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Thursday, February 11, 2010

Top Ten Tallest Buildings In The World

1. Burj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa ,formerly known as Burj Dubai prior to its inuguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the tallest man-made structure ever built, at 828 m (2,717 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010. The building is part of the 2 km2 (490-acre) flagship development called Downtown Burj Khalifa at the "First Interchange" along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubai's main business district.


2. Taipei 101

Taipei 101 , also known as the Taipei Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building was the tallest building in the world (with occupiable floors) until it was surpassed in height by the Burj Khalifa on July 21, 2007. The skyscraper was officially the tallest building until the opening of the Burj Khalifa on the 4th of January 2010. Taipei 101, designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed primarily by KTRT Joint Venture and South Korean Samsung C&T received the 2004 Emporis Skyscraper Award and was hailed as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World and Seven Wonders of Engineering (Discovery Channel, 2005). The tower has served as an icon of modern Taiwan ever since its opening. Fireworks launched from Taipei 101 feature prominently in international New Year's Eve broadcasts and the structure appears frequently in travel literature and international media.

3. Shanghai World Financial Center


The Shanghai World Financial Center is a supertall skyscraper in Pudong, Shanghai, China. It is a mixed use skyscraper which consists of offices, hotels, conference rooms, observation decks, and shopping malls on the ground floors. Park Hyatt Shanghai is the hotel component containing 174 rooms and suites. Occupying the 79th to the 93rd floors, it is the highest hotel in the world, surpassing the Grand Hyatt Shanghai on the 53rd to 87th floors of the neighboring Jin Mao Tower.


4. International Commerce Centre


The International Commerce Centre is a 118 floor, 484 m (1,590 ft) skyscraper under construction in West Kowloon, Hong Kong; as part of the Union Square project built on top of Kowloon Station. The development is owned and jointly developed by MTR Corporation Limited and Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's metro operator and largest property developer respectively.

5. Petronas Twin Towers


The Petronas Twin Towers (also known as the Petronas Towers or just Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are twin towers and were the world's tallest buildings before being surpassed by Taipei 101. However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world. They were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 if measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural top, the original height reference used by the international organization Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat from 1969 (three additional height categories were introduced as the tower neared completion in 1996).

6. Nanjing Greenland Financial Center



The Nanjing Greenland Financial Center, also Greenland Square Zifeng Tower is a 450-metre (1,500 ft) supertall skyscraper currently topped-out in Nanjing, China. The 89-story building will feature office space and retail space in the lower section, and restaurants and a public observatory near the top, which will be topped off with a spire. The tower’s stepping is functional, helping separate these sections.

The mixed-use tower which overlooks Xuanwu Lake became the second tallest building in China and the 5th tallest building in the world when topped out in 2008. An observation deck on the 72nd floor, 287 m (940 ft) above ground, will provide an unobstructed, panoramic view of Nanjing and the nearby Yangtze River, two lakes and the Ningzheng Ridge mountains.


7. Willis Tower (Sears Tower)


Willis Tower, formerly named Sears Tower, is a 108-story 1,451 feet (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1973, it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York. Currently, Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world as well as the fifth tallest building in the world to the roof.


8. Guangzhou West Tower


Guangzhou West Tower is a 103 story, 440.2 m (1,444 ft) tall supertall skyscraper under construction at Zhujiang Avenue West in Tianhe District at Guangzhou, China. The building was topped out on 31 December 2008.

Construction of Guangzhou West Tower, designed by Wilkinson Eyre, broke ground in December 2005. When complete in 2009, the building and its twin will become one of the tallest highrise buildings in Guangzhou and China, and will be used as a conference centre, hotel and office building. Floors 1 to 66 are planned to be used as office, floors 67 to 68 are mechanical equipment, floors 69 to 98 as hotel and in floor 99 and 100 there will be an observation deck. There is a hotel lobby on the 70th Floor.

9. Trump International Hotel and Tower

The Trump International Hotel and Tower, also known as Trump Tower Chicago and locally as the Trump Tower, is a skyscraper condo-hotel in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The building, named after real estate developer Donald Trump, was designed by architect Adrian Smith of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Bovis Lend Lease built the 92-story structure, which reached a height of 1,389 feet (423 m) including its spire, its roof topping out at 1,170 feet (360 m). It is adjacent to the main branch of the Chicago River, with a view of the entry to Lake Michigan beyond a series of bridges over the river. The building received publicity when the winner of the first season of The Apprentice television show, Bill Rancic, chose to manage the construction of the tower.


10. Jin Mao Tower


The Jin Mao Tower is an 88-story landmark supertall skyscraper in the Lujiazui area of the Pudong district of Shanghai, People's Republic of China. It contains offices and the Shanghai Grand Hyatt hotel. Until 2007 it was the tallest building in the PRC, the fifth tallest in the world by roof height and the seventh tallest by pinnacle height. Along with the Oriental Pearl Tower, it is a centerpiece of the Pudong skyline. Its height was surpassed on September 14, 2007 by the Shanghai World Financial Center which is next to the building. The Shanghai Tower, a 128-story building located next to these two buildings and now under construction, will be even taller.