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The tallest building in the world, as of , is the
Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa (; ar, برج خليفة, , Khalifa Tower), known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is known for being the world’s tallest building. With a total height ...
. The title of " world's tallest building" has been borne by various buildings, such as the
Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England, is a Listed building, Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Angl ...
, the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
and the
original World Trade Center Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion t ...
. Before the modern
skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
era, between 1311 and 1884, the tallest buildings and structures were mostly Christian churches and cathedrals. Before the 13th century, the tallest buildings in the world cannot be conclusively determined. For instance, the
Lighthouse of Alexandria The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria (; Ancient Greek: ὁ Φάρος τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας, contemporary Koine ), was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, during the re ...
(completed about 280 BC) has been estimated to have been tall, but its true height is not known. For thousands of years, the
Great Pyramid The Great Pyramid of Giza is the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. Built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient Worl ...
in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
was the tallest ''structure'' in the world until Lincoln Cathedral of 1311, but the Great Pyramid is not considered a building since it is not habitable. Similarly, the Eiffel Tower was the world's tallest structure from 1889, when it was built, but not the tallest building. The skyscraper was invented in Chicago in 1884 when the
Home Insurance Building The Home Insurance Building was a skyscraper that stood in Chicago from 1885 to 1931. Originally ten stories and tall, it was designed by William Le Baron Jenney in 1884 and completed the next year. Two floors were added in 1891, bringing its ...
was constructed using a
steel frame Steel frame is a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal I-beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame. The developm ...
with curtain walls instead of
load-bearing wall A load-bearing wall or bearing wall is a wall that is an active structural element of a building, which holds the weight of the elements above it, by conducting its weight to a foundation structure below it. Load-bearing walls are one of the e ...
s. For the next hundred years, the world's tallest building was always in the United States, with
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
accumulating 86 years, and Chicago 30 years. After just over a century (1885–1998), the distinction moved to the Eastern Hemisphere.
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malays ...
was the first country to break the United States' record of constructing the tallest buildings in the world when the
Petronas Towers The Petronas Towers, also known as the Petronas Twin Towers or KLCC Twin Towers, ( Malay: ''Menara Berkembar Petronas'') are 88-storey supertall skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, standing at . From 1998 to 2003, they were officially desig ...
were completed in 1998.
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
's
Taipei 101 Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...
was the next to hold the record; the building's status as the world's tallest lasted from 2004 to 2009, when it was transferred to the Burj Khalifa, the current record-holder of 828 meters tall, upon its completion in the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...
.


Definition of terms


Meaning of "building"

The earliest structures now known to be the tallest in the world were the
Egyptian pyramids The Egyptian pyramids are ancient masonry structures located in Egypt. Sources cite at least 118 identified "Egyptian" pyramids. Approximately 80 pyramids were built within the Kingdom of Kush, now located in the modern country of Sudan. O ...
: the
Great Pyramid of Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza is the biggest Egyptian pyramids, Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. Built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldes ...
, at an original height of , was the tallest structure in the world for over 3,800 years, until the construction of
Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England, is a Listed building, Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Angl ...
in 1311. From then until the completion of the
Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and the ...
(capped in 1884) the world's tallest structures were churches or cathedrals. Later, the
Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) 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. Locally nicknamed "' ...
and, still later, some radio masts and television towers, were the world's tallest structures. However, though all of these are ''structures'', some are not '' buildings'' in the sense of being regularly inhabited or occupied. It is in this sense of being regularly inhabited or occupied that the term "building" is generally applied when determining the world's tallest building. The non-profit international organization
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United State ...
(CTBUH), which maintains a set of criteria for determining the height of tall buildings, defines a "building" as "(A) structure that is designed for residential, business or manufacturing purposes" and that "has floors". Tall churches and cathedrals occupy a middle ground: their lower areas are regularly occupied, but much of their height is in bell towers and spires which are not. Whether a church or cathedral is a "building" or merely a "structure" for the purposes of determining the title of "world's tallest building" is a subjective matter of definition (this article treats churches and cathedrals as buildings).


Determination of height

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat uses three different criteria for determining the height of a tall building, each of which may give a different result. "Height of the highest floor" is one criterion, and "height to the top of any part of the building" is another, but the default criterion used by the CTBUH is "height of the architectural top of the building", which includes spires but not antennae, masts or flag poles.


