List of tallest buildings and structures in the world

While determining the world's tallest structure has generally been straightforward, the questions of what is the world's tallest building or the world's tallest tower have often been controversial, both because of disputes over what should be counted as a building or a tower, and further disputes over how to measure the height of these. Questions of national or local prestige may cause different people to adopt different definitions which favour their own structures.

Warsaw radio mast

In terms of absolute height, most of the tallest structures are dozens of radio and television broadcasting towers that are around 600 meters (2,000 feet) tall^{[citation needed]}. There is, however, some debate about:

• whether structures under construction should be included in the list
• whether structures rising out of water should have their below-water height included.

For towers, there is debate about:

• whether guy-wire-supported structures should be counted

For buildings, there is debate about^{[citation needed]}:

• whether observation galleries on communication towers make them into habitable buildings
• whether only habitable height counts
• whether roof-top antennas should be counted towards height of buildings; the debate over this has especially focused on the fact that things that look like spires can be either classified as an antenna or an "architectural detail"

Tallest structures

KVLY-TV mast

Currently, the tallest standing structure is the KVLY-TV mast near Fargo, North Dakota, at 629 m (2,063 ft). It is a transmission antenna, consisting of a bare metal structure supported by guy-wires. The Warsaw radio mast at Gąbin-Konstantynow near Warsaw, Poland at 645 m (2,115 ft) was taller, but it collapsed on 8 August 1991.

The main reason these transmission antennas are not usually included with the world's tallest buildings is that they are not self-supporting. Another example of a structure that is not self-supporting is a captive balloon, a long rope tethered to the ground on one end and to a helium balloon on the other. If structures that are not self-supporting were counted, such balloons would be the tallest in the world. Guyed masts, however, are designed for permanent use and cannot be dismantled quickly. For example, in case of bad weather, a captive balloon can be released and moved to a different location, but a transmission antenna must be able to withstand the weather and remain standing. Therefore they are considered architectural structures, just like other non-inhabitable constructions.

The Petronius Platform stands 610 m (2,001 ft) tall, making it the tallest freestanding structure in the world. However, as this oil and natural gas platform is partially supported by buoyancy, some critics argue that the below-water height should not be counted, in the same manner as the underground 'height' of buildings is not taken into account.

The CN Tower in Toronto stands at 553.33 m (1,815 ft) tall, and it is the tallest freestanding structure above ground.

Tallest structure by category

Category	Structure	Country	City	Height (m)	Height (ft)
Supported structure	Warsaw Radio Mast (collapsed in 1991)	Poland	Gąbin	646.45	2,121
	KVLY-TV mast	USA	Blanchard, North Dakota	629	2,063
Freestanding structure	Petronius Platform	Gulf of Mexico		610	2,001
Freestanding structure on land	CN Tower	Canada	Toronto	553.33	1,815
Building - to top of antenna	Sears Tower	USA	Chicago	527	1,729
Building - to architectural top	Taipei 101	Taiwan	Taipei	509	1,671
Building - to roof	Taipei 101	Taiwan	Taipei	449.2	1,474
Building - to highest occupied floor	Taipei 101	Taiwan	Taipei	439	1,441
Chimney	Chimney of GRES-2 Power Station	Kazakhstan	Ekibastusz	419.7	1,375
Lattice tower	Kiev TV Tower	Ukraine	Kiev	385	1,263
Partially guyed tower	Gerbrandy Tower	Netherlands	Lopik	375	1,230
Electricity Pylon	Yangtze River Crossing	People's Republic of China	Jiangyin	346.5	1,137
Bridge pillar	Millau Viaduct	France	Millau	341	1,119
Uncompleted building	Ryugyong Hotel	North Korea	Pyongyang	330	1,083
Dam	Nurek Dam	Tajikistan	Nurek	300	984
Concrete dam	Grande Dixence Dam	Switzerland	Val d'Hérens	285	935
Communication tower	N Seoul Tower	South Korea	Seoul	239.7	786
Minaret	Hassan II Mosque	Morocco	Casablanca	210	689
Wind turbine	Fuhrländer Wind Turbine Laasow	Germany	Laasow	205	673
Cooling Tower	Niederaussem Power Station	Germany	Niederaussem	200	656
Monument	Gateway Arch	USA	St. Louis, Missouri	192	630
Inclined structure	Tower of Montreal	Canada	Montreal, Quebec	175	574
Masonry tower	San Jacinto Monument	USA	La Porte, Texas	174	570
Church tower	Ulm Münster	Germany	Ulm	161	528
Pre-Industrial Era building	Lincoln Cathedral 1311 (Collapsed in 1549)	UK	Lincoln	159.7	524
Industrial hall	Vehicle Assembly Building	USA	Kennedy Space Center	160	525
Memorial cross	Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos	Spain	El Escorial	152.4	500
Tomb	Great Pyramid of Giza	Egypt	Giza, near Cairo	138.75 originally 146.5	455.21 481
Roller coaster	Kingda Ka	USA	Jackson, New Jersey	138.98	456
Observation wheel	British Airways London Eye	UK	London, England	135	443
Air traffic control tower	Suvarnabhumi Airport Control Tower	Thailand	Bangkok	132.2	433.7
Flagpole (free-standing)	Aqaba Flagpole	Jordan	Aqaba	132	430
Storage silo	Henninger Turm	Germany	Frankfurt	120	394
Sculpture	Spire of Dublin	Republic of Ireland	Dublin	120	393
Light advertisement	Bayer Cross Leverkusen	Germany	Leverkusen	118	387
Wooden tower	Radio Tower Gliwice	Poland	Gliwice	118	387
	Radio Tower Muehlacker (demolished in 1945)	Germany	Mühlacker	190	623
Statue	Bronze Buddha Statue	Japan	Tokyo	120	416
Support tower of aerial tramway	Pillar of third section of Gletscherbahn Kaprun	Austria	Kaprun	113.6	373
Sculpture	B of the Bang	UK	Manchester, England	55	180.5
Monolithic obelisk	Obelisk for Tuthmosis II - The 'Spit/ Skewer'	Italy	San Giovanni in Laterano	36	118.1
Trilithons	Stonehenge	UK	Salisbury Plain, England	6.7	22

