Architects from all over the world compete constantly to produce engineering marvels that will break records and establish their location as the tallest building in the world. Some of the structures are simply breathtakingly gorgeous! The Top 10 tallest buildings in the world include a number of magnificent constructions from China, the US, and the Middle East, and each of them is unquestionably a phenomenally tall skyscraper.
Today, we'll talk about these impressive towers, which have a modern design and stand for the advancement of science and modernism. Only finished structures are included in this ranking of the highest structures in the world. The Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur would be the second-tallest structure in the world if we had included the ones that were fully topped out.
Top 10 Tallest Buildings In The World
- Burj Khalifa
- Shanghai Tower
- Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower
- Ping An International Finance Centre
- Lotte World Tower
- One World Trade Center
- Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre
- Tianjin CTF Finance Centre
- China Zun
- Taipei 101
Here is our compiled list of the top 10 tallest buildings around the world, along with information about each of these works of art.
➣Burj Khalifa
- Project Name: Burj Khalifa
- City & Country: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Height: 2,717 ft
- Floors: 163 (+1 below ground)
- Completion Date: 2010
The Burj Khalifa tower, the world's tallest building, debuted in central Dubai in January 2010. Burj Khalifa is a towering 2,717-foot mixed-use skyscraper that is very impressive.
The skyscraper has 163 storeys and is home to a number of opulent apartments, restaurants, five-star hotels, and business suits. This famous structure, which has the highest observation deck and the tallest service elevator in the world, holds a number of world records, including:
- Tallest building in the world
- · Tallest free-standing structure
- · Tallest service elevator in the world
- · Highest observation deck
- · Highest number of stories
- · Elevator with the longest distance
- · Highest occupied floors
Interesting Fact: Did you know that this iconic building Burj Khalifa is twice as tall as the Empire State Building in New York? Oh yes, it is!
➣Shanghai Tower
- Project Name: Shanghai Tower
- City & Country: Shanghai, China
- Height: 2,073 ft.
- Floors: 128 (+5 below ground)
- Completion Date: 2015
Standing at the height of 2,073 ft, the Shanghai Tower located in China is the second tallest building in the world. The construction of this phenomenal skyscraper started in 1997, but it was put on hold several times due to funding issues.
The tower had the world's second-fastest elevators with a fantastic speed of 20.5 meters per second but was soon surpassed by the Guangzhou CTF Finance Center in 2017 with its speed of about 21 meters per second.
The second tallest building in the world – Shanghai Tower was designed by the international firm Gensler and is owned by the Shanghai Municipal Government and is one of the most magnificent buildings in the world.
The tower is located in the financial district of Pudong and has 128 floors and up to 270 wind turbines. Formed with nine cylindrical buildings, each of the nine buildings or zones features gorgeous gardens, cafes, and some retail spaces. All nine zones are encased in a glass façade and form one structure.
Interesting Fact: While Burj Khalifa has bagged the title of Tallest Building in the World, Shanghai Tower is the tallest building considering the height of usable floors.
➣Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower
- Project Name: Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower
- City & Country: Mecca, Saudi Arabia
- Height: 1,972 ft
- Floors: 120 (+3 below ground)
- Completion Date: 2012
The Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower, at 1,972 feet and 120 stories, is the third-tallest structure in the world, behind China's Shanghai Tower. Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower construction started in 2004 and was finished in close to six years.
The third-tallest skyscraper in the world, Dar Al-Handasah, was designed in Lebanon. It is also regarded as the most expensive structure in the world due to its staggering $15 billion construction cost. The building is also the largest building on the earth in terms of its floor area, spanning a vast area of 1,500,000 m2.
Interesting Fact: The world's third tallest building, Abraj Al-Bait, sits on an old Ottoman fortress destroyed land that overlooks some of the famous Islamic sites. The fortress destroyed to create new buildings was culturally significant to the Turkish people; thus, it created a minor diplomatic disturbance in 2002.
➣Ping An International Finance Centre
- Project Name: Ping An International Finance Centre
- City & Country: Shenzhen, China
- Height: 1,966 ft
- Floors: 115 (+5 below ground)
- Completion Date: 2017
The Ping An International Finance Centre, which had its construction finished in 2017, has the titles of highest structure in Shenzhen, second tallest structure in China, and fourth tallest structure worldwide. The building, which has around 100 office levels and room for 9,000 passengers and nearly 15,500 workers, also has a retail floor and a conference podium.
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, a New York-based architectural firm, is also responsible for designing several other well-known infrastructures in China, such the Shanghai World Financial Center and Chow Tai Fook Center. However, another New York-based company by the name of Thornton Tomasetti was responsible for the building's structural design.
