Skyscraper

The word skyscraper was originally a nickname for a tall mast on a sailing ship. Today the word is used exclusively to refer to a tall habitable building, usually higher than 152 metres (500 feet). Skyscrapers are also sometimes referred to as a highrise, generally the word highrise is used when referring to a skyscraper which is primarily used as residential building.

Until the 19th century, buildings of over six stories were rare. It was impractical to have people walk up so many flights of stairs. Also, water pressure could only provide running water to about 50 feet.

The development steel, reinforced concrete, elevators and water pumps have made possible the construction of extremely tall buildings, some of which are over 300 metres tall. The other development essential to practical skyscraper development was the invention of the elevator.

The skyscraper first emerged in the land strapped areas of New York City and Chicago toward the end of the 19th century. William Le Baron Jenney designed the first skyscraper in Chicago, The Home Insurance Building. The ten story structure was constructed from 1884-1885 and was destroyed in 1931 for the Field's building.

The weight bearing components also differ substantially from other buildings. Buildings of about 4 stories are supported by their walls where are buildings larger than that must be supported by a skeletal frame. The walls then hang off this frame like curtains. Special consideration must then be given for buildings over 40 stories tall because of the force wind puts on the structure.

Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt is the tallest skyscraper in Europe, but the only building in Europe to rank in the world's top 50 tallest.

See world's tallest structures for a discussion of the tallest skyscrapers and other man-made structures, as defining the "world's tallest..." depends greatly on matters of definition.

Top 200 Skyscrapers by structural height

Adapted from [1], and ranks buildings by the highest architectural detail, and does not include the height of structual components that may look like a spire, but are not classified as such. This sort of ranking allows buildings that look smaller to be higher in rank if one buildings spire is a large antenna whereas on other is its a architectural detail. This results in such controversial rankings such as the Petronas Towers being ranked higher then the Sears Tower despite despite haveing a much lower highest point and occupiable floor. Also, the list does not include free-standing buildings that are not classified as high rises, such as the CN Tower, TV masts, bridges, or oil platforms. Updated to 2004 and destroyed buildings not included, notably the World Trade Center which would be in the top 10. (Note: Height is heighest architectural detail and may not be highest point on building)

