As blogged on InterestingEngineering.com, what is the tallest building in the world? What about the top 20?
Here we answer these common questions, and more, on some of the tallest things mankind has ever been able to erect.
According to sites like Wikipedia, the 20 tallest buildings in the world are as follows: –
Rank | Name | Country | Height (m) | FLoors | Year of completion | Notes |
1 | Burj Khalifa | United Arab Emirates | 829 | 163 | 2010 | Currently the tallest building and the tallest structure in the world from 2010 onwards; tallest building completed in the 2010s. |
2 | Shanghai Tower | China | 632 | 128 | 2015 | It is the tallest building in China and in East Asia; tallest twisted building. |
3 | Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower | Saudi Arabia | 601 | 120 | 2012 | Tallest building with a clock face; second-tallest in the Middle East and tallest in Saudi Arabia. |
4 | Ping An Finance Center | China | 599 | 115 | 2017 | The tallest building in Shenzhen and Guangdong Province. Shares the record of the highest observation deck with Shanghai Tower (#2) at 562 m. |
5 | Goldin Finance 117 | China | 596.6 | 128 | 2019 | The tallest building in China outside of Shanghai and Guangdong province. |
6 | Lotte World Tower | South Korea | 554.5 | 123 | 2016 | The tallest building in South Korea and in Asia outside of China and the Middle East. The tallest building in a nation’s capital and in an OECD country. |
7 | One World Trade Center | United States | 541.3 | 104 | 2014 | The tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, the United States, and North America. Briefly referred to as the Freedom Tower during its planning stages. Tallest building outside of Asia. |
8 | Guangzhou CTF Finance Center | China | 530 | 111 | 2016 | The tallest building in Guangzhou and second tallest in Guangdong province. |
9 | Tianjin CTF Finance Center | China | 530 | 98 | 2018 | |
10 | China Zun | China | 528 | 108 | 2018 | Will become Beijing’s tallest building upon completion. |
11 | Taipei 101 | Taiwan | 508 | 101 | 2004 | The world’s tallest building from 2004 to 2010. |
12 | Shanghai World Finance Center | China | 492 | 101 | 2008 | Was the tallest building in China until the completion of the adjacent Shanghai Tower. |
13 | International Commerce Centre | China | 484 | 118 | 2010 | The tallest building in Hong Kong. |
14 | Lakhta Center[14] | Russia | 462 | 86 | 2018 | The tallest building in Russia and in Europe. |
15 | Landmark 81 | Vietnam | 461.2 | 81 | 2018 | The tallest building in Vietnam and in Southeast Asia. |
16 | Changsha IFS Tower T1 | China | 452.1 | 88 | 2017 | The tallest building in Changsha. |
17 | Petronas Tower 1 | Malaysia | 451.9 | 88 | 1998 | Tallest twin towers in the world; were the world’s tallest buildings upon completion in 1998, and the first building since 1908 outside of the United States. |
17 | Petronas Tower 2 | Malaysia | 451.9 | 88 | 1998 | Tallest twin towers in the world; were the world’s tallest buildings upon completion in 1998, and the first building since 1908 outside of the United States. |
17 | Exchange 106 | Malaysia | 451.9 | 97 | 2018 | Will be the tallest building in Kuala Lumpur along with the Petronas Towers upon completion. |
20 | Zifeng Tower | China | 450 | 89 | 2010 | The tallest building in Nanjing. |
20 | Suzhou IFS | China | 450 | 92 | 2017 | The tallest building in Suzhou. |
To date, the tallest man-made structure in the world is the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates. This impressive construction has a total height of 829 meters (inc. antenna).
It was completed in 2010 and is a mixed-use skyscraper housing carious offices, a hotel, and private residential spaces. Construction began in 2004 and the main external structure was completed in 2009.
“Burj Khalifa was designed by Adrian Smith, of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, whose firm designed the Willis Tower and One World Trade Center. Hyder Consulting was chosen to be the supervising engineer with NORR Group Consultants International Limited chosen to supervise the architecture of the project.” – Wikipedia.