The world's tallest human-made structure is the 828-metre-tall (2,717ft)Burj Khalifa in Dubai, 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 9, 2010. The second-tallest structure in the world is the 679-metre-tall (2,227ft) Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, while the third-tallest self-supporting structure and the tallest tower in the world is the Tokyo Skytree (634 m or 2,080ft). The tallest guyed structure is the KRDK-TV mast in North Dakota, U.S. at 630 metres (2,060ft).
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, an organization that certifies buildings as the "World's Tallest", recognizes a building only if at least 50% of its height is made up of floor plates containing habitable floor area.[1] Structures that do not meet this criterion, such as the CN Tower, are defined as "towers".
There are dozens of radio and television broadcasting towers which measure over 600metres (about 2,000ft) in height, and only the tallest are recorded in publicly available information sources.
Debate over definition
The assessment of the height of artificial structures has been controversial. Because varying standards have been used by different organizations, the accepted height of these structures or buildings depends on which standards are accepted. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has changed its definitions over time. Some of the controversy regarding the definitions and assessment of tall structures and buildings has included the following:
the definition of a structure, a building and a tower
whether a structure, building or tower under construction should be included in any assessment
whether a structure, building or tower has to be officially opened before it is assessed
whether structures built in and rising above water should have their below-water height included in any assessment.
whether a structure, building or tower that is guyed is assessed in the same category as self-supporting structures.
Within an accepted definition of a building further controversy has included the following factors:
whether only habitable height of the building is considered
whether communication towers with observation galleries should be considered "habitable" in this sense
whether rooftop antennas, viewing platforms or any other architecture that does not form a habitable floor should be included in the assessment
whether a floor built at a high level of a telecommunications or viewing tower should change the tower's definition to that of a "building"
Warsaw radio mast, the height record holder from 1974 to 1991The CN Tower in Toronto was the world's tallest freestanding structure from 1975 to 2007.
This category does not require the structure to be "officially" open, but does require it to be "topped out".
The tallest artificial structure is Burj Khalifa, a skyscraper in Dubai that reached 829.8m (2,722ft) in height on January 17, 2009.[2] By April 8, 2008 it had been built higher than the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota, US.[3] That September it officially surpassed Poland's 646.38m (2,120.7ft)Warsaw radio mast, which stood from 1974 to 1991, to become the tallest structure ever built. Guyed lattice towers such as these masts had held the world height record since 1954.
The Petronius Platform stands 610m (2,000ft) off the sea floor, leading some, including Guinness World Records 2007, to claim it as the tallest freestanding structure in the world, until surpassed by the Burj Khalifa in 2010. However, it is debated whether underwater height should be counted, in the same manner as height below ground is ignored on buildings. The Troll A platform is 472m (1,549ft), without any part of that height being supported by wires. The tension-leg type of oil platform has even greater below-water heights with several examples more than 1,000m (3,300ft) deep. However, these platforms are not considered constant structures as the vast majority of their height is made up of the length of the tendons attaching the floating platforms to the sea floor. Despite this, Guinness World Records 2009 listed the Ursa tension leg platform as the tallest structure in the world with a total height of 1,306m (4,285ft). Shell's floating production, storage, and offloading oil platform Turritella in the Gulf of Mexico is a moored platform approximately 2,900m (9,500ft) tall.[4]
Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, set records in three of the four skyscraper categories at the time it opened in 2004; at the time the Burj Khalifa opened in 2010 it remained the world's tallest inhabited building 509.2m (1,671ft) as measured to its architectural height (spire). The height of its roof 449.2m (1,474ft) and highest occupied floor 439.2m (1,441ft) had been surpassed by the Shanghai World Financial Center with corresponding heights of 487 and 474m (1,598 and 1,555ft). Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) was the highest in the final category: the greatest height to top of antenna of any building in the world at 527m (1,729ft).
Burj Khalifa broke the height record in all four categories for completed buildings.
Due to the disagreements over how to measure height and classify structures, engineers have created various definitions for categories of buildings and other structures. One measure includes the absolute height of a building, another includes only spires and other permanent architectural features, but not antennas. The tradition of including the spire on top of a building and not including the antenna dates to the rivalry between the Chrysler Building and 40 Wall Street. A modern-day example is that the antenna on top of Willis Tower is not considered part of its architectural height, while the spires on top of the Petronas Twin Towers are counted.
Note: The following table is a list of the tallest completed structure in each of the structural categories below. For a list of structures by function see the list later in the article. There can only be one structure in each category, unless the tallest is the same for more than one structure in the same category.
Tallest destroyed structures by category, not surpassed by existing structures
There are some destroyed architectural structures which were taller than the tallest existing structure of their type. There are also destroyed structures omitted from this list that had been surpassed in height prior to being destroyed.