Before the 20th century


Before the 13th century

Early tall buildings were similar to the record-setting Egyptian pyramid structures. In 1400 BC the
ziggurat A ziggurat (; Cuneiform: 𒅆𒂍𒉪, Akkadian: ', D-stem of ' 'to protrude, to build high', cognate with other Semitic languages like Hebrew ''zaqar'' (זָקַר) 'protrude') is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It ha ...
of
Dur-Kurigalzu Dur-Kurigalzu (modern ' in Baghdad Governorate, Iraq) was a city in southern Mesopotamia, near the confluence of the Tigris and Diyala rivers, about west of the center of Baghdad. It was founded by a Kassite king of Babylon, Kurigalzu I (di ...
was constructed in Iraq, and in 601 BC the
Etemenanki Etemenanki ( Sumerian: "temple of the foundation of heaven and earth") was a ziggurat dedicated to Marduk in the ancient city of Babylon. It now exists only in ruins, located about south of Baghdad, Iraq. Etemenanki has been suggested to be th ...
ziggurat of Babylon () followed. The La Danta of
El Mirador El Mirador (which translates as "the lookout", "the viewpoint", or "the belvedere") is a large pre-Columbian Middle and Late Preclassic (1000 BC - 250 AD) Mayan settlement, located in the north of the modern department of El Petén, Guatemal ...
(
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...
) and the
Amaravati Stupa The Amarāvati ''Stupa'', is a ruined Buddhist ''stūpa'' at the village of Amaravathi, Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh, India, probably built in phases between the third century BCE and about 250 CE. It was enlarged and new sculptures repla ...
of Amaravathi (
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
) were constructed in around 300 BC. The
Lighthouse of Alexandria The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria (; Ancient Greek: ὁ Φάρος τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας, contemporary Koine ), was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, during the re ...
(
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
) had a height of between and existed between the 3rd century BC and 14th century AD. The Pantheon in Rome, finished in the early 2nd century CE, has an ancient Roman height record from floor to top of ,* which exactly corresponds to the diameter of its interior space and was only slightly surpassed by the
Pont du Gard The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge built in the first century AD to carry water over to the Roman colony of ''Nemausus'' (Nîmes). It crosses the river Gardon near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard in southern France. The Pont ...
''structure''. The
Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...
, built in AD 537 in Constantinople, reaches a height of . The ancient
Kushan The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, ...
stupa of Kanishka (now in Pakistan, near Peshawar), completed around AD 200, had a height of between . The Chinese explorer Xuanzhang described it as the tallest building in the world in his book ''Records of the western Region''. The Sri Lankan
Jetavanaramaya The Jetavanarama stupa or Jetavanaramaya ( si, ජේතවනාරාමය, jētavanārāmaya) is a stupa, or Buddhist reliquary monument, located in the ruins of Jetavana monastery in the UNESCO world heritage city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lank ...
stupa, constructed in the 3rd century, measured from its construction until the 11th century. Its current height is . Another short-lived structure was the 6th-century wooden Yongning Pagoda ( 永宁宝塔) with a height of about to in
Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...
, China.
Hwangnyongsa Hwangnyongsa, or Hwangnyong Temple (also spelled Hwangryongsa) was a Buddhist temple in the city of Gyeongju, South Korea. Completed in the 7th century, the enormous 9-story structure was built entirely with wood with interlocking design with n ...
, or Hwangnyong Temple (also spelled Hwangryongsa), is a former
Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism repres ...
in the city of
Gyeongju Gyeongju ( ko, 경주, ), historically known as ''Seorabeol'' ( ko, 서라벌, ), is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province in South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, ...
,
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its ea ...
. Completed in the 7th century, the enormous nine-storey structure was built entirely of interlocking timbers with no iron nails. It had a standing total height of , making it the tallest structure in East Asia and the tallest wooden structure in the world at the time of its construction. It was destroyed by invading Mongol forces in 1238. In the 8th century, two seven-storied pagodas with a height of 100 m(330 ft) were constructed at Todaiーji (東大寺) in
Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. They were one of the tallest wooden buildings in the world at the time. By the 14th century, both were burned down by fires caused by war or lightning strikes. In 1057 the wooden Shwesandaw Pagoda of
Bagan Bagan (, ; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Bagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that wou ...
,
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, was constructed. The Vimana of the
Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur Brihadishvara Temple, called Rajarajesvaram () by its builder, and known locally as ''Thanjai Periya Kovil'' ("Thanjavur Big Temple") and ''Peruvudaiyar Kovil'', is a Shaivite Hindu temple built in a Chola architectural style located on the ...
, completed in 1010 is tall, slightly taller and older than
Angkor Wat Angkor Wat (; km, អង្គរវត្ត, "City/Capital of Temples") is a temple complex in Cambodia and is the largest religious monument in the world, on a site measuring . Originally constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to the go ...
,
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
. The entire complex is built of
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underg ...
. The
minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
of
Koutoubia Mosque The Kutubiyya Mosque ( ; Berber: ⵜⵉⵎⵣⴳⵉⴷⴰ ⵏ ⵍⴽⵓⵜⵓⴱⵉⵢⵢⴰ, french: Mosquée Koutoubia) or Koutoubia Mosque is the largest mosque in Marrakesh, Morocco. The mosque's name is also variably rendered as Jami' al-K ...
in
Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrake ...
,
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, includes a spire and orbs. It was completed under the reign of the Berber
Almohad The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire fo ...
Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Yaqub al-Mansur around 1195. The eastern spires of the Romanesque
Speyer Cathedral , native_name_lang = German , image = Speyer_dom_11.jpg , imagesize = 280px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption = , pushpin ma ...
, completed in 1106, reach a height of . The still-standing Torre Asinelli, completed some time before 1185, was originally tall, later raised to .
Malmesbury Abbey Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, is a religious house dedicated to Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul. It was one of the few English houses with a continuous history from the 7th century through to the dissolution ...
was built in 1180 and reached a height of .


