Rooftopping, sometimes called roofing, refers to the unsecured ascent of rooftops, cranes, antennas, bell towers, smokestacks, or other tall structures, usually illegally. Rooftoppers usually take photos or videos of their climbs.
The practice of scaling skyscrapers often results in security crackdowns and arrests. [1] Many people have died or been injured when falling while rooftopping. [2] [3]
Rooftopping is chiefly an undertaking of younger people. Rooftoppers clandestinely access off-limits staircases, roof hatches, ladders, etc., and it incorporates some aspects of bouldering or free solo climbing. It is an offshoot of urban exploring, but is not universally condoned among urban explorers and is considered a stunt due to high risk of fatal injuries.
Rooftoppers usually take photos or videos and panoramic photographs—either a selfie by themselves or with the help of a crew of assistants or accomplices, present on the climb or filming from a distance. Rooftoppers often use helmet cameras for videos. [4] [5] [6] Some also use quadcopter drones for exploration and recording. [7] Because it is often practised in the pursuit of making viral-ready videos or photos, it tends to result in heightened security and greater restriction against access to desirable exploration venues. [8]
In one report presented to American Educational Research Association in 1995 participants were suggested as thrill seekers who enjoy "high levels of stimulation and complexity of thinking," although other theories explaining their motivation exist. [9] [1]
Urban exploration is the exploration of manmade structures, usually abandoned ruins or hidden components of the manmade environment. Photography and historical interest/documentation are heavily featured in the hobby, sometimes involving trespassing onto private property. Urban exploration is also called draining, urban spelunking, urban rock climbing, urban caving, building hacking, or mousing.
Taipei 101, formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a 508.0 m, 101 storey skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. It is owned by Taipei Financial Center Corporation. The building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening on 31 December 2004. However, the Burj Khalifa surpassed Taipei 101 in 2010. Upon completion, it became the world's first skyscraper to exceed a height of half a kilometer. As of 2023, Taipei 101 is the tallest building in Taiwan and the eleventh tallest building in the world.
Buildering describes the act of climbing on the outside of buildings and other artificial structures. The word "buildering", sometimes misspelled bildering, combines the word building with the climbing term bouldering. If done without ropes or protection far off the ground, buildering is extremely dangerous. It is often practiced outside legal bounds, and is thus practiced mostly at night.
Alain Robert is a French rock climber and urban climber. Nicknamed "the French Spider-Man" or "the Human Spider", Robert carries out free solo climbs of skyscrapers using no climbing equipment except for a small bag of chalk and a pair of climbing shoes.
Elevator surfing, also known as lift surfing, is an activity involving riding on top of elevators, rather than inside them. More experienced surfers may attempt riskier maneuvers such as jumping between moving elevators, or riding the elevator's counterweight. Elevator surfing is typically considered a form of urban exploration, more aligned with investigative experiences like rooftopping and tunnel hacking rather than adrenaline-inducing urban sports like train surfing. While elevator surfing was most prominent as a subculture in the United States and United Kingdom in the 1990s, it made a comeback in the late 2010s, with partakers often posting footage of their adventures on YouTube and similar platforms.
The Federation Tower is a complex of two skyscrapers built on the 13th lot of the Moscow International Business Center in Moscow, Russia. The two skyscrapers are named Tower East or Vostok and Tower West or Zapad.
The Moscow International Business Center (MIBC), also known as Moscow-City, is an under-construction commercial development in Moscow, the capital of Russia. The project occupies an area of 60 hectares, and is located just east of the Third Ring Road at the western edge of the Presnensky District in the Central Administrative Okrug. Construction of the MIBC takes place on the Presnenskaya Embankment of the Moskva River, approximately 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) west of Red Square.
The Tregunter Towers is a complex of three residential buildings located in The Peak on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. All three highrises, named Tregunter 1 (地利根德閣第一座), Tregunter 2 (地利根德閣第二座), and Tregunter 3 (地利根德閣第三座).
