History
The first supertall skyscraper to be completed was the Chrysler Building in New York City in 1930, which was 319 meters (1,047 feet) tall. [6] This was followed a year later by the Empire State Building, which rose to a height of 381 meters (1,250 feet). No supertall buildings would be constructed for 38 years until the completion of the John Hancock Center in Chicago in 1969. The John Hancock Center was the first supertall to be built outside New York City. Supertalls remained the purview of New York City and Chicago until the completion of the JPMorgan Chase Tower in Houston. Two more American cities gained a supertall skyscraper in the 20th century: Atlanta with the Bank of American Plaza, and Los Angeles with the U.S. Bank Tower, both office buildings.
After the September 11 attacks, New York City was left with only two supertall buildings. This preceded a significant boom in the construction of supertall buildings, which began with The New York Times Building in 2007. and accelerated in the 2010s with the development of the Hudson Yards complex and residential supertall skyscrapers on Billionaires' Row. Currently, New York City has 17 supertall buildings, and 2 more under construction. In 2018, two more US cities gained their first supertall buildings: the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, and the Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia. Construction is underway on Waterline in Austin and Waldorf Astoria Miami in Miami, both of which would be the first supertall buildings in their respective cities.
The Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong was the first supertall skyscraper to be built outside of the United States in 1990. This preceded a rise in the construction of supertall skyscrapers internationally, which accelerated in the 2010s, especially in China.
East Asia has become a hotspot for building such tall skyscrapers. [7] The first supertall buildings to be built in Mainland China were CITIC Plaza in Guangzhou and Shun Hing Square in Shenzhen, both built in 1996. In the 2010s, China overtook the United States to become the country with the most supertall buildings. Other cities in China that have built multiple supertall buildings since 2000 include Guiyang, Nanjing, Nanning, Tianjin, and Wuhan. Taiwan completed its first supertall building, 85 Sky Tower, in the city of Kaohsiung in 1997. This was followed by Taipei 101 in Taiwan's capital of Taipei 7 years later, which became the tallest building in the world at the time. Japan and South Korea both constructed their first supertall buildings in the 2010s; Japan with Abeno Harukas in Osaka in 2014, and South Korea with the Northeast Asia Trade Tower in Incheon in 2012. In North Korea, construction of the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang has been completed, but the hotel remains unopened as of 2024.
Baiyoke Tower II in Bangkok, Thailand became the first supertall building in Southeast Asia when it was completed in 1997. They were followed by the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998, which overtook the Sears Tower as the tallest buildings in the world at the time, and the World Trade Center as the tallest twin towers in the world. Vietnam received its first supertall building in 2012 upon the completion of Landmark 72 in Hanoi. Likewise, Indonesia completed its first supertall building, Autograph Tower in 2022.
Dubai completed the Burj Al Arab hotel in 1999, the first supertall building in the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East. Saudi Arabia became the next country in the Middle East with a supertall building with the construction of the Kingdom Centre in 2002. Qatar completed its first supertall building, Aspire Tower, in 2007, while Kuwait completed its first supertall skyscraper, Arraya Tower, two years later. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey in Istanbul, currently under construction, will become the first supertall building in Turkey. Azrieli Spiral Tower in Tel Aviv and Beyond Tower in Givatayim, both in construction, will become the first supertall buildings in Israel.
Europe currently has nine supertall buildings, all completed since 2010. With the exception of The Shard in London, United Kingdom and Varso Tower in Poland, the remainder are in Russia–six in Moscow and one, the Lakhta Centre, in Saint Petersburg. All supertall buildings in Moscow are located in Moscow International Business Centre. The first of these was Moscow Tower in the City of Capitals complex, which was built in 2010. After Brexit, Varso Tower remains the only supertall building in the European Union.
Mexico is the only country besides the United States to have a supertall building in North America – T.Op Torre 1 in Monterrey, which was built in 2020. Torre Rise is currently under construction in the same city, which would become the tallest building in all of Latin America if completed. While Canada has no completed supertall buildings, it has three under construction – The One, Skytower at Pinnacle One Younge, and Concord Sky, all of which are in Toronto. In Australia, supertall buildings have been built in Gold Coast and Melbourne, making Australia the only Oceanian country with supertall skyscrapers.
South Asia currently has only one supertall building, Lokhandwala Minerva in Mumbai, India, which was built in 2023. South America's sole supertall building is Gran Torre Costanera in Santiago, Chile. Similarly, Africa has only one supertall building, the Iconic Tower, located in Egypt's New Administrative Capital. Tour F, a supertall building in construction in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, will be the first such building in West Africa.
