Top 10 Tallest Buildings in the World

According to the measure 2012,Dubai’s Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest building in the world followed by Taipei 101,Shanghai World Financial Center,Hong Kong’s International Commerce Center,Petronas Twin Towers,Nanjing Greenland,Chicago’s Willis Tower,Ghuangzhou West Tower,Shanghai’s Jinmao Tower,Hong Kong’s Two International Financial Center

1) Dubai’s Burj Khalifa 

Burj Khalifa known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest manmade structure in the world, at 829.84 m (2,723 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,and is part of the new 2 km2 (490-acre) flagship development called Downtown Dubai at the ‘First Interchange’ along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubai’s main business district. The tower’s architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago, with Adrian Smith as chief architect, and Bill Baker as chief structural engineer.The primary contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea.

2) The Taipei 101

Taipei 101 , formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). The building ranked officially as the world’s tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. In July 2011, the building was awarded LEED Platinum certification, the highest award in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system and became the tallest and largest green building in the world.Taipei 101 was designed by C.Y. Lee & partners and constructed primarily by KTRT Joint Venture and Samsung C&T. The tower has served as an icon of modern Taiwan ever since its opening, and received the 2004 Emporis Skyscraper Award.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) The Shanghai World Financial Center

The Shanghai World Financial Center  is a supertall skyscraper located in the Pudong district of Shanghai, China. It was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and developed by Mori Building. It is a mixed-use skyscraper, consisting of offices, hotels, conference rooms, observation decks, and ground-floor shopping malls. Park Hyatt Shanghai is the hotel component, containing 174 rooms and suites. Occupying the 79th to the 93rd floors, it is the second-highest hotel in the world, surpassing the Grand Hyatt Shanghai on the 53rd to 87th floors of the neighboring Jin Mao Tower.

4) Hong Kong’s International Commerce Center

The International Commerce Centre is a 108 floor, 484 m (1,588 ft) skyscraper completed in 2010 in West Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is a 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. It is currently the world’s fourth tallest building by height, world’s second tallest building by floors, as well as the tallest building in Hong Kong.

5)The Petronas Twin Towers

The Petronas Towers (Malay: Menara Petronas, also known as the Petronas Twin Towers or Menara Berkembar Petronas in Malay) are twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. According to the CTBUH’s official definition and ranking, they were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 until surpassed by Taipei 101, but remain the tallest twin buildings ever built, surpassing the World Trade Center.The building is the landmark of Kuala Lumpur with nearby Kuala Lumpur Tower.

6) The Nanjing Greenland Center

The Nanjing Greenland Financial Center is a 450-metre (1,480 ft) supertall skyscraper completed in April 2010 in Nanjing, China. The 89-story building comprises retail and office space in the lower section, and restaurants, a hotel, and a public observatory near the top. The tower’s stepping is functional, helping separate these sections.

7) Chicago’s Willis Tower

The Willis Tower (formerly named the Sears Tower) is a 108-story, 1,451-foot (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, and it held this rank for nearly 25 years. The Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the seventh-tallest freestanding structure in the world. The skyscraper is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Chicago, and over one million people visit its observation deck each year.Although Sears’ naming rights expired in 2003, the building continued to be called the Sears Tower for several years. In March 2009, London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings agreed to lease a portion of the building, and obtained the building’s naming rights.On July 16, 2009, the building was officially renamed the Willis Tower.

8) The Guangzhou West Tower

Guangzhou International Finance Centreis a 103 story, 440.2 m (1,444 ft) tall skyscraper at Zhujiang Avenue West in Tianhe District at Guangzhou, China.The building was topped out at the end of 2008.Construction of the building, designed by Wilkinson Eyre, broke ground in December 2005. When complete, the building will be used as a conference centre, hotel and office building. Floors 1 to 66 are used as office, floors 67 to 68 are mechanical equipment, floors 69 to 98 as a Four Seasons Hotel and in floors 99 and 100 is an observation deck. The hotel lobby is located on the 70th floor. The building was completed in 2010.The building was previously known as Guangzhou West Tower and had a related project, the proposed Guangzhou East Tower which, at 475 m (1,558 ft), would have been even taller,though that project has been awarded to a different design by Kohn Pedersen Fox, the 530 m (1,740 ft) tall Chow Tai Fook Centre.

9) Shanghai’s Jin Mao Tower

The Jin Mao Tower,literally “Golden Prosperity Building”) 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.

10) Hong Kong’s Two International Financial Center

The International Finance Centre  is an integrated commercial development on the waterfront of Hong Kong’s Central District.A prominent landmark on Hong Kong Island, IFC consists of two skyscrapers, the IFC Mall, and the 55-story Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong. Tower 2 is the second tallest building in Hong Kong, behind the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon. It is the fourth-tallest building in the Greater China region and the eighth-tallest office building in the world, based on structural heights; by roof height, only the Taipei 101, Shanghai World Financial Center, Willis Tower, International Commerce Centre and Burj Khalifa exceed it. It is of similar height to the former World Trade Center. The Airport Express Hong Kong Station is directly beneath it.