#	Building	City	Height(m)	Height(ft)	Floors	Year
1	Taipei 101	Taipei	509 m	1,671 ft	101	2004
2	Petronas Tower 1	Kuala Lumpur	452 m	1,483 ft	88	1998
3	Petronas Tower 2	Kuala Lumpur	452 m	1,483 ft	88	1998
4	Sears Tower	Chicago	442 m	1,450 ft	108	1974
5	Jin Mao Tower	Shanghai	421 m	1,380 ft	88	1998
6	Two International Finance	Hong Kong	415 m	1,362 ft	88	2003
7	CITIC Plaza	Guangzhou	391 m	1,283 ft	80	1997
8	Shun Hing Square	Shenzhen	384 m	1,260 ft	69	1996
9	Empire State Building	New York City	381 m	1,250 ft	102	1931
10	Central Plaza	Hong Kong	374 m	1,227 ft	78	1992
11	Bank of China Tower	Hong Kong	367 m	1,205 ft	72	1990
12	Emirates Office Tower	Dubai	355 m	1,163 ft	54	2000
13	Tuntex Sky Tower	Kaohsiung	348 m	1,140 ft	85	1997
14	Aon Center	Chicago	346 m	1,136 ft	83	1973
15	The Center	Hong Kong	346 m	1,135 ft	73	1998
16	John Hancock Center	Chicago	344 m	1,127 ft	100	1969
17	Ryugyong Hotel	Pyongyang	330 m	1,083 ft	105	1992
18	Burj Al Arab	Dubai	321 m	1,053 ft	60	1999
19	Chrysler Building	New York City	319 m	1,046 ft	77	1930
20	Bank of America Plaza	Atlanta	312 m	1,023 ft	55	1992
21	US Bank Tower	Los Angeles	310 m	1,018 ft	73	1990
22	Menara Telekom	Kuala Lumpur	310 m	1,017 ft	55	2001
23	Emirates Hotel Tower	Dubai	309 m	1,014 ft	56	2000
24	AT&T Corporate Center	Chicago	307 m	1,007 ft	60	1989
25	JPMorganChase Tower	Houston	305 m	1,002 ft	75	1982
26	Baiyoke Tower II	Bangkok	304 m	997 ft	85	1997
27	Two Prudential Plaza	Chicago	303 m	995 ft	64	1990
28	Kingdom Centre	Riyadh	302 m	992 ft	41	2002
29	First Canadian Place	Toronto	298 m	978 ft	72	1976
30	Yokohama Landmark Tower	Yokohama	296 m	972 ft	70	1993
31	Wells Fargo Plaza	Houston	296 m	972 ft	71	1983
32	311 South Wacker Drive	Chicago	293 m	961 ft	65	1990
33	SEG Plaza	Shenzhen	292 m	957 ft	70	2000
34	American International	New York City	290 m	952 ft	66	1932
35	Key Tower	Cleveland	289 m	947 ft	57	1991
36	Plaza 66	Shanghai	288 m	945 ft	66	2001
37	One Liberty Place	Philadelphia	288 m	945 ft	61	1987
38	Bank of America Tower	Seattle	285 m	937 ft	76	1985
39	Tomorrow Square	Shanghai	285 m	934 ft	55	2003
40	Cheung Kong Centre	Hong Kong	283 m	928 ft	62	1999
41	The Trump Building	New York City	283 m	927 ft	70	1930
42	Bank of America Plaza	Dallas	281 m	921 ft	72	1985
43	OUB Centre	Singapore	280 m	919 ft	63	1986
44	Republic Plaza	Singapore	280 m	919 ft	66	1995
45	UOB Plaza One	Singapore	280 m	919 ft	66	1992
46	Citigroup Center	New York City	279 m	915 ft	59	1977
47	Hong Kong New World Tower	Shanghai	278 m	913 ft	61	2002
48	Scotia Plaza	Toronto	275 m	902 ft	68	1988
49	Williams Tower	Houston	275 m	901 ft	64	1983
50	Wuhan World Trade Tower	Wuhan	273 m	896 ft	58	1998
51	Renaissance Tower	Dallas	270 m	886 ft	56	1974
52	Dapeng International Plaza	Guangzhou	269 m	884 ft	56	2004
53	21st Century Tower	Dubai	269 m	883 ft	55	2003
54	Al Faisaliyah Center	Riyadh	267 m	876 ft	30	2000
55	900 North Michigan	Chicago	265 m	871 ft	66	1989
56	Bank of America Corporate..	Charlotte	265 m	871 ft	60	1992
57	SunTrust Plaza	Atlanta	265 m	871 ft	60	1992
58	Bocom Financial Towers	Shanghai	265 m	869 ft	52	2002
59	Triumph-Palace	Moscow	264 m	866 ft	61	2004
60	120 Collins Street	Melbourne	264 m	866 ft	52	1991
61	Tower Palace Three, Tower	Seoul	264 m	865 ft	73	2004
62	Trump World Tower	New York City	262 m	861 ft	72	2001
63	Shenzhen Special Zone Pre..	Shenzhen	262 m	860 ft	48	1998
64	Water Tower Place	Chicago	262 m	859 ft	74	1976
65	Aon Center	Los Angeles	262 m	858 ft	62	1973
66	Canada Trust Tower	Toronto	261 m	856 ft	53	1990
67	Bloomberg Tower	New York City	261 m	855 ft	54	2004
68	Post & Telecommunication	Guangzhou	260 m	853 ft	66	2003
69	Transamerica Pyramid	San Francisco	260 m	853 ft	48	1972
70	Bank One Plaza	Chicago	259 m	850 ft	60	1969
71	GE Building	New York City	259 m	850 ft	69	1933
72	Commerzbank Tower	Frankfurt	259 m	850 ft	56	1997
73	PBCOM Tower	Makati	259 m	848 ft	55	2000
74	Two Liberty Place	Philadelphia	258 m	848 ft	58	1990
