Merdeka 118 Tower officially opened.

Merdeka 118 Tower is at last officially inaugurated on last Wednesday, 10th January 2024. With a staggering architectural height of 678.9 metres, the 118-storey megatall skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur is the second tallest building / man-made structure in the world, only behind the 828 metres tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It is the tallest building in Malaysia, having surpassed both the Exchange 106 Tower (453.6 metres tall) and the iconic Petronas Twin Towers (451.9 metres tall).

Merdeka 118 Tower — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star

Designed by an Australian architectural firm, Fender Katsalidis, the tower features multi-faceted diamond-shaped facade that symbolises the multi-racial society of Malaysia. Its form was inspired by the outstretched hand gesture made by Malaysia’s first Prime Minister (Tunku Abdul Rahman) in 1957, when he declared the nation’s independence in the adjacent Stadium Merdeka, which is part of the redeveloping Merdeka 118 precinct.

Groundbreaking took place in July 2014 and the tower topped out on November 2021 with the completion of its 160m tall spire. The tower reached completion in November 2023 and is officially inaugurated by Yang Di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) on last Wednesday in a ceremony that saw spectacular light and laser show from the tower. It took 10 long years to turn it from drawing board to reality.

I recalled that I do post periodic updates on the progress of the tower while it was under construction several years back in my blog here too. I do constantly follow up with any updates of this tower as I am a fan of skyscrapers. It is finally reaching a historic milestone this week with its official opening. By the way, the Park Hyatt Hotel that occupies the upper part of the tower will only be opened on third quarter of 2024 and the observation deck will only be opened on fourth quarter of 2024.

Still have to wait for a while to personally go up to its observation deck (tallest in South East Asia) and enjoy the city skyline view of Kuala Lumpur from high up there. The views must be insane. By the way, do you know that the tower is actually located right across from my former secondary school; Methodist Boys Secondary School Kuala Lumpur. When I was studying there, it was just a dump site and then barricaded for a few years with no activity or whatsoever. And now, it is the site of one of the world’s tallest structures. What a transformation!

Top 10 Tallest Buildings In The World (as of April 2020)

It has been quite some years since I last made a check on the list of tallest buildings in the world. When I researched on this topic again recently, I was quite shocked to see many new buildings popping out in the top 10 list. I do periodically write a post on this topic once in a few years and I think it’s time now to write another one for the updating purpose.

Now, each of the present top 10 tallest buildings in the world is at least half a kilometre tall. That’s 500 metres. About a decade ago, a skyscraper is sure to join top 10 list when it reaches beyond 400 metres mark. Now, that is no longer possible. Once the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101 is now at the very last spot in the top 10 standing. Burj Khalifa still maintains the title of the world’s tallest building (also world’s tallest man-made structure) for a decade since 2010 when it is first completed. 9 out of 10 skyscrapers in the top 10 list are in Asia. Well, that is not surprising as many countries in this continent observe huge growth and high demand for construction of tall buildings especially China.

Here’s the current top 10 tallest buildings in the world (information correct as of April 2020, information comes with building’s name, city, country, height, number of floors, and year of completion). Do be reminded that this official list is obtained from the international governing body in worldwide tall buildings called ‘Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’ (CTBUH). This list does not include telecommunication or observation towers, antennas, masts, non-habitable structures and buildings which are still under construction. Only completed buildings are qualified to the list.

10 – Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan (508 metres, 101 floors, 2004)

9 – CITIC Tower, Beijing, China (528 metres, 109 floors, 2018)

8 – Tianjin CTF Finance Centre, Tianjin, China (530 metres, 97 floors, 2019)

7 – Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre, Guangzhou, China (530 metres, 111 floors, 2016)

6 – One World Trade Center, New York City, USA (541 metres, 94 floors, 2014)

5 – Lotte World Tower, Seoul, South Korea (555 metres, 123 floors, 2017)

4 – Ping An Finance Center, Shenzhen, China (599 metres, 115 floors, 2017)

3 – Makkah Royal Clock Tower, Mecca, Saudi Arabia (601 metres, 120 floors, 2012)

2 – Shanghai Tower, Shanghai, China (632 metres, 128 floors, 2015)

1 – Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE (828 metres, 163 floors, 2010)

My country’s famous Petronas Twin Towers which are once the tallest buildings in the world too are now at 17th place. That’s quite far behind. Nevertheless, they are still the current tallest twin buildings in the world, at 452 metres tall each. Soon, we will see a skyscraper in Malaysia to appear again in the top 10 list with the expected completion of Merdeka PNB118 Tower next year (2021). The tower, located in Kuala Lumpur will be 644 metres tall with 118 floors when completed. It will be ranked 2nd tallest in the world, just behind Burj Khalifa. As of today, the core of the tower has reached 112nd floor.

