The Skyscraper Museum is devoted to the study of high-rise building, past, present, and future. The Museum explores tall buildings as objects of design, products of technology, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence. This site will look better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.



SUPERTALL SURVEY: GLOBAL SKYSCRAPERS (2011)
These globes represent a 2011 update of a survey of supertall towers that The Skyscraper Museum compiled in 2007 for its exhibition World's Tallest Building: Burj Dubai. This map includes both 20th and 21st century towers of 1250 feet/ 380 meters or taller, represented at the same scale. The proliferation of new supertalls in Asia and the mideast reveals a shifting paradigm. As William F. Baker, the chief structural engineer of Burj Dubai, has stated: "If skyscraper construction had stopped in 1990, one would say that the tallest skyscrapers are made of steel, built in the United States, and are office buildings. Today, though, the tallest towers are made of concrete or composite, erected in Asia or the Middle East, and likely to be residential or mixed use."


SUPERTALLS

Inspired by the superior height of Burj Dubai, the Museum measured supertall skyscrapers according to a higher standard than the common 300 meters, as part of its 2007 exhibition World's Tallest Building: Burj Dubai. Our 380+ meter benchmark was set by the Empire State Building's 86 occupiable stories and 1,250-foot height to the top of its original 1931 mooring mast. Buildings that matched or exceeded these markers in 2007 were included in this global survey.

Represented here are 20th and 21st century supertalls, grouped by city, that were completed, under construction, or proposed and approved by local authorities. The towers are scaled 1: 2,400, with 20th-century buildings in black and white and 21st-century in color. The survey revealed new geographies of supertall ambitions, shifting from the U.S. to Asia and the Mideast. This trend reflects those regions' expanding economies and desire to compete for international status and business.

SIGNIFICANT SKYLINES

The world maps highlight 24 skyscraper cities, either with major supertalls or many high-rises. Statistics here rely on two excellent websites, emporis.com and skyscraperpage.com, which channel the efforts of volunteer editors and contributors to track tall buildings by city. Emporis counts any building over 12 stories. By this measure, Hong Kong's total of 7,661 skyscrapers exceeds any other metropolis; New York is second with 5,560. They also calculate a world skyline ranking based on a complex formula favoring taller buildings; the top five cities are Hong Kong, New York, Seoul, Chicago, and Singapore.

Many cities, especially in Europe, restrict building heights. Our maps include five with significant skylines, but no buildings above 380 meters. Caracas and Johannesburg have the tallest skyscrapers on their continents. Toronto has nearly 1,700 high-rises and the 553-meter CN Tower, but its tallest skyscraper is only 298 meters. Singapore, with 3,763 high-rises, limits height to 280 meters and São Paulo with 4,541, has only one tower over 200 meters.

 

20072011#
THE AMERICAS  
   
CHICAGO Chicago Spire: 610m, (2000 ft) red dot cancelled 1
  Sears Tower: 442m, (1450 ft) green dot green dot 2
  Trump International Hotel & Tower: 423m, (1389 ft) yellow dot green dot 3
  John Hancock Center: 344m, (1127 ft) green dot green dot 4
     
NEW YORK Empire State Building: 381m (1250 ft) green dot green dot5
One World Trade Center (Formerly Freedom Tower): 541m, (1776 ft) yellow dot yellow dot6
     
LAS VEGAS Las Vegas Tower: 575m, (1888 ft) red dot cancelled 7
     
PANAMA CITY Ice Tower: 381m, (1250 ft) yellow dot cancelled 8
     
EASTERN EUROPE 
   
MOSCOW Russia Tower: 600m, (1969 ft) red dot cancelled 9
Mercury City Tower: 380m, (1247 ft) yellow dot yellow dot 10
Federation Tower: 360m, (1,182 ft) Roof; 448m, (1,470 ft) to antenna yellow dot yellow dot 11
     
ST. PETERSBURG Okhta Center (formerly Gazprom Tower): 396m, (1300 ft) red dot cancelled 12
     
THE MIDDLE EAST 
   
DUBAI DAMAC Heights II: (formerly Ocean Heights II): 420m, (1378 ft) 460m, (1509 ft) yellow dot yellow dot 13
Princess Tower: 414m, (1358 ft) yellow dot green dot 14
Marina 101: 412m, (1352 ft) yellow dot yellow dot 15
23 Marina: 395m, (1296 ft) yellow dot green dot 16
Emirates Tower Park 1 and 2: 376m, (1233 ft) yellow dot green dot 17
Elite Residence: 380m, (1247 ft) yellow dot yellow dot 18
Burj Khalifa: 828m, (2,717 ft) yellow dot green dot19
     
DOHA Doha Convention Center Tower: 400m, (1,312 ft) red dot cancelled 20
Dubai Towers Doha: 437m, (1434 ft) yellow dot yellow dot 21
     
KUWAIT CITY Al Hamra Tower: 412m, (1352 ft) yellow dot green dot 22
     
MAKKAH (MECCA) Abraj Al Bait Hotel Tower: 601m, (1,972 ft) yellow dot green dot 23
     
EAST ASIA 
   
BUSAN Busan Lotte Tower: 510m, (1674 ft) (New Design by SOM) yellow dot yellow dot 24
     
SEOUL Lotte Super Tower 123:: 555m, (1821 ft) (New Design by KPF) red dot red dot 25
     
GUANGZHOU Guangzhou Twin Towers, West Tower: 442m, (1444 ft) yellow dot green dot 26
CITIC Plaza: 390m, (1283 ft) green dot green dot 26
     
HONG KONG International Commerce Centre: 484m, (1588 ft) yellow dot green dot 27
Two International Commerce Centre: 415m, (1362 ft) green dot green dot 28
     
KUALA LUMPUR Petronas Towers: 452 m, (1483 ft) green dot green dot 29
     
NANJING Nanjing Greenland Financial Center: 380m, (1247 ft) yellow dot green dot 30
     
SHANGHAI Jin Mao: 421m, (1380 ft) green dot green dot 32
Shanghai World Financial Center: 492m, (1614 ft) yellow dot green dot 33
     
SHENZHEN Shun Hing Square: 384m, (1260 ft) green dot green dot 34
     
TAIPEI Taipei 101: 509m, (1671 ft) green dot green dot 35

The 2007 Supertall Survey, at left, is compared, at right, with the 2011 Supertall Status.

 

Related Links: The World's Tallest Towers