Churches and cathedrals: tallest buildings between the 13th and 20th century

The world's tallest ''structures'' were churches or cathedrals from the 13th/14th century until 1884, and ''buildings'' until the beginning of the 20th century. The
Old St Paul's Cathedral Old St Paul's Cathedral was the cathedral of the City of London that, until the Great Fire of 1666, stood on the site of the present St Paul's Cathedral. Built from 1087 to 1314 and dedicated to Saint Paul, the cathedral was perhaps the fourth ...
() in London and
Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England, is a Listed building, Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Angl ...
() both surpassed not only any older tallest building, but also the tallest structures until then, the Pyramids. They were constructed from the 12th century, reaching completion and their maximum height in the 1310s (1314 and 1311 respectively). Lincoln Cathedral's spire collapsed in 1549, and its previous height was not surpassed elsewhere for a long time. St. Mary's Church in
Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund ( German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Ne ...
became the world's tallest building after the collapse of the Lincoln spire. The central tower of St. Pierre's Cathedral in Beauvais was tallest from 1569 until it collapsed in 1573, making St. Mary's the tallest once again. In 1647, the bell tower of St. Mary's burned down, making the shorter
Strasbourg Cathedral Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', german: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or ''Straßburger Münster''), also known as Strasbourg ...
the world's tallest building. It was not until the completion of the
Ulm Minster Ulm Minster (german: Ulmer Münster) is a Lutheran church located in Ulm, State of Baden-Württemberg (Germany). It is currently the tallest church in the world. The church is the fifth-tallest structure built before the 20th century, with ...
in 1890 that the world's tallest building was again also the tallest building ever constructed, surpassing the original configuration of Lincoln Cathedral. The height of Lincoln Cathedral is disputed by some, but accepted by most sources. The completion date for the spire is given as 1311 rather than 1300 by some sources. Also the height of the spire of
Old St Paul's Cathedral Old St Paul's Cathedral was the cathedral of the City of London that, until the Great Fire of 1666, stood on the site of the present St Paul's Cathedral. Built from 1087 to 1314 and dedicated to Saint Paul, the cathedral was perhaps the fourth ...
, destroyed by lightning in 1561, is disputed, for example by
Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churche ...
(1632–1723), who suggested a height of .