Seeing Burj Khalifa holding the record for more than a decade now, I’m starting to hope that some day soon, another taller tower will take the title from it. Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower will be that tower possibly. The 167-floors Jeddah Tower will be 1000 metres tall (that’s 1 km!) and is currently under construction. However, there seems to be little to no progress to its construction in the last few years due to financial reason. There is no estimated completion date for this massive megatall and its fate is still uncertain for now.

(Images in this post are from various online sources. Buildings’ information is from CTBUH as highlighted earlier)

The Exchange 106 officially becomes the tallest building in Malaysia, dethroning the iconic Petronas Twin Towers.

Petronas Twin Towers are now no longer the tallest buildings in Malaysia. Standing at the height of 451.9 metres, they were also once the world’s tallest buildings too. Another higher sksycraper called The Exchange 106 has taken over the title as Malaysia’s tallest building.

Located at the planned new financial district of Kuala Lumpur, The Exchange 106 tower stands at a height of 453.5 metres tall. That makes it 1.6m taller than the Petronas Twin Towers. What a tiny difference. In the past and even until today, there has been a lot of debates on the building’s height. Some said 492 metres (including some recently published news article regarding the tower’s completion), and some said it is just 445 metres tall.

Around a year ago, there is a sectional drawing of the tower that has been revealed at the skyscrapercity forum. The 492m figure comes from measuring from the top of the tower to the sea level. This is certainly not to be used to measure a building’s height. And then there’s argument on measuring from top to the main podium or the lower secondary entrance which is still above ground. Hence, the 445m figure comes in and is accepted by Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) earlier.

Now, after its official completion and a r0evaluation by CTBUH, the final height of the tower is now confirmed to be 453.5 metres. The news report got it wrong (I don’t blame them since the ones writing the articles are not an expert in sksycraper’s height and I believe they just copy the figure from the developer’s website). Some still insisted it is 492m despite the sectional drawing already proven it is not.

On the other hand, the tower also does not have 106 floors as suggested by its name. It only has 97 floors above ground. The 106 figure is adding in the floors below ground and some technical or unused floors in between. The developer has been over excited on bumping up its figures (both floor numbers and building height) without following the convention of measuring them. They are the culprit behind this misleading information.

Nevertheless, the tower is a magnificent addition to the city skyline of Kuala Lumpur, though certainly not as iconic as the Petronas Twin Towers. The tower’s crown looks impressive but the dull design of the rest of the tower is too hard to be ignored. The lighting of the tower is also poorly designed.

The Exchange 106 will only hold the title for a very short period of time. In about two years time, PNB118 Tower located just a short distance away will be the new tallest building in Malaysia. When completed, the tower will reach around 500m to top of its roof and up to 644m to top of its massive spire. At 644m, it will also be the second tallest building in the world, behind Dubai’s Burj Khalifa (828m).

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Top 10 Tallest Buildings in South East Asia.

The last time I wrote a post about the world’s top 10 tallest buildings was two years ago. I do wrote a number of posts regarding that in the past and I’m going to update the list with a new post next year. For now, I’m heading into the tallest for a specific region. And the specific region I’m highlighting now is of course, my region; South East Asia.

South East Asia is a subregion of Asia and it has 11 countries (Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam), an area of over 4.5 million square kilometres, over 640 million population, and is a culturally and ethically diverse region. The region saw very high development rate, and hence skyscrapers are in abundance here. In fact, the first ever skyscraper(s) to snatch the world’s tallest building title from America in the past comes from this region. That’s the famous Petronas Twin Towers that has that honor. The towers now remain the world’s tallest twin buildings in present.