Tallest building by function

Category	Structure	Country	City	Height to architectural top
				m	ft
Office	Taipei 101	Taiwan	Taipei	509	1,671
Residential	Q1	Australia	Gold Coast	323	1,058
Hotel	Burj al-Arab	United Arab Emirates	Dubai	321	1,053
Educational	Moscow State University	Russia	Moscow	240	787
Recreational	Stratosphere Tower	United States	Las Vegas, NV	350.30	1,149
Hospital	Guy's Hospital	United Kingdom	London, England	142.6	468

Tallest buildings

Comparison of top skyscrapers with measurements to top of antenna

Up until 1998 the tallest building status was essentially uncontested. Counting buildings as structures with floors throughout, and with antennas excluded, the Sears Tower in Chicago was considered the tallest. When the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were built, controversy arose since the "spire" extended nine meters higher than the roof of the Sears Tower. Excluding the spire, the Petronas Towers are not taller than the Sears Tower. At their convention in Chicago, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat reduced the Sears Tower from "world's tallest" and pronounced it not "second tallest", but "third", and pronounced Petronas as "world's tallest." This action caused a considerable amount of controversy, so, (CTBUH) defined four categories in which the "world's tallest building" can be measured:

1. Height to the structural or architectural top (including spires and pinnacles, but not antennas, masts or flagpoles)
2. Height to the highest occupied floor
3. Height to the top of the roof
4. Height to the top of antenna

The height is measured from the sidewalk level of the main entrance. In all of these categories, Sears Tower had held the second and third category. Petronas held the first and the original World Trade Towers held the fourth. Within months, however, a new antenna was placed on the Sears Tower, giving it hold of the fourth category. On April 20, 2004, the Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan was completed^{[citation needed]}. Its completion gave it the world record for the first three categories.

Today, Taipei 101 leads in the first category with 509 m (1,671 ft); in the second category with an occupied floor at 439 m (1,441 ft); and in the third category with 449 m (1,474 ft). The first category was formerly held by the Petronas Twin Towers with 452 m (1,483 ft), and before that by Sears Tower with 442 m (1,451 ft). The second and third categories were held by the Sears Tower, with 412 m and 442 m (1,451 ft) respectively.

The Sears Tower still leads in the fourth category with 527 m (1,729 ft), previously held by the World Trade Center until the extension of the Chicago tower's western broadcast antenna in 2000, over a year prior to the Trade Center's destruction in 2001. Its antenna included, 1 World Trade Center measured 526 m (1,727 ft). The World Trade Center became the world's tallest buildings to be demolished–indeed, its site entered the record books twice on September 11, 2001, in that category, replacing the Singer Building, which once stood a block from the WTC site.^{[citation needed]}

The Ostankino Tower and the CN Tower are excluded from these categories because they are not "habitable buildings", which are defined as frame structures made with floors and walls throughout.

History of record holders in each CTBUH category

Tallest buildings in world history

See also: Tallest free standing structure on land

In this table a "building" is any freestanding structure.(See also history of tallest skyscrapers.)