Fin de siècle

In 1890
Ulm Minster Ulm Minster (german: Ulmer Münster) is a Lutheran church located in Ulm, State of Baden-Württemberg (Germany). It is currently the tallest church in the world. The church is the fifth-tallest structure built before the 20th century, with ...
became the tallest church ever built, but it was the last church to claim the position of tallest building, which eventually went to the
Philadelphia City Hall Philadelphia City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of the City of Philadelphia. Built in the ornate Second Empire style, City Hall houses the chambers of the Philadelphia City Council and the offices of the Mayor of Philadelphia. It ...
in 1894, the first skyscraper taller than (or, depending on definition, the
Mole Antonelliana The Mole Antonelliana () is a major landmark building in Turin, Italy, named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli. A ''mole'' in Italian is a building of monumental proportions. Construction began in 1863, soon after Italian unification, ...
in 1889). Among all structures, in 1884 the
Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and the ...
had already overtaken the long-standing record held by churches. But five years later in 1889 it was significantly surpassed by the
Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) 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. Locally nicknamed "' ...
, which reached completely new heights at (its antennas were added after 1957), leaving heights of skyscrapers behind and opening up the
supertall A supertall building is an occupied "supertall" structure higher than and beneath . A form of skyscraper, it falls midway between a common minimum definition of "skyscraper" (a building taller ) and a " megatall" building (taller than ). Diff ...
era, whose heights were only reached by the pinnacle of the
Chrysler Building The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...
() in 1930 and fully overtaken by the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
in 1931.


Tallest structures since the 20th century

Since the completion of the Washington Monument in 1884, the world's tallest ''structure'' has generally not also been the world's tallest building. The exception is 1930–1954, when the Eiffel Tower was surpassed by the Chrysler Building in 1930, and in 1931 the Chrysler Building by the Empire State Building, only to be surpassed in turn by a succession of broadcast masts, starting with the Griffin Television Tower in Oklahoma. The CN Tower in Toronto, Canada held the record for the world's tallest free-standing structure for 32 years, from 1975 until 2007, when it was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa, and was the world's tallest tower until 2009 when it was surpassed by the Canton Tower. Since the completion of the
Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa (; ar, برج خليفة, , Khalifa Tower), known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is known for being the world’s tallest building. With a total height ...
in 2010 it is the tallest building, however, it is not the tallest structure. In 2009, Guinness World Records recognised the underwater
Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...
oil platform as the tallest structure, at a staggering 1,432m (4,698ft).


Skyscrapers: tallest buildings since 1908

Since the completion of the first skyscraper taller than (depending on the definition of skyscraper, 1894 with the
Philadelphia City Hall Philadelphia City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of the City of Philadelphia. Built in the ornate Second Empire style, City Hall houses the chambers of the Philadelphia City Council and the offices of the Mayor of Philadelphia. It ...
or 1908 with the
Singer Building The Singer Building (also known as the Singer Tower) was an office building and early skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City. The headquarters of the Singer Manufacturing Company, it was at the northwestern corner of Liberty Street and Broad ...
), skyscrapers have consistently been the tallest ''buildings''.


High-rise blocks and early skyscrapers

Before skyscrapers, tower blocks reached at various times and locations heights of (as in the city of
Shibam Shibam Hadramawt ( ar, شِبَام حَضْرَمَوْت, Shibām Ḥaḍramawt) is a town in Yemen. With about 7,000 inhabitants, it is the seat of the District of Shibam in the Governorate of Hadhramaut. Known for its mudbrick-made high-r ...
) or even up to among the
Towers of Bologna The Towers of Bologna are a group of medieval structures in Bologna, Italy. The two most prominent ones remaining, known as the Two Towers, are a landmark of the city. History Between the 12th and the 13th century, Bologna was a city full of ...
. Buildings that have been specifically called the first skyscrapers include: * E. V. Haughwout Building, tall, 5 floors, first use of a passenger elevator, built in 1857 * Equitable Life Building, at least tall, 9 floors, built in 1870 *
New York Tribune Building The New York Tribune Building (also the Nassau-Tribune Building) was a building in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City, across from City Hall and the Civic Center. It was at the intersection of Nassau and Spruce Streets, at 1 ...
, tall, 9 floors, built in 1875, expanded in 1907 to 19 floors * Montauk Building, tall, 10 floors, built in 1883 *
Home Insurance Building The Home Insurance Building was a skyscraper that stood in Chicago from 1885 to 1931. Originally ten stories and tall, it was designed by William Le Baron Jenney in 1884 and completed the next year. Two floors were added in 1891, bringing its ...
, tall, 12 floors, built in 1885 * Lancashire Insurance Building, 10 floors, built in 1890 * Manhattan Building, tall, 16 floors, built in 1891 *
Monadnock Building The Monadnock Building (historically the Monadnock Block; pronounced ) is a 16-story skyscraper located at 53 West Jackson Boulevard in the south Loop area of Chicago. The north half of the building was designed by the firm of Burnham & Roo ...
, tall, 17 floors, built in 1891 Later record-setting early skyscrapers include: *
New York World Building The New York World Building (also the Pulitzer Building) was a building in the Civic Center of Manhattan in New York City, along Park Row between Frankfort Street and the Brooklyn Bridge. Part of the former " Newspaper Row", it was designed ...
, , 1890 *
Manhattan Life Insurance Building The Manhattan Life Insurance Building was a tower on Broadway in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. History The original structure at 64–66 Broadway was completed in 1894 to the designs of the architects of Kimball & Th ...
, , 1894