Here’s the top 10 tallest buildings in South East Asia, counting in only completed buildings and excludes telecommunication towers and antennas.

1.Vincom Landmark 81

Height: 461m.

Floors: 81.

Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Year completed: 2018.

2 & 3. Petronas Twin Towers

Height: 452m.

Floors: 88.

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Year completed: 1998.

4. Four Seasons Place

Height: 343m.

Floors: 65.

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Year completed: 2018.

5. Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower

Height: 328m.

Floors: 72.

Location: Hanoi, Vietnam.

Year completed: 2012.

6. Magnolias Waterfront Residences Tower 1

Height: 315m.

Floors: 70.

Location: Bangkok, Thailand.

Year completed: 2018.

7. King Power Mahanakhon

Height: 314m.

Floors: 79.

Location: Bangkok, Thailand.

Year completed: 2016.

8. Menara TM

Height: 310m.

Floors: 55.

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Year completed: 2001.

9. Baiyoke Tower II

Height: 304m.

Floors: 85.

Location: Bangkok, Thailand.

Year completed: 1997.

10. Four Seasons Private Residences

Height: 300m.

Floors: 73.

Location: Bangkok, Thailand.

Year completed: 2019.

Currently (as of June 2019), Vietnam topped the list with their Vincom Landmark 81 Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It get past the previous record holder (South East Asia’s tallest) from Petronas Twin Towers by around 9m. Vietnam is experiencing superb growth now and it is no stranger that the country is now building more and more skyscrapers as a sign of its immense development. Malaysia and Thailand both have 4 buildings in this list respectively and are still the major nations of supertall skyscrapers in this region. Only three countries are featured in this top 10 list.

One may wonder where is Singapore since the country is well developed (the only developed country in South East Asia) and is known to have huge number of skyscrapers? Due to height restriction (country is small and airspace restriction covers the whole country which is basically just an island), Singapore can only build buildings up to about 280m. Hence, you see no building coming from this country in this list. In fact, the next one (11th place) will be the Singapore’s Tanjong Pagar Centre (283m).

One need to be breaking the 300-metres mark to get into top 10 list as seen above. In few years time, there will be dramatic difference to this list now as more and more taller skyscrapers are coming up in this region. For example, the Merdeka PNB118 (644m) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the already topped out The Exchange 106 (452m) also in Kuala Lumpur, One Bangkok O4H4 (436m) in Bangkok, Thailand, etc.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

 

UN Studio + Cox Architecture won the competition to design Australia’s tallest building.

A competition to design Australia’s tallest building in the city of Melbourne made headlines recently as it has drawn entries from some of the world’s best known architects. BIG, MAD, MVRDV and OMA architects have made it into the shortlist but it was UN Studio + Cox Architecture‘s scheme that has won the competition as announced recently. This international design competition calls for a mixed-use development at Southbank, Melbourne by Beulah International developer and is set to break ground in 2020.

Their scheme which is nicknamed ‘Green Spine’ features a pair of twisting towers where greenery will burst through the facing facades of both towers as they rise and twist towards each other. The skyscraper is then crowned with a publicly accessible botanical garden. The taller tower will reach 356.2 metres and become the country’s tallest building (currently Q1 Tower in Gold Coast is the record holder with 322 metres in height). This taller taller houses the residences while the other shorter taller (252.2 metres high…still tall though) contains offices and hotels.

Plenty of public spaces, school, cinema, library, restaurants, bars and shops filled the base of the tower that spreads out from the terracing facade above to meet the ground. The natural materials forming the greenery and outdoor spaces blends harmoniously with the glazed facades. I do like this winning scheme. We already have twisting sksycrapers in many parts of the world and it would be nice to see Melbourne having one too.

Here below are the other 5 shortlisted designs:

‘Urban Tree’ by MAD Architects + Elenberg Fraser – A 360-metres high ‘mountain village’ surrounded by foothills, with a hotel shaped like an illuminated cloud near its peak. The tapering tower will have its glass facade pierced with trees.

‘Lanescraper’ by BIG + Fender Katsalidis Architects – Two 359.6 metres high interlocking blocks with voids created between that contains public spaces and lanes of different themes (Melbourne is famous for having many happening lanes on the ground and BIG attempts to have them on the sky in this scheme).

