Many of you have probably seen recent news coverage of the u-shaped, curved skyscraper
currently being proposed by a New York City architectural firm.
Although it seems to defy the laws of gravity and science, it may soon become a permanent
fixture of the NYC skyline.
The “Big Bend” - as it is already being called - got us to thinking about the other
architectural marvels scattered across the plant, so we decided to do a little more investigating
in this Episode of the Infographics Show; The World’s Top 10 Tallest Buildings.
Number 10: International Commerce Center
The International Commerce Center is a 1,588 ft. (484 m) skyscraper, complete with 108
floors and 83 elevators, in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.
The building was originally designed to tower close to 1,900 ft. (574 m) but there were
regulations that required no building be taller than the surrounding mountains.
Primarily for commercial offices and hotel space, construction by Sanfield Building Contractors
Limited began in 2002 and ended 8 years later in 2010.
With the reduction in height, the building might have taken less time to construct if
it weren’t for a halt in production in 2009 due to an elevator shaft accident that killed
six workers.
Number 9: Shanghai World Financial Center The Shanghai World Financial Center is a 1,614
ft. (492 m) tall skyscraper located in Pudong, Shanghai, China.
Commissioned by the Shanghai World Financial Center Company, the China State Construction
Engineering Corp took a little over ten years to build the structure, spanning from 1997
to 2008, and costed $1.2 billion dollars.
With 101 floors and 91 elevators, the neo-futuristic structure is used for office and hotel space,
but also features retail locations, observation and recreation spaces, and a museum.
This building isn’t the only towering structure in Shanghai.
The ancient chinese city will be featured again later on in this top 10 list!
Number 8: Taipei 101 Taipei 101, formerly known as the Taipei World
Financial Center, used to be the world’s tallest building in 2004.
Construction began in 1999 and ended five years later, costing just under $2 billion
dollars.
The postmodern architectural structure was built by Samsung C&T and KTRT Joint Venture,
towering at 1,671 ft. (509.2 m.) with 101 floors and 61 elevators.
Taipei 101 is strictly an office building but is renowned for holding New Year’s Eve
firework shows.
The ‘101’ is meant to symbolize the renewal of time: the new century that has arrived
and all of the new years that will follow.
Number 7: CTF Finance Center For the sake of pronunciation and the fear
of slipping up on it, we’ll call the Guangzhou Chow Tai Fook Finance Centre the CTF Finance
Centre or the East Tower.
Commissioned by Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, construction began in September 2009 and ended
7 years later.
Coming in at 1,739 ft tall (530 m), with 111 floors and 95 elevators, it spans over 5 million
square feet, and contains 355 apartments, 251 hotel rooms, and 1,705 parking spaces.
Holy fook, that’s an enormous building!
Number 6: One World Trade Center The One World Trade Center has many alternative
names including: 1 WTC or the Freedom Tower.
Building on the concept of Freedom, it’s the first and only building on our list that
is in the United States of America, specifically in Lower Manhattan, New York City.
A rebuild of the original World Trade Center, destroyed by terrorists on September 11, 2001,
it is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, towering at 1,776 ft. (541.3 m),
which is, coincidentally, the very year the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Tishman Construction began building in April 2006 and completed the structure in July 2013.
There are 104 floors and 73 elevators, as well as office, observation, and communication
spaces throughout.
Number 5: Lotte World Tower The Lotte World Tower is a 123-floor, 1,819
ft (554.5 m) “supertall” skyscraper that recently finished construction during March
of 2016.
It is currently the tallest building in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD).
Located in Seoul, South Korea, the hotel and residential building broke ground in May 2009
and construction began in February of 2011.
Famous YouTube channel broke into the building as it was still being constructed, climbed
to the top of it and published the whole thing on their YouTube.
Number 4: Ping An Finance Centre The Ping An International Finance Center was
commissioned by Ping An Insurance and built by the China Construction First Building Group.
Located in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, this building took 6 years to complete, from 2010-2016.
Used for office and retail space, the Business District building contains 115 floors and
80 elevators to take you up 1,969 ft. (600 m).
The building cost $678 million to build, and covers over 4 million sq. ft. (386k+ meters
sq.).
Apparently, some people have confused this building with a mountain, as several daredevils
from around the world have made attempts to climb to the top; some even used a crane to
access it while it was still under construction.
Number 3: Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower The Abral Al-Bait, translated as “The Towers
of the House” is a government owned complex of not one, not two, but seven skyscraper
hotels in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The clock tower is not the tallest building but it does contain the world’s largest
clock face.
The skyscraper rings in – or chimes in – at 1,972 ft (601 m) and covers over 3 million
square feet (300k+ meters sq.).
This $15 billion building is a postmodern skyscraper made of steel, concrete, glass,
natural stone, and marble.
The clock tower was built by the Saudi Binladin Group and contains 120 floors and 96 elevators.
Number 2: Shanghai Tower The Shanghai Tower, formerly the Shanghai
Center, is a 2,073 ft. (632 m) skyscraper located in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai, China.
Even though it was once the world’s tallest building in 2015, it still has the world’s
highest observation deck and the world’s fastest elevators, with a speed of 46 mph
(74 km/h or 20.5 m/s).
With 106 elevators, it’s a wonder how long it would take to visit all 128 floors.
The Shanghai Tower is owned by the city government and is utilized for office, retail, and leisure.
Construction by the Shanghai Construction Group began in November of 2008 and ended
in February of 2015.
This building cost 15.7 billion….
Yuan; in US currency, that’s about $2.4 billion.
Number 1: Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa, also known as the Burj Dubai,
is Arabic for “Khalifa Tower.”
It is known as a “megatall” skyscraper, located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
It stands at a staggering 2,722 ft. (829.8 m), making it the tallest building in the
whole wide world.
It cost $1.5 billion to build, and took architect Adrian Smith and the rest of the developers
and contractors, 5 years to complete, from 2004 to 2009.
The building features 163 floors, of which 154 are usable, 2 below-ground parking levels,
and it is optimally used for hotel and residential space.
Wondering how to get to the top?
Thanks to the Otis Elevator Company, you can choose from 57 elevators.
The Burj Khalifa is primarily made of steel, glass, and aluminum with a primary reinforced
structure of concrete.
The World’s Top 10 Tallest Buildings are some of the greatest tourist attractions and
busiest areas in their respective cities.
Even though some of the tallest buildings have been around for years, many of the buildings
that made the top 10 were completed within the last few years.
Have you ever been to any of the buildings on this list?
If so, which ones and how did it feel being on the roof?
Let us know in the comments.
Thanks for watching, and don’t forget to subscribe, click like, and leave a comment!