The height of skyscrapers

After the construction of the first skyscraper taller than , depending on definition the
Philadelphia City Hall Philadelphia City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of the City of Philadelphia. Built in the ornate Second Empire style, City Hall houses the chambers of the Philadelphia City Council and the offices of the Mayor of Philadelphia. It ...
in 1894 or the
Singer Building The Singer Building (also known as the Singer Tower) was an office building and early skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City. The headquarters of the Singer Manufacturing Company, it was at the northwestern corner of Liberty Street and Broad ...
in 1908, the incrementation in the height category of supertall skyscrapers began with the construction of the
Chrysler Building The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...
, followed by the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
, in New York City. The Chrysler Building was the first building in the world to break the barrier, and the Empire State Building was the first building to have more than 100 floors. It stands at and has 102 floors. The next tallest skyscraper was the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
, which was completed in 1971. The north tower was and the south tall. It surpassed the height of the Empire State Building by . Two years later the
Sears Tower The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108-story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) ...
was built in Chicago, standing at with 110 floors, surpassing the height of the World Trade Center by . The
Petronas Towers The Petronas Towers, also known as the Petronas Twin Towers or KLCC Twin Towers, ( Malay: ''Menara Berkembar Petronas'') are 88-storey supertall skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, standing at . From 1998 to 2003, they were officially desig ...
rose 10 meters above the Sears Tower, standing at a height of and each having 88 floors. In 2004, the construction of Taipei 101 brought the height of skyscrapers to a new level, standing at with 101 floors. It is taller than the previous record-holders, the Petronas Towers. Burj Khalifa surpassed the height of
Taipei 101 Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...
by in 2009, making it 60% taller. It has broken several skyscraper records, and it is almost twice as tall as the Empire State Building. Burj Khalifa, however has not broken the record of
world's tallest structure The world's tallest human-made structure is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (of the United Arab Emirates). The building gained the official title of "tallest building in the world" and the tallest self-supported structure at its opening on January ...
. In 2009, Guinness World Records recognised the
Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...
oil platform as the tallest structure. It has a record-breaking height of 1,432 metres (4,698 feet). However the majority of the Burj Khalifa's height difference (29%) is gained from
vanity height Vanity height is defined by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) as the height difference between a skyscraper's pinnacle and the highest usable floor (usually observatory, office, restaurant, retail or hotel/residential). Becau ...
, the Burj Khalifa's highest occupiable floor is only above ground. This would still make it the tallest building in the world but only by 2 meters over the
Shanghai Tower Shanghai Tower () is a 128-story, megatall skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai.
, a substantially smaller margin than before. *NOTE: The CTBUH defines a building as a ''supertall'' if it is or taller. *NOTE: The CTBUH defines a building as a ''megatall'' if it is 600 m (1970 ft) or taller.


Supertall and Megatall skyscrapers by location

Since the early skyscraper boom that took place in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the C ...
, the significant number of skyscrapers in North America dominated the 100 tallest buildings in the world. In 1930, 99 of the 100 tallest buildings in the world were in North America. In the future, this percentage is expected to decline to only 22 percent. The predominance of skyscrapers in North America is decreasing because of skyscraper construction in other parts of the world, especially in Asia. In Asia, there has been an increase in the number of supertall skyscrapers beginning with the completion of the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong in 1990. Currently, sixty of the world's 100 tallest buildings are in Asia (including the Middle East), while all six megatall skyscrapers reside in Asia. All proposed future megatall skyscrapers are also in Asia with the exception of the Lakhta Center 2 in St. Petersburg.