➣Lotte World Tower
- Project Name: Lotte World Tower
- City & Country: Seoul, South Korea
- Height: 1,819 ft
- Floors: 123 (+6 below ground)
- Completion Date: 2017
Lotte World of Seoul, the fifth highest structure in the world, is home to the biggest indoor theme park in the world, as well as an outdoor park, opulent hotels, theatres, shopping centres, and a museum of traditional Korean culture.
The fifth tallest structure in the world, which is also the tallest structure in South Korea, is situated in Seoul's heavily populated Songpa District. The 123-story Lotte World Tower has a height of 1,819 feet and has 123 floors.
One of the most renowned architectural firms in the world, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, with its headquarters in New York City, created the stunning tower.
The Lotte World Tower is a mixed-use building that houses the Lotte Hotel on floors 76 to 101 and residences on floors 42 to 71.
➣One World Trade Center
- Project Name: One World Trade Center
- City & Country: New York City, United States
- Height: 1,776 ft
- Floors: 94 (+ 5 below ground)
- Completion Date: 2014
The One World Trade Center, also famous as the Freedom Tower, is the main building of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York. It is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, standing at a height of 1,776 ft.
The architecture of the sixth tallest building in the world was done by David Childs and his firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). The One World Trade Center consists of a total of 71 elevators which can travel 23 miles per hour, which means you can travel from the ground floor to the 102nd floor of the building in just 60 seconds. Crazy, right?
Interesting Fact: The massively tall tower has the same name as the North Tower of the actual World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack.
➣Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre
- Project Name: Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre
- City & Country: Guangzhou, China
- Height: 1,739 ft
- Floors: 111 (+5 below ground)
- Completion Date: 2016
Standing at 1,739 feet tall, the magnificent Guangzhou West Tower in Guangzhou, China, is a mixed-use tower consisting of 111 floors housing offices, residential space, hotels and a conference area.
Constructed in 2010, the building has earned the title of China's third tallest building and the seventh tallest building in the world.
One of the tower's highlights is its observation deck on the 111th floor which is slightly lower than the Burj Khalifa's deck, which is the highest observation deck in the world.
Interesting Fact: To make Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre more sustainable and environment friendly the designers have made the façade with glass and glazed terra cotta to make the exterior lighter and more sustainable.
➣Tianjin CTF Finance Centre
- Project Name: Tianjin CTF Finance Centre
- City & Country: Tianjin, China
- Height: 1,739 ft
- Floors: 97 (+4 below ground)
- Completion Date: 2019
Sharing the space with Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre, the striking landmark Tianjin CTF Finance Centre also sits on the 7th tallest building in the world with a 1,739 ft. tall skyscraper. The 97 floors tower house several A-class offices, luxury serviced apartments, and a five-star Rosewood hotel. The skyscraper is the second tallest building in Tianjin after Goldin Finance 117.
The thoughtfully designed building is constructed with curving glass that integrates sloping mega-columns and effectively increases the building's response to seismic problems. Not just that, the Tianjin CTF Tower is a phenomenal result of combining structural expression with an innovative structural system to deliver a cost-effective, high-performing and strong structure.
Interesting Fact: The seventh tallest building in the world has been designed to LEED Gold standards and includes optimized daylight, high-performance, and green landscaping.
➣China Zun
Project Name: China Zun
City & Country: Beijing, China
Height: 1,731 ft
Floors: 109 (+8 below ground)
Completion Date: 2018
The charming moniker China Zun is used to refer to the CITIC Tower in Beijing. One of the most known international architectural firms in the world, Arup, served as the structural engineer for the construction of this iconic structure. The skyscraper was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), a company with a history of creating iconic structures.
The 1,731-foot-tall structure, which has 109 stories and eight more below ground, is situated in Beijing's Central Business District.
The structure is yet another gem of a mixed-use development and serves a range of functions. In the skyscraper, there are about 60 levels of offices, 20 stories of opulent apartments, and 20 storeys of a 300-room hotel.
Interesting Fact: Although the groundbreaking ceremony of the building took place on September 19, 2011, the expansive building took years to complete, and the construction was finally done in 2018.
➣Taipei 101
Project Name: Taipei 101
City & Country: Taipei, Taiwan
Height: 1,667
Floors: 101 (+5 below ground)
Completion Date: 2004
The renowned Taipei 101, which is situated in the Hsin Yi neighbourhood of Taipei, Taiwan, was once known as the Taipei World Financial Center. Taipei 101, the nation's most iconic structure, has 101 floors, one less than the Empire State Building, another well-known landmark. The structure, which stands 1,667 feet tall, has offices, retail establishments, and the two fastest elevators in the world.
Despite being one of the tallest buildings in the world, Taipei 101 was the first structure to exceed the Burj Khalifa in Dubai as the tallest building in the world in 2003.
Interesting Fact: Did you know Taipei 101 also has a symbolic meaning? Yes, the name of the structure, which is also one of the world's tallest buildings, not just represents the number of floors but also has a symbolic meaning. The name of the building was meant to honour the coming of the new century – 100+1.
