History of the world's tallest buildings
The tallest building in the world, as of, is Burj Khalifa. The title of "world's tallest building" has been borne by various buildings, such as the Rouen Cathedral and the Empire State Building.
The skyscraper was invented in Chicago in 1884 when the Home Insurance Building was constructed using a steel-frame with curtain walls instead of load-bearing walls. For the next hundred years, the world's tallest building was always in the United States with New York City accumulating 86 years, and Chicago accumulating 30 years. After just over a century, the distinction moved to the Eastern Hemisphere. Malaysia was the first country to break the United States' record of constructing the tallest buildings in the world when the Petronas Twin Towers were completed in 1998. Taiwan's Taipei 101 was the next building to hold the record, beginning in 2004.
Before the modern skyscraper era, many Christian churches and cathedrals, built mainly in England and Germanic territories between 1250–1894, comprised the tallest buildings in the world. Before the 13th century, the tallest buildings in the world cannot be conclusively determined. For instance, the Lighthouse of Alexandria has been estimated to be tall, but its true height is not known. For thousands of years, the Great Pyramid in Egypt was the tallest structure in the world, but the Great Pyramid is not considered a building since it is not habitable. Similarly, the Eiffel Tower was the world's tallest structure from 1889, when it was built, until 1930, when the Chrysler Building was built.
Definition of terms
Meaning of "building"
The earliest structures now known to be the tallest in the world were the Egyptian pyramids, with the Great Pyramid of Giza, at an original height of, being the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years, until the construction of Lincoln Cathedral in 1311. From then until the completion of the Washington Monument the world's tallest buildings were churches or cathedrals. Later, the Eiffel Tower and, still later, some radio masts and television towers were the world's tallest structures.However, though all of these are structures, some are not buildings in the sense of being regularly inhabited or occupied. It is in this sense of being regularly inhabited or occupied that the term "building" is generally understood to mean when determining what is the world's tallest building. The non-profit international organization Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which maintains a set of criteria for determining the height of tall buildings, defines a "building" as " structure that is designed for residential, business or manufacturing purposes" and "has floors".
Tall churches and cathedrals occupy a middle ground: their lower areas are regularly occupied, but much of their height is in bell towers and spires which are not. Whether a church or cathedral is a "building" or merely a "structure" for the purposes of determining the title of "world's tallest building" is a subjective matter of definition.
Determination of height
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat based in Chicago uses three different criteria for determining the height of a tall building, each of which may give a different result. "Height of the highest floor" is one criterion, and "height to the top of any part of the building" is another, but the default criterion used by the CTBUH is "height of the architectural top of the building", which includes spires but not antennae, masts or flag poles.Tallest buildings (pre-7th century)
The Pantheon in Rome, finished in the early 2nd century AD, has a height from floor to top of 43.45 m, which corresponds exactly to the diameter of its interior space. The Hagia Sophia, built in 537 AD in Constantinople, reaches a height of 55 m.Tallest buildings (7th to 12th century)
, or Hwangnyong Temple is the name of a former Buddhist temple in the city of Gyeongju, South Korea. Completed in the 7th century, the enormous 9-story structure was built entirely with wood with interlocking design with no iron nails. It had a standing total height of 68 m or 80 m, making it the tallest structure in East Asia and the tallest wooden structure in the world at the time of its construction.The Brihadisvara Temple in Thanjavur, India was completed by 1010. It is a 16-story tower measuring 66 metres in height. It still stands to this day.
The eastern spires of the Romanesque Speyer Cathedral, completed in 1106, reach a height of 71.3 m.
Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh, Morocco. The minaret, in height, includes a spire and orbs. It was completed under the reign of the Berber Almohad Caliph Yaqub al-Mansur.
Tallest buildings (13th century–20th century)
Churches and cathedrals
From the 13th century until 1894, the world's tallest building was always a church or cathedral. Old St Paul's Cathedral with its spire was completed in the 13th century. The central spire of Lincoln Cathedral surpassed Old St Paul's in the early 14th century. The Lincoln Cathedral's spire collapsed in 1549, beginning a long interval where the status of world's tallest building was borne by shorter buildings. St. Mary's Church in Stralsund became the world's tallest building after the collapse of Lincoln Cathedral's spire. The central tower of St. Pierre's Cathedral in Beauvais was tallest from 1569 until it collapsed in 1573, making St. Mary's the tallest once again. In 1647, the bell tower of St. Mary's burned down, making the shorter Strasbourg Cathedral the world's tallest building.It was not until the completion of the Ulm Minster in 1890 that the world's tallest building was again also the tallest building ever constructed, surpassing the original configuration of Lincoln Cathedral.
| Years tallest | Name | Location | Height | Increase | Notes |
| 13th century–1300 | Old St Paul's Cathedral | London | 0% | Destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 | |
| 1300–1549 | Lincoln Cathedral | Lincoln | 7.2% | Tallest ever building until 1890. Spire collapsed 1549. | |
| 1549–1569 | St. Mary's Church | Stralsund | −5.4% | ||
| 1569–1573 | St. Pierre's Cathedral | Beauvais | 1.3% | Tower collapsed 1573 | |
| 1573–1647 | St. Mary's Church | Stralsund | −1.3% | Bell tower burned down in 1647 | |
| 1647–1874 | Strasbourg Cathedral | Strasbourg | −6% | Not as tall as Great Pyramid of Giza | |
| 1874–1876 | Church of St. Nicholas | Hamburg | 3.5% | ||
| 1876–1880 | Rouen Cathedral | Rouen | 2.7% | ||
| 1880–1890 | Cologne Cathedral | Cologne | 4.2% | Tallest structure Washington Monument from 1884 | |
| 1890–present | Ulm Minster | Ulm | 2.6% | Tallest structure Eiffel Tower from 1889 |
The height of Lincoln Cathedral is disputed by some, but accepted by most sources. The completion date for the spire is given as 1311 rather than 1300 by some sources. Also the height of the spire of Old St Paul's Cathedral, destroyed by lightning in 1561, is disputed, for example Christopher Wren judged that an overestimate and gave a height of.