Notable mentions include the Pharos (lighthouse) of Alexandria, built in the third century BC, and estimated between 115 to 135 metres (383 - 440 ft). It was the world's tallest non-pyramidal building for many centuries. Another notable mention includes the Jetavanaramaya stupa in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, which was built in the third century, and was similarly tall at 122 metres (400 ft). These were both the world's tallest or second tallest non-pyramidal buildings 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, which is 102 m tall, and was constructed in the first half of the fourteenth century, and the 97 m tall Torre degli Asinelli in Bologna, also Italy, built between 1109 and 1119.

Currently-standing tallest skyscrapers listed by height to the architectural top

Note that this list, except the comparison section, is limited to a certain type of structure, and a certain very specific type of height measurement. Most of the tallest structures in the world are guyed broadcasting towers. The structures on this list are not sorted by the absolute highest point on the building.

Rank	Name and location	Year completed	Height to architectural top1		Stories
			m	ft
Buildings
1	Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan	2004	509	1,671	101
2	Petronas Tower I, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	1998	452	1,483	88
2 (tie)	Petronas Tower II, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	1998	452	1,483	88
4	Sears Tower, Chicago (IL), United States	1974	442	1,451	108
5	Jin Mao Building, Shanghai, People's Republic of China	1998	421	1,380	88
6	Two International Finance Centre, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China	2003	415	1,362	88
7	CITIC Plaza, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China	1997	391	1,283	80
8	Shun Hing Square, Shenzhen, People's Republic of China	1996	384	1,260	69
9	Empire State Building, New York (NY), United States	1931	381	1,250	102
10	Central Plaza, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China	1992	374	1,227	78
11	Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China	1990	367	1,205	70
12	Emirates Office Tower, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	2000	355	1,163	54
13	Tuntex Sky Tower, Kaohsiung, Taiwan	1997	348	1,140	85
14	Aon Center, Chicago (IL), United States	1973	346	1,136	83
15	The Center, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China	1998	346	1,135	73
16	John Hancock Center, Chicago (IL), United States	1969	344	1,127	100
17	Shimao International Plaza, Shanghai, People's Republic of China	2006	333	1,093	60
18	Minsheng Bank Building, Wuhan, People's Republic of China	2006	331	1,087	68
19	Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea	1992	330	1,083	105
20	Q1 Tower, Gold Coast City, Australia	2005	323	1,058	78
21	Burj al Arab Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	1999	321	1,053	60
22	Chrysler Building, New York (NY), United States	1930	319	1,046	77
23	Nina Tower I, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China	2006	319	1,046	80
24	Bank of America Plaza, Atlanta (GA), United States	1992	312	1,023	55
25	U.S. Bank Tower, Los Angeles (CA), United States	1989	310	1,018	73
26	Menara Telekom, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	2001	310	1,017	55
27	Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	2000	309	1,014	56
28	AT&T Corporate Center, Chicago (IL), United States	1989	307	1,007	60
29	JPMorganChase Tower, Houston, United States	1982	305	1,002	75
30	Baiyoke Tower II, Bangkok, Thailand	1997	304	997	85
31	Kingdom Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	2002	302	992	41
Towers and Other Structures for comparison
–	KVLY-TV mast, Fargo (ND), United States	1963	629	2,063	–
1	CN Tower, Toronto (ON), Canada	1976	553	1,815	–
2	Ostankino Tower, Moscow, Russia	1967	540	1,772	–
3	Emley Moor, Huddersfield, United Kingdom	1971	330.4	1,084	–
4	Sky Tower, Auckland, New Zealand	1997	328	1,076	–
5	Sydney Tower, Sydney, Australia	1981	309	1,014	–

¹ Height for inhabited buildings (with stories) does not include TV towers and antennas.

Source: Emporis.

Proposed record-breaking structures

• Proposed "Murjan Tower" in Manama on the tiny Island of Bahrain is going to be 1,022 meters (3,353 ft) in height. The Murjan Tower is being designed by Danish firm Henning Larsens Tegnestue A/S and comprises 200 floors. If built, it will become world's tallest building, surpassing the proposed Mubarak Tower in nearby Kuwait City.

• The proposed Mubarak al-Kabir Tower in Madinat al-Hareer (City Of Silk), (Kuwait) is going to be 1,001 m (3,284 ft) in height. Taller than the upcoming Solar Tower (in NSW, Australia) by 1 meter only. There are further plans to push the tower into even greater heights as most investments will go into making this structure the tallest tower in the world.

• The proposed Solar Tower in Buronga, New South Wales, Australia would be 1,000 m (3,281 ft) tall. Engineering feasibility has been demonstrated to the satisfaction of consulting engineers, but financial viability remains questionable.

• Near Fuento el Fresno in Spain, the construction of a 750 metre tall solar tower is planned. If it will be built as planned, it will be nearly twice as tall as today's tallest structure in the European Union, the Belmont TV Mast.