75	Bank of China Tower	Shanghai	258 m	846 ft	53	2000
76	Park Tower	Chicago	257 m	844 ft	67	2000
77	MesseTurm	Frankfurt	257 m	842 ft	55	1990
78	U.S. Steel Tower	Pittsburgh	256 m	841 ft	64	1970
79	Sorrento 1	Hong Kong	256 m	841 ft	75	2003
80	Mok-dong Hyperion I, Tower	Seoul	256 m	840 ft	69	2003
81	Rinku Gate Tower Building	Izumisano	256 m	840 ft	56	1996
82	Langham Place Office Tower	Hong Kong	255 m	837 ft	59	2004
83	The Harbourside	Hong Kong	255 m	837 ft	75	2003
84	Capital Tower	Singapore	254 m	833 ft	52	2000
85	Highcliff	Hong Kong	252 m	828 ft	72	2003
86	Osaka World Trade Center	Osaka	252 m	827 ft	55	1995
87	Rialto Towers	Melbourne	251 m	824 ft	63	1986
88	Jiali Plaza	Wuhan	251 m	823 ft	61	1997
89	Wisma 46	Jakarta	250 m	820 ft	48	1996
90	One Atlantic Center	Atlanta	250 m	820 ft	50	1987
91	KLI 63 Building	Seoul	249 m	817 ft	60	1985
92	Central Park	Perth	249 m	817 ft	52	1992
93	Cityspire	New York City	248 m	814 ft	75	1989
94	One Chase Manhattan Plaza	New York City	248 m	813 ft	60	1961
95	State Tower	Bangkok	247 m	811 ft	68	2001
96	Bank One Tower	Indianapolis	247 m	811 ft	49	1990
97	Conde Nast Building	New York City	247 m	809 ft	48	1999
98	MetLife Building	New York City	246 m	808 ft	60	1963
99	JR Central Office Tower	Nagoya	245 m	804 ft	51	2000
101	City Gate Ramat Gan	Ramat Gan	244 m	801 ft	68	2001
102	Chifley Tower	Sydney	244 m	801 ft	50	1992
103	Menara Maybank	Kuala Lumpur	244 m	799 ft	50	1988
104	Tokyo City Hall, Tower I	Tokyo	243 m	799 ft	48	1991
105	Citigroup Centre	Sydney	243 m	797 ft	50	2000
106	The Tower	Dubai	243 m	796 ft	54	2002
107	Dalian World Trade Center	Dalian	242 m	794 ft	50	2000
108	Mellon Bank Center	Philadelphia	241 m	792 ft	54	1990
109	Woolworth Building	New York City	241 m	792 ft	57	1913
110	Maxdo Centre	Shanghai	241 m	792 ft	55	2002
111	Bank of China Mansion	Qingdao	241 m	791 ft	54	1999
112	John Hancock Tower	Boston	241 m	790 ft	60	1976
113	Four Seasons Hotel & Tower	Miami	240 m	789 ft	64	2003
114	Manulife Plaza	Hong Kong	240 m	789 ft	52	1998
115	Panglin Plaza	Shenzhen	240 m	787 ft	57	1999
116	DoCoMo Yoyogi Building	Tokyo	240 m	787 ft	28	2000
117	Moscow State University	Moscow	240 m	787 ft	36	1953
118	Sunshine 60 Building	Tokyo	240 m	787 ft	60	1978
119	Bank One Center	Dallas	240 m	787 ft	60	1987
120	Mok-dong Hyperion I, Tower	Seoul	239 m	785 ft	63	2003
121	Commerce Court West	Toronto	239 m	784 ft	57	1972
122	Roppongi Hills Mori Tower	Tokyo	238 m	781 ft	54	2003
123	30 Hudson Street	Jersey City	238 m	781 ft	42	2004
124	Empire Tower	Kuala Lumpur	238 m	781 ft	62	1994
125	Bank of America Center	San Francisco	237 m	779 ft	52	1969
126	One Worldwide Plaza	New York City	237 m	778 ft	50	1989
127	225 South Sixth	Minneapolis	237 m	776 ft	56	1992
128	IDS Tower	Minneapolis	236 m	775 ft	57	1973
129	Sorrento 2	Hong Kong	236 m	773 ft	66	2003
130	Wells Fargo Center	Minneapolis	235 m	773 ft	57	1988
131	Bank of America Center	Houston	235 m	772 ft	56	1983
132	Washington Mutual Tower	Seattle	235 m	772 ft	55	1988
133	One Canada Square	London	235 m	771 ft	50	1991
134	191 Peachtree Tower	Atlanta	235 m	770 ft	50	1990
135	Temasek Tower	Singapore	235 m	770 ft	52	1986
136	Tokyo Opera City Tower	Tokyo	234 m	768 ft	54	1997
137	Tower Palace One, Tower B	Seoul	234 m	767 ft	66	2002
138	Three First National Plaza	Chicago	234 m	767 ft	57	1981
139	Wachovia Financial Center	Miami	233 m	764 ft	55	1984
140	The Harbourfront Landmark	Hong Kong	233 m	763 ft	70	2001
141	Shinjuku Park Tower	Tokyo	233 m	763 ft	52	1994
142	International Ocean Shipping	Shanghai	232 m	762 ft	50	2000
143	Texaco Heritage Plaza	Houston	232 m	762 ft	53	1987
144	Menara KOMTAR	Penang Island	232 m	760 ft	65	1985
145	Carnegie Hall Tower	New York City	231 m	757 ft	60	1991
146	Palace of Culture & Science	Warsaw	231 m	757 ft	33	1955
147	Chicago Title & Trust Buisness	Chicago	230 m	756 ft	50	1992
148	Bear Stearns World Headquarters	New York City	230 m	755 ft	47	2001