The usage of skyscrapers

Since the skyscraper era began, the great majority of skyscrapers were used predominantly as office space. From 1930 to 2000, the percentage of office towers never fell below 86 percent, but in the future it is expected to be as low as 46 percent. By 2010, fewer than half of the 100 tallest buildings in the world were office towers, the majority being for
residential A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family resid ...
and mixed use. Only four of the ten tallest buildings in the world, and twenty-eight of the top fifty, were used primarily as offices. A mixed-use tall building is defined as having two or more functions that occupy a significant proportion of the tower's total space. Support areas such as car parks and mechanical plant space do not contribute towards mixed-use status. Skyscrapers used primarily or exclusively as hotels or residential space are generally shorter than office and mixed-use buildings, with only a few supertall buildings of the residential or hotel types among the 100 tallest skyscrapers. The tallest completed residential buildings (minimum 85% residential) are
Central Park Tower Central Park Tower is a residential supertall skyscraper at 225 West 57th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, along Billionaires' Row. Designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the building rises with ...
,
111 West 57th Street 111 West 57th Street, also known as Steinway Tower, is a supertall residential skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Developed by JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group, it is situated along Billionaires' ...
, and
432 Park Avenue 432 Park Avenue is a residential skyscraper at 57th Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, overlooking Central Park. The tower was developed by CIM Group and Harry B. Macklowe and designed by Rafael Viñoly. A part of ...
, all on Billionaire's Row in New York City. The tallest completed hotels (primarily hotel space) are the
Gevora Hotel Gevora Hotel (Arabic: فندق جيفورا) is a tall hotel along Sheikh Zayed Road in the city Dubai, UAE. That height has given the skyscraper the title of tallest hotel building according to ''Guinness World Records''. The four-star hotel op ...
, the
JW Marriott Marquis Dubai The JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Hotel is the world's second tallest hotel, a 72-storey, twin-tower skyscraper complex in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The AED1.8 billion complex features a 1,608-room hotel run by Marriott International. Histor ...
twin towers, the Rose Tower, and the
Burj Al Arab The Burj Al Arab ( ar, برج العرب, ''Arab Tower'') is a luxury hotel located in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Managed by Jumeirah hotel group, it is one of the tallest hotels in the world, although 39% of its total height ...
, all in Dubai.


List of historically tallest skyscrapers

The following list of tallest buildings is based on the default metric of CTBUH, that of measuring to the highest architectural element. Other criteria would generate a different list.
Shanghai World Financial Center The Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC; , Shanghainese: ''Zånhae Guejieu Cinyon Tsonsin'') is a supertall skyscraper located in the Pudong district of Shanghai. It was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and developed by the Mori Building Compa ...
is not on the above list, but it surpassed Taipei 101 in 2008 to become the building with the highest occupied floor. Using the criterion of highest tip (including antennae), the World Trade Center in New York City was the world's tallest building from 1972 to 2000, until the Sears Tower in Chicago (which already had a higher occupied floor than the World Trade Center) had its antenna extended to give that building the world's tallest tip a title it held until the 2010 completion of Burj Khalifa. Petronas Towers and Taipei 101 were never the world's tallest buildings by the highest–tip criterion.


See also

* History of tallest skyscrapers *
List of tallest buildings and structures The world's tallest human-made structure is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (of the United Arab Emirates). The building gained the official title of "tallest building in the world" and the tallest self-supported structure at its opening on January ...
* List of Egyptian pyramids *
List of tallest buildings This list of tallest buildings includes skyscrapers with continuously occupiable floors and a height of at least . Non-building structures, such as towers, are not included in this list (for these, see ''List of tallest buildings and structur ...
*
List of tallest churches This list of tallest church buildings ranks church buildings by height. From the Middle Ages until the advent of the skyscraper, Christian church buildings were often the world's tallest buildings. From 1311, when the spire of Lincoln Cath ...
*
List of tallest structures built before the 20th century List of pre-twentieth century structures by height See also *History of the tallest buildings in the world The tallest building in the world, as of , is the Burj Khalifa. The title of " world's tallest building" has been borne by various build ...
* List of oldest known surviving buildings


Notes

:A. This significant proportion can be judged as 15% or greater of either the total floor area, or the total building height in terms of number of floors occupied for the function. However, care should be taken in the case of supertall buildings. For example, a 20-story hotel function as part of a 150-story tower does not comply with the 15% rule, though this would clearly constitute mixed use.


References


External links


These are the world's tallest structures throughout history
5 Sep 2019, Visual Capitalist,
World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

100 Tallest Completed Buildings in the World
Skyscraper Center
Buildings database
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