The spire of Mole Antonelliana in Turin, completed in 1889, is claimed to have been tall; however, the upper part of the structure was destroyed by a 1953 tornado and rebuilt. The building was originally conceived as a synagogue, but sold during the contruction and used as museum
Tallest skyscrapers
Various secular buildings are cited as first skyscraper, including:- Ditherington Flax Mill, tall, 5 floors, built in 1797
- E. V. Haughwout Building, tall, 5 floors, first use of a passenger elevator, built in 1857
- Equitable Life Building, at least tall, 9 floors, built in 1870
- New York Tribune Building, tall, 18 floors, built in 1875
- Home Insurance Building, tall, 12 floors, built in 1885
- Lancashire Insurance Building, 10 floors, built in 1890
- Manhattan Building, tall, 16 floors, built in 1891
| Years tallest | Name | Location | Height | Increase |
| 1890–1894 | New York World Building | New York City | ||
| 1894–1899 | Manhattan Life Insurance Building | New York City | 13 % | |
| 1899–1908 | Park Row Building | New York City | 12 % | |
| 1908–1909 | Singer Building | New York City | 57 % | |
| 1909–1913 | Metropolitan Life Tower | New York City | 14.4 % | |
| 1913–1930 | Woolworth Building | New York City | 13.1 % | |
| 1930 | Bank of Manhattan Trust Building | New York City | 17.2 % | |
| 1930–1931 | Chrysler Building | New York City | 12.65 % | |
| 1931–1971 | Empire State Building | New York City | 19.5 % | |
| 1971–1973 | 1 World Trade Center | New York City | 9.45 % | |
| 1973–1998 | Sears Tower | Chicago | 6 % | |
| 1998–2004 | Petronas Towers | Kuala Lumpur | 2.24 % | |
| 2004–2010 | Taipei 101 | Taipei | 12.68 % | |
| 2010–present | Burj Khalifa | Dubai | 62.61 % |
Since 2010, Burj Khalifa has been the tallest building by any criterion. It has the highest architectural element, tip and occupied floor, and is indeed the tallest structure of any kind ever built, surpassing the Warsaw radio mast.
Since the completion of the Washington Monument in 1884, the world's tallest building has not usually also been the world's tallest structure. The exceptions are 1930–1954, when the Chrysler Building and then the Empire State building surpassed the Eiffel Tower, and from 2010 with the completion of Burj Khalifa.
Charts
1870–present
1300–present
In this chart, time progresses from right to left. Note the early buildings that lost the title as their spires collapsed.History of increment in height of skyscrapers
After the construction of the Home Insurance Building in Chicago in the 19th century, the incrementation in the height of skyscrapers began with the construction of the Chrysler Building, followed by the Empire State Building, in New York City. The Chrysler Building was the first building in the world to break the barrier, and the Empire State Building was the first building to have more than 100 floors. It stands at and has 102 floors. The next tallest skyscraper was the World Trade Center, which was completed in 1971. The north tower was and the south tall. It surpassed the height of the Empire State Building by. Two years later the Sears Tower was built in Chicago, standing at with 110 floors, surpassing the height of the World Trade Center by. The Petronas Towers rose 10 meters above the Sears Tower, standing at a height of and each having 88 floors.In 2004, the construction of Taipei 101 brought the height of skyscrapers to a new level, standing at with 101 floors. It is taller than the previous record holders, the Petronas Towers. Burj Khalifa surpassed the height of Taipei 101 by in 2009, making it 60% taller. It has broken several skyscraper records, and it is almost twice as tall as the Empire State Building. Burj Khalifa has also broken the record of the world's tallest structure.
- NOTE: The CTBUH defines a building as a supertall if it is or taller.
History of supertall skyscrapers by location
In Asia, there has been an increase in the number of supertall skyscrapers beginning with the construction of Petronas Twin Towers. There are currently sixty buildings in the world's 100 tallest that are located in Asia.
Increment in usage of skyscrapers
Since the skyscraper era began, the great majority of skyscrapers were used predominantly as office space. From 1930 to 2000, the percentage of office towers never fell below 86 percent, but in the future it is expected to be as low as 46 percent. By 2010, less than half of the 100 tallest buildings in the world were office towers with the majority utilized as residential and mixed use. Only four of the ten tallest buildings in the world, and twenty eight of the fifty tallest in the world, were used primarily as offices.A mixed-use tall building contains two or more functions, where each of the functions occupies a significant proportion of the tower's total space. Support areas such as car parks and mechanical plant space do not contribute towards mixed-use status.
Skyscrapers used primarily or exclusively as hotels or residential space are generally shorter than office and mixed-use buildings, with only a few supertall buildings of the residential or hotel types among the 100 tallest skyscrapers. The tallest completed residential building is 432 Park Avenue in New York City, followed by the Princess Tower and 23 Marina, both in Dubai. The tallest completed hotels are the Gevora Hotel, the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai twin towers, the Rose Tower, and the Burj Al Arab, all located in Dubai.