Completed in 1982, the tower's guy-wires were not protected against corrosion and failed due to rust and storm winds causing the tower to collapse in 1989. Small-scale experimental model of a solar draft tower, newer proposals if built could become the tallest structure on earth.
* "Mixed-use" is defined as having three or more real estate uses (such as retail, office, hotel, etc.) that are physically and functionally integrated in a single property and are mutually supporting.[18]
Up until the late 1990s, the definition of "tallest building" was not altogether clear. It was generally understood to be the height of the building to the top of its architectural elements including spires, but not including "temporary" structures (such as antennas or flagpoles), which could be added or changed relatively easily without requiring major changes to the building's design. Other criteria for height measurement generally were not considered, which occasionally caused some controversy.
One historic case involved the building now famous for the Times Square Ball. Known as One Times Square (at 1475 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan), it was the headquarters forThe New York Times, which gave Times Square its name. Completed in 1905, it reached a height of 364 feet (111 meters) to its roof, or 420 feet (130 meters) including its rooftop flagpole, which the Times hoped would give it a record high status but because a flagpole is not an integral architectural part of a building, One Times Square was not generally considered to be taller than the 390-foot-high (120m)Park Row Building in Lower Manhattan, which was therefore still New York's tallest.[19]
A bigger controversy was the rivalry between two New York City skyscrapers built in the Roaring Twenties—the Chrysler Building and 40 Wall Street. The latter was 927 feet (283 meters) tall, had a shorter pinnacle, and had a much higher top occupied floor (the second category in the 1996 criteria for tallest building).[19] In contrast, the Chrysler Building employed a very long 125-foot (38m) spire secretly assembled inside the building to claim the title of world's tallest building with a total height of 1,048 feet (319m), despite having a lower top occupied floor and a shorter height when both buildings' spires are not counted in their heights.[20] Although the architects of record for 40 Wall were H. Craig Severance and Yasuo Matsui, the firm of Shreve & Lamb (who also designed the Empire State Building) served as consulting architects. They wrote a newspaper article claiming that 40 Wall was actually the tallest, since it contained the world's highest usable floor. They pointed out that the observation deck of 40 Wall was nearly 100 feet (30m) higher than the top floor of the Chrysler, whose surpassing spire was strictly ornamental and essentially inaccessible.[21] Despite the protest, the Chrysler Building was generally accepted as the tallest building in the world for almost a year, until it was surpassed by the Empire State Building's 1,250 feet (380 meters) in 1931.
That was in turn surpassed by the 1,368-foot-high (417m) Twin Towers of New York's original World Trade Center in 1972, which were in turn surpassed by the Sears Tower in Chicago in 1974. Now called the Willis Tower since 2009, it was 1,451 feet (442 meters) to its flat rooftop, or 1,518 feet (463 meters) including its original antennas.[22] But in 1978 One World Trade Center (commonly known as the North Tower) attained a taller absolute height when it added its 360-foot (110m) new broadcasting antenna, for a total height of 1,728 feet (527 meters). The WTC North Tower maintained this height record (including its antenna) from 1978 until 2000, when the owners of the Willis Tower extended its broadcasting antennae for a total height of 1,729 feet (527 meters).[22] Thus the status of the Willis Tower as the "totally" tallest was restored in the face of a new threat looming in the Far East—the "Siamese Twins".
The Petronas Towers remain the tallest twin towers in the world.
A major controversy erupted upon completion of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998. These Twin Towers, at 1,483 feet (452 meters), had a higher architectural height (spires, not antennas), but a lower absolute pinnacle height and a lower top occupied floor than the Willis Tower in Chicago. Counting buildings as structures with floors throughout, and with antenna masts excluded, the Willis was still considered the tallest at that time. Excluding their spires, which are 9 meters (30 feet) higher than the flat roof of Willis, the Petronas Towers are not taller than Willis. At their convention in Chicago, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) found the Willis Tower (without its antennas) to be the third-tallest building, and the Petronas Towers (with their spires) to be the world's two tallest buildings.[19]
The KK100 is a supertall skyscraper in Shenzhen, Guangdong.
Responding to the ensuing controversy, the CTBUH then revised their criteria and defined four categories in which the world's tallest building can be measured, retaining the old criterion of height to architectural top, and adding three new categories:[19]
Height to architectural top (including spires and pinnacles, but not antennas, masts or flagpoles). This measurement is the most widely used and is used to define the rankings of the 100 Tallest Buildings in the World.