‘Propeller City’ by Coop Himmelb(l)au + Architectus – A 335-metres high tower shaped like a tri-blade propeller and is topped with a penthouse with its own private landscape garden and pool.

‘Stack’ by MVRDV + Woods Bagot – A single tower of 359 metres high that features different textures to its facade to represent the various stacked neighbourhoods. The center of the tower has a hotel’s pool with an underwater glass window.

‘Vertical City’ by OMA + Conrad Gargett – A skyscraper with a simple form and a higher emphasis to the foot of the tower that features a colourful take on the traditional vaulted markets and arcades found in Melbourne. A vertical city will be built between arches supporting a rainbow-coloured facade.

References:

https://www.dezeen.com/2018/08/15/unstudio-cox-melbourne-australias-tallest-building-architecture/

https://www.dezeen.com/2018/07/27/big-mad-mvrdv-oma-unstudio-and-coop-himmelblau-shortlisted-melbourne-skyscraper/

https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/australia-tallest-building-intl/index.html

 

 

 

World’s Ten Tallest Cities in 2018

I have written a post on the top 10 tallest buildings that will be completed this year (2018) few days ago. Now, it’s time to proceed to another similar topic; world’s top 10 tallest cities in 2018. How do I decide which cities are taller? Taking reference from Ultrapolis Project website that sorted world’s tallest cities several years ago (and is now no longer doing so, hence the statistics on its website not being updated), I look to add up the height of top 20 tallest buildings in a particular city and divide them by 20 to get the average height of 20 tallest buildings in that city.

At first, I look to only add up the height of top 10 tallest buildings in a city only, and not 20. However, later I found that top 20 will make the data more credible and better visualize the ‘tallness’ of a city. Buildings mentioned here include the topped-out ones but exclude the telecommunication or observation towers as they are non-habitable structures. The list of top 20 tallest buildings of the cities across the world can be found from Emporis website, and it is a very reliable source of information besides than Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). Before going down the list below, which cities do you think will be included in this list and which one of them is the tallest of them all?

WORLD’S TOP TEN TALLEST CITIES IN 2018

1.Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Points: 374.35

Tallest building in the city: Burj Khalifa (828 metres)

2. Shenzhen, China

Points: 338.60

Tallest building in the city: Ping An International Finance Center (599 metres)

3. New York City, United States of America

Points: 313.70

Tallest building in the city: One World Trade Center (541 metres)

4. Guangzhou, China

Points: 311.50

Tallest building in the city: CTF Finance Centre (530 metres)

5. Shanghai, China

Points: 311.25

Tallest building in the city: Shanghai Tower (632 metres)

6. Hong Kong, China

Points: 295.30

Tallest building in the city: International Commerce Centre (484 metres)

7. Tianjin, China

Points: 290.00

Tallest building in the city: Goldin Finance 117 (597 metres)

8. Chicago, United States of America

Points: 280.70

Tallest building in the city: Willis Tower (442 metres)

9. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Points: 275.90

Tallest building in the city: The Exchange 106 (492 metres)

10. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Points: 267.30

Tallest building in the city: Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid (382 metres)

Hong Kong would have topped this list a decade or two ago. However, many other cities in China are now in skyscraper boom and some of them immediately overtake Hong Kong in the race to build taller skyscrapers. Hong Kong appears to have slow down a lot in recent years on that progress, and is now pushed down to 6th spot. China dominated the list again as expected with 5 of its cities in this top 10 list. I am also surprised that a much less known city, Tianjin made it to the list too. Although China is the top country in this trend of building supertalls, Dubai still took the crown for being the world’s tallest cities in 2018. A lot of points to push Dubai to the top definitely comes from Burj Khalifa, which stands at a whopping 828 metres high alone and is still the current world’s tallest building.