149	AXA Center	New York City	229 m	752 ft	54	1986
150	1251 Avenue of the America	New York City	229 m	750 ft	54	1971
151	One Penn Plaza	New York City	229 m	750 ft	57	1972
152	Two California Plaza	Los Angeles	229 m	750 ft	52	1992
153	Prudential Tower	Boston	229 m	750 ft	52	1964
154	Time Warner Center North	New York City	229 m	750 ft	55	2004
155	Time Warner Center South	New York City	229 m	750 ft	55	2004
156	Gas Company Tower	Los Angeles	228 m	749 ft	52	1991
157	Shanglong Building	Shenzhen	228 m	748 ft	50	2004
158	MLC Centre	Sydney	228 m	748 ft	60	1977
159	Cosco Tower	Hong Kong	228 m	748 ft	53	1998
160	1100 Louisiana Building	Houston	228 m	748 ft	55	1980
161	Trade Tower	Seoul	228 m	748 ft	54	1988
162	60 Wall Street	New York City	227 m	745 ft	55	1989
163	One Astor Plaza	New York City	227 m	745 ft	54	1972
164	Governor Phillip Tower	Sydney	227 m	745 ft	54	1993
165	Empire Tower	Bangkok	227 m	744 ft	62	1999
166	The Belcher's Tower 5	Hong Kong	227 m	744 ft	61	2001
167	The Belcher's Tower 6	Hong Kong	227 m	744 ft	61	2001
168	One Liberty Plaza	New York City	226 m	743 ft	54	1973
169	JR Central Hotel Tower	Nagoya	226 m	741 ft	53	2000
170	Swissôtel The Stamford	Singapore	226 m	741 ft	73	1986
171	20 Exchange Place	New York City	226 m	741 ft	57	1931
172	Reliant Energy Plaza	Houston	226 m	741 ft	47	1974
173	Two Union Square	Seattle	226 m	740 ft	56	1989
174	Bell Atlantic Tower	Philadelphia	225 m	739 ft	55	1991
175	Three World Financial Cen.	New York City	225 m	739 ft	51	1986
176	Shenzhen World Trade Center	Shenzhen	225 m	738 ft	50	2001
177	Shinjuku Mitsui Building	Tokyo	225 m	738 ft	55	1974
178	Torre Mayor	Mexico City	225 m	738 ft	55	2003
179	JP Morgan Chase Tower	Dallas	225 m	738 ft	55	1987
180	ARCO Center	Los Angeles	224 m	735 ft	55	1974
181	Bourke Place	Melbourne	224 m	735 ft	51	1991
182	Continental Center I	Houston	223 m	732 ft	53	1984
183	Shinjuku Center Building	Tokyo	223 m	731 ft	54	1979
184	Toronto Dominion Bank Tower	Toronto	223 m	731 ft	56	1967
185	Carlton Centre Office Tower	Johannesburg	223 m	730 ft	50	1973
186	World Finance Centre, Tower	Shenzhen	222 m	730 ft	54	2003
187	Grand 50 Tower	Kaohsiung	222 m	728 ft	50	1992
188	Marriott Renaissance Center	Detroit	221 m	726 ft	73	1977
189	Times Square Tower	New York City	221 m	726 ft	47	2004
190	Parque Central Torre Este	Caracas	221 m	725 ft	56	1979
191	Parque Central Torre Oest	Caracas	221 m	725 ft	56	1984
192	777 Tower	Los Angeles	221 m	725 ft	52	1991
193	Chevron Tower	Houston	221 m	725 ft	52	1982
194	Olympia Centre	Chicago	221 m	725 ft	63	1986
195	One Mellon Center	Pittsburgh	221 m	725 ft	54	1983
196	Jewelry Trade Center	Bangkok	221 m	724 ft	59	1996
197	St. Luke's Tower	Tokyo	221 m	724 ft	51	1994
198	The Belcher's Tower 1	Hong Kong	221 m	724 ft	63	2000
199	The Belcher's Tower 2	Hong Kong	221 m	724 ft	63	2000
200	Westin Peachtree Plaza	Atlanta	220 m	723 ft	73	1976

History of tallest skyscraper

Building	Year	Status	Roof Height	Pinnacle	Floors
Home Insurance Building	1885	Destroyed	54.9m	-	12
World Building	1890	Destroyed	94.2m	106.4m	20
Manhattan Life Insurance Building	1894	Destroyed	106.1m	-	18
Park Row Building	1899	Extant	119.2m	-	30
Singer Building	1908	Destroyed	186.6m	-	47
Met Life Tower	1909	Extant	213.4m	-	50
Woolworth Building	1913	Extant	241.4m	-	57
40 Wall Street	1930	Extant	-	282.5m	71
Chrysler Building	1930	Extant	281.9m	318.8m	77
Empire State Building	1931	Extant	381m	448.7m	102
1 World Trade Center	1972	Destroyed	417m	526.3m	110
Sears Tower	1974	Extant	442m	527.3m	108
Taipei 101	2004	Extant	448m	508m	101

Disputed Claims:

CN Tower (see also List of towers
Petronas Towers (only held one category)

Comparison of top modern skyscrapers

(to scale)

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Top 200 Skyscrapers by structural height

History of tallest skyscraper

Comparison of top modern skyscrapers

See Also