Highest occupied floor
Height to top of roof (omitted from criteria from November 2009 onwards)[23]
Height to tip
The height-to-roof criterion was discontinued because relatively few modern tall buildings possess flat rooftops, making this criterion difficult to determine and measure.[23] The CTBUH has further clarified their definitions of building height, including specific criteria concerning subbasements and ground level entrances (height measured from lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance rather than from a previously undefined "main entrance"), building completion (must be topped out both structurally and architecturally, fully clad, and able to be occupied), condition of the highest occupied floor (must be continuously used by people living or working and be conditioned, thus including observation decks, but not mechanical floors) and other aspects of tall buildings.[23][24]
The height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance. At the time, the Willis Tower held first place in the second and third categories, the Petronas Towers held the first category, and the original WTC North Tower held the fourth (height to tip) category with its antenna.[19] In 2000, however, a new antenna mast was placed on the Willis Tower, giving it the record in the fourth category. On April 20, 2004, the 101-story Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, was completed, taking the world record for the first three categories. On July 21, 2007, it was announced that Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE, had surpassed Taipei 101. Since its completion in early 2010, Burj Khalifa leads in all categories (the first building to do so) with its spire height of 2,722 feet (830 meters).
Before Burj Khalifa was completed, Willis Tower led in the height-to-tip category with 1,729 feet (527 meters) after its antenna was extended in 2000, making Willis Tower slightly taller height-to-tip than the World Trade Center (WTC) North Tower's antenna that measured 1,728 feet (527 meters). After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the WTC became the world's tallest two buildings to be destroyed or demolished. They took that distinction from the Singer Building, which stood 612 feet (187 meters) tall until the late 1960s where One Liberty Plaza now stands right across Church Street from the WTC site.
A different superlative for skyscrapers is their number of floors. The original World Trade Center set that record at 110 in the early 1970s, and this was not surpassed until the Burj Khalifa opened in 2010.
Freestanding structures must not be supported by guy wires, the sea or other types of support. It therefore does not include guyed masts, partially guyed towers and drilling platforms but does include towers, skyscrapers (pinnacle height) and chimneys.
The world's tallest freestanding structure on land is defined as the tallest self-supporting artificial structure that stands above ground. This definition is different from that of world's tallest building or world's tallest structure based on the percentage of the structure that is occupied and whether or not it is self-supporting or supported by exterior cables. Likewise, this definition does not count structures that are built underground or on the seabed, such as the Petronius Platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Visit world's tallest structure by category for a list of various other definitions.
The tallest freestanding structure on land is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The building surpassed the height of the previous record holder, the 553.3m (1,815ft) CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, on September 12, 2007. It was completed in 2010, with final height of 829.8m (2,722ft).
History
The following is a list of structures that have held the title as the tallest freestanding structure on land.
The central spire was destroyed in a storm in 1549. While the reputed height of 525ft (160m) is accepted by most sources,[27][28][29][30][31][32] others consider it doubtful[33]
See also 1549–1569. The church tower's spire burnt down after a lightning strike in 1647. Today the tower has a dome and stands at a height of 104m (341ft).
First building with 100+ stories. The addition of a pinnacle and antennas later increased its overall height to 448.7m (1,472ft). This was subsequently lowered to 443.1m (1,454ft).
Holder of world's tallest freestanding structure. Topped out at 829.8m (2,722ft) in 2009.
Diagram of the principal high buildings of the Old World, 1884
Notable mentions include the Pharos (lighthouse) of Alexandria, built in the third century BC and estimated between 115–135m (377–443ft). It was the world's tallest non-pyramidal structure for many centuries. Another notable mention includes the Jetavanaramayastupa in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, which was built in the third century, and was similarly tall at 122m (400ft). These were both the world's tallest or second-tallest non-pyramidal structure for over a thousand years.
The tallest secular building between the collapse of the Pharos and the erection of the Washington Monument may have been the Torre del Mangia in Siena, Italy, which is 102m (335ft) tall, and was constructed in the first half of the fourteenth century; and the 97-metre-tall (318ft)Torre degli Asinelli in Bologna, Italy, built between 1109 and 1119.
The rooftop outdoor observation deck opened in December 2011. There are also several other indoor observation decks in the tower, the highest at 433.2m (1,421ft).
Opened on October 15, 2014 on the 148th floor. There is another observation deck at 452.1m (1,483ft) on the 124th floor, which has been open since the building was opened to the public.
Higher observation decks have existed on mountain tops or cliffs, rather than on tall structures. The Grand Canyon Skywalk, constructed in 2007, protrudes 21m (70ft) over the west rim of the Grand Canyon and is approximately 1,100m (3,600ft) above the Colorado River, making it the highest of these types of structures.[citation needed]
Timeline of guyed structures on land
As most of the tallest structures are guyed masts, here is a timeline of world's tallest guyed masts, since the beginning of radio technology.