I’m delighted that my home city, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is within this top 10 list. Although KL is quite a small city, but we do have a number of tall skyscrapers. I have decided to include in the still under-construction The Exchange 106 Tower (492 metres tall) into the calculation because this building is definitely going to be completed this year and is nearly at the stage of topping out now.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Top 10 tallest buildings to be built in 2018

2018 will be another great year in worldwide achievement on building skyscrapers. China is again leading the way in building supertall buildings. My capital city, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia will also be included into this list for the first time after so many years due to the projected completion of 492 metres tall The Exchange 106 Tower mid of this year. So, what are the top 10 tallest buildings to be built in 2018? Here’s the answer:

1. Goldin Finance 117 Tower, Tianjin, China (597 metres, 128 floors). The tower is now nearing the stage of topping out with the construction of the diamond-shaped crown to commence shortly. However, there are news that this project is put on hold due to budget constraint and may not be completed this year. If it is managed to be completed this year, it will be the world’s 5th tallest building. It is only 3 metres shy from 600 metres mark.

2. Tianjin CTF Finance Centre, Tianjin, China (530 metres, 97 floors). The tower has topped out and is set to be completed this year while fate is still unknown for the Goldin Finance 117 Tower mentioned above that is located in the same city; Tianjin. When completed, it will be among the world’s top 10 tallest buildings.

3. China Zun Tower, Beijing, China (528 metres, 108 floors). The tower has topped out. When completed, it will be among the world’s top 10 tallest buildings.

4. The Exchange 106 Tower, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (492 metres, 106 floors). The tower is now nearing the stage of topping out with the construction of the glass crown to commence shortly. This will be the first building in the country to have over 100 floors and will be the country’s tallest when completed.

5. Lakhta Center, St Petersburg, Russia (462 metres, 86 floors). The tower has topped out and will be the tallest building in Russia when completed. First time seeing Russia join in the race to construct building of this height.

6. Changsha IFS Tower 1, Changsha, China (452 metres, 94 floors). The tower is nearly completed with all exterior cladding already installed.

7. Suzhou IFS, Suzhou, China (450 metres, 98 floors). The tower has topped out and its exterior cladding is almost completed.

8. Wuhan Center Tower, Wuhan, China (438 floors, 88 floors). This one also has topped out. Another higher skyscraper, Wuhan Greenland Center is also rising quickly in the same city and when completed in 2019, the 125-storey tower will have a height of 636 metres.

9. China Resources Headquarters, Shenzhen, China (393 metres, 67 floors). Topped out. Shenzhen has been seeing record-breaking number of skyscrapers completed in recent years.

10. Shum Yip Upperhills Tower 1, Shenzhen, China (388 metres, 80 floors). Topped out. Another one in Shenzhen.

Out of the 10 building above, 8 are in China, 1 is in Malaysia and 1 is in Russia. We seldom see any supertall skyscraper completion in Russia and 2018 will be the year for that to happen. China dominated the race to build skyscrapers again from its cities like Tianjin and Shenzhen. United States, which is once known as the country of the origin of skyscrapers did not make it to the list. The first 8 in this list will have final height of over 400 metres respectively while the first 3 even exceeded 500 metres mark.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Which is the better way to measure a building’s height?

Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) which is considered the foremost authority on tall buildings has made it clear that it has four ways of measuring a building’s height. Out of the four, height to the architectural top is officially used to determine the list of world’s tallest building. Architectural top here includes unoccupied spires/pinnacles/parapets that are permanent and critical to the overall design while disregards antennae, signage, flagpole or other ‘functional technical equipment’.

This is the reason why the Petronas Twin Towers won over Sears Tower (now renamed Willis Tower) to become the tallest buildings in the world back in 1997. The twin towers reach the height of 452 metres including their architectural spires while Willis Tower goes up to 527 metres including its antennae. However, antenna is not included and hence the official height of Willis Tower is just 442 metres.

The other three methods on measuring a building’s height that can be seen as alternatives or extensions of the main measuring method are height to top of roof, height to highest occupied floor, and height to highest point (tip). The latter method is the one that counts everything from a building from its base to its very top including those ‘functional technical equipment’. Once Taipei 101 was built in 2003,  the skyscraper cools down the controversy by topping the world’s tallest ranking in three out of the four methods. Then, Burj Khalifa came in 2009 to take all the top spots including the world’s tallest man-made structure and it is still holding the title now. The current list of world’s top ten tallest buildings is shown below which is measured in height to architectural top: (click on the image for larger version)

Besides than these four methods, other professional industries in this field of tall buildings such as the Emporis has its own set of methods too. But not to confuse anyone further, we will just stick to the more precise ones by CTBUH at this point.