The Devon Energy Center is a 50-story corporate skyscraper in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is the tallest building in the city and state, though it has fewer floors than the 52-story BOK Tower in Tulsa. It is tied with Park Tower in Chicago as the 72nd tallest building in the United States; at its completion Devon Tower was tied as the 39th tallest. Construction began October 6, 2009, and was completed in October 2012. The tower is located next to the historic Colcord Hotel, which Devon currently owns, on Sheridan Avenue between Hudson and Robinson Avenues.
Lotte World Tower (Korean: 롯데월드타워), is a 123-story, 555 m (1,821 ft) supertall skyscraper, located in Sincheon-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It is the sixth-tallest building in the world, the tallest in OECD countries, and also the first in South Korea to be over 100 stories tall.
The Ping An Finance Center is a 115-storey, 599.1 m (1,966 ft) supertall skyscraper in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. The building was commissioned by Ping An Insurance and designed by the American architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. It was completed in 2017, and is the tallest building in Shenzhen, the 2nd tallest building in China and the 5th tallest building in the world. It also broke the record of having the highest observation deck in a building at 562 m (1,844 ft). It is the second largest skyscraper in the world by floor area after Azabudai Hills Main Tower in Tokyo, Japan.
Merdeka 118, formerly known as Menara Warisan Merdeka, KL 118 and PNB 118, is a 118-story megatall skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At 678.9 m (2,227 ft) tall, it is the second-tallest building and structure in the world, only behind the Burj Khalifa at 828 m (2,717 ft).
The Hotel Meliá Barcelona Sky is a skyscraper designed by Dominique Perrault located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The building is 116 metres (381 ft) tall and has 31 floors and 258 rooms. It is the fourth-tallest building in Barcelona after Torre Mapfre, Hotel Arts, and Torre Agbar.
Pavlo Gennadiyovich Ushivets, better known as Mustang Wanted, is a Ukrainian urban climber and Internet celebrity. He is known for the high-altitude stunts he performs around the world with little or no safety equipment.
Ontheroofs is an urban exploration and rooftopping photography project conceived by Vitaliy Raskalov and Vadim Makhorov, from Ukraine and from Russia respectively. Their main focus of photography is the exploration of high-rise architectural structures like skyscrapers, bridges, historic sites and cathedrals. The team have been notable for their number of free-climbs up famous buildings and monuments around the world. Typically, their videos are uploaded onto YouTube and showcase their ascent and descent. Raskalov and Makhorov appeared as recurring cast in the documentary series URBEX – Enter At Your Own Risk, which launched globally on Red Bull TV on August 1, 2016.
URBEX – Enter At Your Own Risk is an eight-part original series that launched globally on Red Bull TV on August 1, 2016. Urbex is a documentary series that chronicles the motivations, mindsets and adventures of today's new type of explorers, Urban Explorers, who explore areas above, around and below the world's most famous cities, climbing cranes and bridges, descending into subway networks, infiltrating monuments to industry and commerce old and new. Urbex stands for Urban Exploration. The series was filmed in locations across the world including Moscow, Melbourne, Malaysia, Mumbai, Copenhagen, Kazakhstan, Dubai, Toronto, Marseille and Bulgaria with some of the world's most famous urban explorers like Oleg Cricket and Ontheroofs' Vitaliy Raskalov and Vadim Makhorov. The series was promoted with digital enhancement 360-degree videos.
Justin Casquejo, also known online as LiveJN, is an American rooftopper, free solo climber and stunt performer of Filipino descent. He has scaled several skyscrapers in Manhattan, New York City, as well as a water tower in his hometown, Weehawken, New Jersey, and has been arrested, charged, and convicted for some of his activities. Others have been brought to light through his publication on social media, such as Instagram and YouTube.
Alistair Law is an English YouTuber from Southampton. His videos feature parkour, with him climbing on a range of buildings and cranes, as well as doing "overnight challenges", where he and a group of friends attempt to stay in various commercial premises after closing hours.
Angela Nikolau is a Russian rooftopper and Art Creator who gained recognition due to her unusual photographs taken on the roofs of skyscrapers around the world.
Ivan Beerkus is a rooftopper and blogger