• Burj Dubai in Dubai, UAE is a 808 m (2,651 ft) skyscraper currently under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Designed to be completed around 2008, this would put it at the number one spot in all four of CTBUH's categories, as well as make it the tallest manmade structure of any kind in history.

• The proposed Center of India Tower in Katangi, India would be a 677 m (2,222 ft) skyscraper with 224 stories. It has been planned to be built in 2008. Upon completion, the building will have the largest gross floor area in the world; approx. 30 million sq. feet. ^[2]

• The 610 m 2000 ft Chicago Spire (formerly Fordham Spire) would surpass the Sears Tower as the tallest tower in Chicago as well as North America. The building would have 124 stories as well as a top floor height of 1570 ft.^{[citation needed]} The project was given new life when Garrett Kelleher, executive chairman of Shelbourne Development Ltd & the Shelbourne Group acquired the land in July 2006 with plans to fully fund the development of the project. The building is planned to break ground sometime in early 2007 with completion expected in late 2010.

• The 492 m (1,614 ft; roof height) Shanghai World Financial Center in Shanghai, People's Republic of China has proposed completion in 2008, but has been delayed by evaluation of soil stability. A competing on-going project for the world's tallest is the 474 m (1,555 ft) Union Square Phase 7 in Hong Kong, also scheduled for completion in 2009. This would make either building the tallest under categories 2 and 3 by the CTBUH.

• The Freedom Tower of the new World Trade Center in New York City will reach 1,776 ft (541.3 metres) to its spire and about 1,368 ft (417 m) to its roof. This would make it the tallest building under categories 1 and 4 by the CTBUH, if no other record-breakers have been built by its completion date (currently at 2012).^{[citation needed]}

• Kpt tower Karachi Port Trust is taking on a Rs. 20 billion project, the Port Tower Complex, is said to be 593 metres (1,947ft) high.^{[citation needed]} 1947 is the independence year of Pakistan. It should be finished within six years. It will comprise a hotel, a shopping center, and an Expo center. Integrating into Karachi’s skyline, the main feature of the venture shall be a revolving restaurant, a viewing gallery offering a panoramic view of the coastline and the city. The Tower is planned to be located at the Clifton shoreline. When completed it will be the tallest building in Pakistan and the 2nd tallest building in the world, first being Burj Dubai.

• The new Guangdong TV Tower at Guangzhou, People's Republic of China may also become one of the world's tallest structures.

• Construction was scheduled to begin in 2006 on the now cancelled Strait of Messina Bridge. The bridge would have become the largest suspension bridge as well as the tallest. The proposed height of the two towers at 382.6 metres, is taller than the current record holder, the Millau Viaduct in France (341 metres).^{[citation needed]}

• There are some plans for a 609.6 metre high free-standing TV tower at Bayonne, New Jersey.

• During the Russian October Revolution of 1917, Vladimir Tatlin had designed a structure named The Monument to the Third International to become the international center of the Komintern. Better known as the Tatlin Tower, the stucture would have risen 400 meters into the air. For the time, it would have been by far the tallest building in the world. The Russian Civil War stopped the project from continuing, due to lack of resources and time. Later, the Stalinist doctrine of "Socialism in One Country" and the abolishment of the Komintern made the plan for an international center to communism of no use to the Stalinist bureaucracy of the USSR.

Other proposed very tall towers

Radio masts taller than 600 metres

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into List of masts. (Discuss)

Towers/Skyscrapers

• TV tower of Djakarta [17].

See also

• Architectural structure
• Air traffic obstacle (for links to lists of air traffic obstacles, useful or determining the height of tall structures)
• Height restriction laws
• List of buildings
• List of largest buildings in the world
• List of masts
• Tallest free standing structure on land
• List of tallest buildings in the world
• List of tallest buildings and structures in the world by country
• List of tallest buildings and structures in Australia
• List of tallest buildings and structures in Canada
• List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain
• List of tallest buildings and structures in Ireland
• List of tallest buildings and structures in London
• List of tallest buildings and structures in Paris
• List of tallest buildings and structures in the former Soviet Union
• List of tallest structures in the Czech Republic
• List of tallest churches in the world
• List of tallest structures in the world
• List of tallest structures in the world by type of use
• List of towers
• World's largest domes

External links

• All About Skyscrapers
• Skyscraper Diagrams
• Emporis
• SkyscraperPage
• SkyscraperCity
• SkyscraperCity forum
• Guinness Book of world Records
• Guinness Entry for 'Tallest Office Building'
• Guinness Entry for 'Tallest Building'
• http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001338.html
• http://www.xs4all.nl/~hnetten/tallest.html
• http://www.civl.port.ac.uk/comp_prog/weird/tallest.html
• http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/toptens/buildings/buildings.html
• http://www.skyscrapernews.com
• Information and photos about the current world's tallest, Taipei 101

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