There are still many parties who are not happy with these methods. They each has its flaws. The height to tip method rewards vanity height of all stripes, which could allow designers or developers seeking a height accolade to cheaply take the top spot using any poorly designed, extraneous addition to the roof. On the other hand, height to highest occupied floor does not acknowledge the impact that a building has on the experience of the urban environment – for example, the Burj Khalifa does not appear 584 meters tall but 828 meters, and as most of us will never be lucky enough to visit its topmost floor, it seems only sensible to judge its height based on its impact on the city’s appearance.

How about height to top of roof? In the variety of design of skyscraper nowadays, it’s very hard to judge the actual roof of a particular building. Is it just the roof over the highest occupied floor or roof covering the very highest portion of the building although the floor below it is not habitable.  The Burj Khalifa has 244 meters of vanity height, but where exactly is the roof over its top floor? The tapered design of this building does not allow for such simple definitions. The definition provided also repeats the flaw of the “height to top floor” method, in that many skyscraper designs have significant architectural additions above this, which impact how they are perceived by those on the ground.

Hence, which of the four methods are the best? Of can you define what’s the ‘best’ or the ‘better’ here? Louis Sullivan, an architect who is always known as the father of skyscrapers, says “It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exultation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line”.  If we take this to be true then it is clear that measuring the height to the tip, including – and rewarding – any and all of the clutter that often adorns the tops of skyscrapers is a move against design quality.

By contrast CTBUH’s official measurement tool, at the very least, holds designers accountable for ensuring that the way a building’s height is expressed is also a factor in establishing its quoted height. As architects, shouldn’t we support any tool which encourages tall buildings to be expressed elegantly? Recently, once the 1 World Trade Center in New York City is completed, another heated argument surfaces. Some claims that it is US tallest building but some said it’s Willis Tower. Many don’t see the antennae-like, awkward-designed and out-of-proportion spire on top of 1WTC as the key architectural element of the building. I too stand in that opinion. However, CTBUH has approved to have the spire as part of its architectural component in measuring its building height to the architectural top.

Increasing a building’s height with poor design is a big NO for me. Putting in a huge spire that is not proportionate to the overall building is a bad decision too. On the other hand, I do think it is necessary to have vanity height (non-usable height) to ‘complete’ a skyscraper especially when it is a tapering design on certain occasions. This issue actually leaves up a lot of questions and is open for multiple discussions.

Nevertheless, what’s important is that ‘the architects shouldn’t be arguing over which building is taller, but rather which building is better.’ 

Reference:

http://www.archdaily.com/548829/in-defense-of-rewarding-vanity-height

http://www.archdaily.com/881090/the-10-different-ways-to-measure-a-skyscrapers-height

(Images in this post are from the two sources listed above)

 

 

Top 10 Tallest Buildings in the World (as of April 2017)

The two cities that witness the birth of skyscrapers are Chicago and New York City in United States. That was over a hundred years ago after the introduction of steel framed construction and passenger elevator that enables buildings to be built much taller. Now in 2017, only one building in United States that is placed within the top 10 tallest buildings in the world currently. The other 9 are generally all located in Asia. Here below is the current top 10 tallest buildings in the world as of April 2017. The list only includes completed buildings and does not include television towers, observation towers, masts, antennas or buildings with very little percentage of habitable floors.

1. Burj Khalifa, 828 metres, 163 floors, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (completed in 2010).

2. Shanghai Tower, 632 metres, 128 floors, Shanghai, China (completed in 2015).

3. Makkah Royal Clock Tower, 601 metres, 120 floors, Mecca, Saudi Arabia (completed in 2012).

4. Ping An Finance Center, 599 metres, 115 floors, Shenzhen, China (completed in 2017).

5. Lotte World Tower, 555 metres, 123 floors, Seoul, South Korea (completed in 2017).

6. One World Trade Center, 541 metres, 104 floors, New York City, United States (completed in 2014).

7. Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre, 530 metres, 111 floors, Guangzhou, China (completed in 2016).

