ping An Insurance. The building uses an impressive total of 33 double-decker elevators to access its 115 floors. Ping An is the physical and iconic center of Shenzhen’s growing central business district. The stone and glass tower’s four facades are sheathed in chevron-shaped stone verticals that extend from the building’s base. The latter includes five floors of retail shops that terrace away from the tower to form a large amphitheater-like space. The building is also defined by a central atrium, which serves as a public vestibule and allows daylight in, creating a welcoming space for meeting, shopping and dining. The original plan was to add a 60 m (197 ft) antenna atop the building to surpass the Shanghai Tower (cf below) and become the tallest building in China, although that plan was abandoned due to the possibility that it might obstruct flight paths.
#03 – Makkah Royal Clock Tower – Saudi Arabia – 1,972 Feet – 601 m
Also referred to as the Abraj Al-Bait of Mecca, the Makkah Royal Clock Tower in Saudi Arabia is the third tallest building in the world. It stands at a total of 1,972 feet located next to the world’s largest mosque and Islam’s holy site, the Great Mosque of Mecca.The government-owned complex features a hotel with 120 floors, as well as a conference center, an Islamic museum, and a prayer room with a capacity of 10,000 people. Other amenities inside the building include a five-story shopping mall and a Lunar Observation Centre, which is used to watch the moon during the Holy Month. The Abraj Al-Bait was constructed by the Saudi Binladin Group, which is the largest construction firm in Saudi Arabia. The clock of the Makkah Royal Clock Tower is the largest clock face in the world. It is the world’s most expensive building with the total cost of construction totaling $15 billion USD. The clock faces are illuminated by two million LED lights at night and can be seen from over 15 miles away on a clear night, which in Saudi Arabia is basically every night.
The Shanghai Tower is the world's second-tallest building as well as the tallest building in China, with 121 floors and a height of 2,070 feet. The construction of Shanghai Tower began in 2006 and took a total of eight years. This building was designed by Gensler, an American architectural company. Its initial purpose was to serve as a hotel and office building. Today, the Shanghai Tower has a total of 320 hotel rooms and 1,100 parking spaces. The observation deck at the top of the building offers a stunning view of the area of Shanghai known as Pudong. It is the tallest observation deck in the world. The tower rises high above Shanghai’s impressive skyline, its curved façade and spiraling form symbolizing the dynamic emergence of modern China. Its tiered construction, designed for high energy efficiency, provides nine vertical zones divided between office, retail and leisure use. Shanghai Tower is one of the most sustainably advanced tall buildings in the world: a transparent skin wraps around the entire building, creating a buffer between the inside and outside that warms up the cool outside air in the winter and dissipates heat from the interior in the summer.
#01 – Burj Khalifa – Dubai – 2,720 Feet – 828 m
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world. It stands at a height of 828 meters, or 2,720 feet. Primarily constructed from steel and concrete, the building was designed by the same architects who were responsible for other famous super-tall like the Willis Tower in Chicago and One World Trade Center in New York City. The construction of the building, which was completed in 2010, was part of an initiative by the government of the United Arab Emirates to shift the country’s economy from one that is solely oil-based to tourism and service-based economy. The Burj Khalifa has 30,000 residences spread out over 19 residential towers, an artificial lake, nine hotels, and a shopping mall.The tower’s design is inspired by the geometries of a regional desert flower and the patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture. As the tower rises from a Y-shaped tripartite base, setbacks occur in an upward spiraling pattern, reducing the building’s mass as it reaches skyward.
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