- [Glen] In the race to reach the skies,
these buildings are literally head and shoulders
above the rest.
The following 15 skyscrapers
make the Eiffel Tower in France,
the Shard in London
and the Empire State Building in America
look like tiny bungalows.
I'm Glen and this our list of 15 tallest buildings
in the world that have completed construction.
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- Thank you for watching Mind's Eye Design.
- [Amber] Number 15.
- [Glen] Now, onto our first completed tower
and what better place to start
than the former tallest building in the world,
The Willis Tower.
Construction on the building was completed in 1973
when it was known as the Sears Tower.
It retained the title as The World's Tallest Building
for a quarter of a century until 1998
and then changed names in 2009.
The tower is 442.1 meters tall with 110 stories.
At the moment, the largest tenant of the skyscraper
is United Airlines which occupies 20 floors.
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- [Amber] Number 14.
- [Glen] Next up just so happens to be the building
that robbed the Willis Tower of it's crown
back in 1998.
Technically, this building should occupy two spots
on our list,
but we have rolled Petronas Towers into one.
They held the crown as the tallest towers in the world
between 1998 and 2004,
standing at 451.9 meters with 88 floors.
The towers are made mainly out of reinforced concrete
with a steel-and-glass exterior
designed to reflect Islamic art
and Malaysia's Muslim religion.
The first tower is occupied solely by Petronas
with the second, housing various subsidiaries
and associates.
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- [Amber] Number 13.
- [Glen] Construction on the Tower T1
began back in 2013 and it was completed in 2017
with the tower opening the next year.
It stands at 452.1 meters tall,
just 20 centimeters taller than the Petronas Towers.
The Changsha IFS Tower is part of a development
that also features a second 315 meter tall tower.
Usually this would be considered tall
but it simply looks like
the little brother in this scenario.
The main tower features a mega mall
and a hotel at the very peak
for you daring holiday goers.
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- [Amber] Number 12.
- [Glen] The tallest building in Vietnam,
Landmark 81 only opened in 2018
after three years of construction.
Despite architecturally only being 461.3 meters tall,
the tip of the tower stands at 469.5 meters
with 81 stories between that and the ground.
Between those two extremes,
you can find a hotel, conference facilities,
restaurants, bars, retail spaces, luxury apartments
and even an observation deck
at the crown of the tower.
In September of 2018,
the building survived a minor fire scare on floor 64
after a welding incident.
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- [Amber] Number 11.
- [Glen] And now to Russia, the Lakhta Center.
It started construction back in 2012
and topped out in 2018 although it is still
not yet opened it's doors.
It became the tallest building in Russia in October of 2017
when construction surpassed the Vostok Tower in Moscow.
The Lakhta Center stands at 462 meters tall
with 87 stories and will be the headquarters
of energy company, Gazprom.
In 2018, when laying the foundations,
the tower entered the Guinness Book of World Records
for the longest, continuous concrete pour.
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- [Amber] Number 10.
- [Glen] Construction started
on the International Commerce Tower in Hong Kong
back in 2002 and finished eight years later.
When opened in 2010, it was the fourth tallest building
in the world but has slipped down the list
a little since then.
It stands at 484 meters tall with 118 stories.
Four basement floors house a shopping mall,
while a five-star hotel can be found between 102 and 118
and office space in between.
The world's highest swimming pool and bar
can be found on the very top floor
for those of you who want to practice
your breaststroke in the clouds.
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- [Amber] Number nine.
- [[Glen] This next entry on our list
looks a little like a giant bottle opener
but it's impressive all the same.
The World Financial Center in Shanghai
was built between 1997 and 2008
but it was well worth the wait.
The tower stands at 492 meters tall with 101 stories
and three separate observation decks along the way.
The Financial Center features office space,
the hotel, a museum, retail space and a parking garage.
Just imagine the size of that beer bottle.
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- [Amber] Number eight.
- [Glen] The first of our buildings
to break the 500 meter mark, the 101 Tower
stands at a staggering 508 meters tall.
Between 2004 and 2010, it was the world's tallest building
before eventually being surpassed
by the current title holder but
we'll get to that one later.
It was built between 1999 and 2004 and unsurprisingly,
features 101 floors.
It even has an elevator that takes you from floor five
to floor 89 in 37 seconds
at nearly 38 miles per hour.
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- [Amber] Number seven.
- The CTF Finance Center opened in 2016
after seven years of building.
The tower stands at 530 meters tall
with 111 floors above ground and five below.
If you thought the elevators
in the last skyscraper were fast,
the CTF Finance Center
boasts one of the fastest in the world
reaching speeds of 45 miles per hour.
The tower also houses a shopping mall,
59 floors of offices, 355 apartments,
251 hotel rooms plus bars,
restaurants and more.
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- [Amber] Number six.
- A beautiful tower built on the legacy
of one of the worst terrorist attacks in history,
the One World Trade Center Tower
was rebuilt on the World Trade Center Complex
after the horrific 911 attacks back in 2001.
Building began in 2006 and was completed by 2013
with the skyscraper opening the next year.
It stands at 541 meters tall with 104 floors,
the majority of which are leased out as office space.
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- [Amber] Number five.
- [Glen] Up to 554.5 meters now,
the Lotte World Tower comes in at 5th on our list.
Building began in 2011 and was completed by 2016
and is currently the tallest building in South Korea.
It comprises of office space, residential,
a hotel and a six-story observation area
at the very top of the tower.
Two Russian and Ukrainian explorers,
famously broke in during construction
taking the stairs part way up
before free climbing to the top.
That video reached over three million views online.
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- [Amber] Number four.
- [Glen] After the lot was purchased
by the Ping An Group at auction in 2007,
construction started on the Finance Center in 2010
with completion coming in 2017.
It reaches just over 599 meters tall
with 115 floors above ground and five below.
It is currently used as a high-end shopping mall,
conference center, hotel, retail space and offices.
It's elevators can reach speeds of 22 miles per hour.
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- [Amber] Number three.
- [Glen] It's fair to say that the Al-Bait Clock Tower
stands out against the modern glass skyscrapers
on this list.
It was built between 2004 and 2011
and stands at 601 meters tall.
It also features the largest clock face in the world.
Take that Big Ben.
The Clock Tower houses an array of things
including a mall, health club, residential areas,
hotel rooms, shops and more.
It was built after the destruction
of the historically significant Ajyad Fortress.
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- [Amber] Number two.
The bridesmaid of our list.
The Shanghai Tower clocks in at 632 meters tall
with 128 floors above ground.
It also features the joint
highest building observation deck at 562 meters
and the second fastest elevator at 46 miles per hour.
This tower really can't catch a break.
The beautiful curved helical skyscraper was built
between 2008 and 2014,
opening in 2015.
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- [Amber] Number one.
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And finally, the granddaddy of the ball,
the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khaifa.
Standing at 828 meters tall,
this monster in Dubai is just under a whopping 200 meters
taller than our 2nd placed entry.
Built between 2004 and 2009,
this tower looks like something straight out
of a sci-fi classic
but you'll definitely need to use one of it's 57 elevators.
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- Hi everyone and thank you for watching.
I'm Chon Lee with mind's Eye Design.
We love to hear your feedback
so please leave your comments below
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