8. Taipei 101, 508 metres, 101 floors, Taipei, Taiwan (completed in 2004).

9. Shanghai World Financial Center, 492 metres, 101 floors, Shanghai, China (completed in 2008).

10. International Commerce Centre, 484 metres, 108 floors, Hong Kong, China (completed in 2010).

This list will change drastically from year to year due to rapid increase of construction of supertall skyscrapers in the world in recent decade. More and more new buildings are reaching further to the sky. Out of the current top 10 tallest buildings in the world, half of them are in China (this doesn’t even include Taipei 101 in Taiwan). 8 of them soar above 500 metres in height respectively too. Also noted is that every buildings in this top 10 tallest list has over 100 floors respectively. The tallest in the world, Burj Khalifa has been on the top of the list for over 7 years now. By 2020, it is expected to be defeated by Kingdom Tower, a skyscraper currently under construction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. That tower is projected to soar above 1000 metres (1 km!) when completed in 2020.

The oldest supertall in this list is Taipei 101 which is only 13 years old by now as it is built in 2004. More and more new buildings are joining the list with two newcomers this year; Ping An Finance Center and Lotte World Tower at No.4 and No.5 placing respectively. Former world’s tallest buildings and still the current world’s tallest twin buildings, the Petronas Twin Towers are kicked out of the top 10 list this year as they are now placed at No.11 (and 12) with height of 452 metres. Too bad…my home coutry’s famous twin towers are now out of the ranking. Anyway, in few years to come, Malaysia will have another new supertall; PNB 118 Tower that will certainly join this top 10 list with a height of over 600 metres.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

World’s 10 Tallest Buildings in 2016.

It’s been quite some time since I last compiled a list of the world’s top ten tallest buildings. I think the last time I worked on that was about a year or two ago and I’m very sure that the data in that particular post would be inaccurate as of now due to the world’s high interest on building supertall skyscrapers in recent years. So, if you are looking for the latest and the most accurate list of world’s top 10 tallest buildings as of June 2016, this is the right place to be.

The list only includes buildings (structures that contain mostly habitable or functional floors) and excludes tv masts, telecommunication or observation towers, antennas, etc. This list also includes the buildings that are still under construction but have already topped out (reached final height).

< 1 > Burj Khalifa, 828 metres, 163 floors, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (completed in 2010).

< 2 > Shanghai Tower, 632 metres, 121 floors, Shanghai, China (completed in 2015).

< 3 > Makkah Clock Royal Tower, 601 metres, 120 floors, Makkah, Saudi Arabia (completed in 2012).

< 4 > Ping An International Finance Center, 599 metres, 116 floors, Shenzhen, China (topped out, to be completed in 2016).

< 5 > Lotte World Tower, 556 metres, 123 floors, Seoul, South Korea (topped out, to be completed in 2016).

< 6 > One World Trade Center, 541 metres, 104 floors, New York City, United States of America (completed in 2014).

< 7 > CTF Finance Centre, 530 metres, 116 floors, Guangzhou, China (completed in 2016).

< 8 > Taipei 101, 509 metres, 101 floors, Taipei, Taiwan (completed in 2004).

< 9 > Shanghai World Financial Center, 492 metres, 101 floors, Shanghai, China (completed in 2008).

< 10 > International Commerce Centre, 484 metres, 118 floors, Hong Kong, China (completed in 2010).

Burj Khalifa remains as the world’s tallest building, holding on to the title for the 6th year. It is also still the world’s tallest man-made structure and is likely to remain at the top of the list for another few years before being taken over by Kingdom Tower (now under construction in Jeddah) in 2020. Half of the 10 buildings in this list above are in China, further displaying the country’s massive economic boom and interest on constructing tall buildings. Also discovered from the list above is that for the next newly completed building to be able to be ranked in the world’s 10 tallest, it has to be at least 500 metres high. 500 metres (above 100 floors as well) is now the minimum mark to get into top 10 tallest’s ranking. Back in 10 years, 400 metres is the mark. Now, an extra 100 for that.

My beloved Petronas Twin Towers are out of the list since they are only 452 metres tall. They are now placed at 11th (and 12th) tallest. Goldin Finance 117, a tower planned for completion this year and nears topping out in Tianjin, China is currently on-hold and is awaiting funding. Its completion date is now pushed to end of year 2017. The tower is expected to reach final height of 597 metres (117 floors) and will be the 5th tallest once topped out either by end of the year or early next year.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)