As many large guyed masts were destroyed at the end of World War II, the dates for the years between 1945 and 1950 may be incorrect. If Wusung Radio Tower survived World War II, it was the tallest guyed structure shortly after World War II.
Towers include observation towers, monuments and other structures not generally considered to be "habitable buildings", they are meant for "regular access by humans, but not for living in or office work, and are self-supporting or freestanding, which means no guy-wires for support", meaning it excludes from this list of continuously habitable buildings and skyscrapers as well as radio and TV masts.
Bridge towers or pylons, chimneys, transmission towers, and most large statues allow human access for maintenance, but not as part of their normal operation, and are therefore not considered to be towers.
Tokyo Tower held the record of being the tallest tower in the world from 1958 to 1967. In addition, it held the record of being the tallest structure in Japan from 1958 to 2011, when the Tokyo Skytree (the current tallest tower in the world) surpassed it.
The following is a list of structures that have historically held the title as the tallest towers in the world.
Tallest structures, freestanding structures, and buildings
Burj Khalifa and other tallest structures
The list categories are:
The structures (supported) list uses pinnacle height and includes architectural structures of any type that might use some external support constructions like cables and are fully built in air. Only the three tallest are listed, as more than fifty US TV masts have stated heights of 600–610 metres (1,970–2,000ft).
The structures (media supported) list uses pinnacle height and includes architectural structures of any type that are not totally built in the air but are using support from other, denser media like salt water. All structures greater than 500 metres (1,640ft) are listed.
The freestanding structures list uses pinnacle height and includes structures over 500 metres (1,640ft) that do not use guy-wires or other external supports. This means truly free standing on its own or, in similar sense, non-supported structures.
The building list uses architectural height (excluding antennas) and includes only buildings, defined as consisting of habitable floors. Both of these follow CTBUH guidelines.
Notes:
Eight buildings appear on the freestanding structures category list with heights different from another category. This is due to the different measurement specifications of those lists.
Only current heights and, where reasonable, target heights are listed. Historical heights of structures that no longer exist, for example, for having collapsed, are excluded.
The CN Tower is a 553.3 m-high (1,815.3 ft) communications and observation tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 1976, it is located in downtown Toronto, built on the former Railway Lands. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower. Following the railway's decision to divest non-core freight railway assets prior to the company's privatization in 1995, it transferred the tower to the Canada Lands Company, a federal Crown corporation responsible for the government's real estate portfolio.
The Willis Tower, originally and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, is a 110-story, 1,451-foot (442.3 m) 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), it opened in 1973 as the world's tallest building, a title that it held for nearly 25 years. It is the third-tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, as well as the 23rd-tallest in the world. Each year, more than 1.7 million people visit the Skydeck observation deck, the highest in the United States, making it one of Chicago's most popular tourist destinations.
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least 100 meters (330 ft) or 150 meters (490 ft) in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise buildings. Skyscrapers may host offices, hotels, residential spaces, and retail spaces.
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings, including skyscrapers, and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in Chicago, Illinois, United States, the CTBUH announces the title of "The World's Tallest Building" and is widely considered to be an authority on the official height of tall buildings. Its stated mission is to study and report "on all aspects of the planning, design, and construction of tall buildings."
The Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the world's tallest structure. With a total height of 829.8 m and a roof height of 828 m (2,717 ft), the Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure and building in the world since its topping out in 2009, surpassing Taipei 101, the holder of that status since 2004.
The Clock Towers, is a government-owned complex of seven skyscraper hotels in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. These towers are part of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project that aims to modernize the city in catering to its pilgrims. The central hotel tower, which is the Makkah Clock Royal Tower, is the fourth-tallest building and sixth-tallest freestanding structure in the world. The clock tower contains the Clock Tower Museum that occupies the top four floors of the tower.
Nakheel Tower was a planned skyscraper on hold in Dubai, United Arab Emirates by developer Nakheel. The project was previously called Al Burj. While the proposal changed over time, the tower was intended to be the tallest building in the world, surpassing the 828-metre (2,717 ft) Burj Khalifa which was completed in 2010.
Rose Rayhaan by Rotana, also known as the Rose Tower, is a 72-storey, 333 m (1,093 ft) hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is no. 5 on the list of world's tallest hotels. The tower was originally designed to be 380 m (1,250 ft), but modification reduced it to 333m or 1093 ft.
The tallest building in the world, as of 2024, is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The title of "world's tallest building" has been held by various buildings in modern times, including Lincoln Cathedral in Lincoln, England, and the Empire State Building and the original World Trade Center, both in New York City.
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. Because the CTBUH ranks the world's tallest buildings by height to pinnacle, a number of buildings appear higher in the rankings than they otherwise would due to extremely long spires.
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