Taps Coogan – July 6th, 2020

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The following article is from Visual Capitalist. View the original here.

At the end of the 20th century, supertall skyscrapers—buildings exceeding 300 meters in height⁠—were still somewhat of a novelty in the world.

Only 24 supertall skyscrapers existed at that time, with half of them located in U.S. cities. That list included iconic structures such as the Empire State Building and Willis Tower, as well as newer landmarks like Atlanta’s Bank of America Plaza.

According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) database, the following buildings comprised the world’s full roster of supertall skyscrapers in 1999:

Building Name	City	Height (m)	Height (ft)	Completion
One World Trade Center	New York City	417	1,368	1972
Two World Trade Center	New York City	415	1,362	1973
Petronas Twin Tower 1	Kuala Lumpur	452	1,483	1998
Petronas Twin Tower 2	Kuala Lumpur	452	1,483	1998
Willis Tower	Chicago	442	1,451	1974
Jin Mao Tower	Shanghai	421	1,380	1999
CITIC Plaza	Guangzhou	390	1,280	1996
Shun Hing Square	Shenzhen	384	1,260	1996
Empire State Building	New York City	381	1,250	1931
Central Plaza	Hong Kong	374	1,227	1992

Building Name	City	Height (m)	Height (ft)	Completion
Bank of China Tower	Hong Kong	367	1,205	1990
85 Sky Tower	Kaohsiung	348	1,140	1997
Aon Center	Chicago	346	1,136	1973
The Center	Hong Kong	346	1,135	1998
875 North Michigan Avenue	Chicago	344	1,128	1969
Burj Al Arab	Dubai	321	1,053	1999
Chrysler Building	New York City	319	1,046	1930
Bank of America Plaza	Atlanta	312	1,023	1992
U.S. Bank Tower	Los Angeles	310	1,018	1990
The Franklin – North Tower	Chicago	307	1,007	1989

Building Name	City	Height (m)	Height (ft)	Completion
JPMorgan Chase Tower	Houston	305	1,002	1982
Baiyoke Tower II	Bangkok	304	997	1997
Two Prudential Plaza	Chicago	303	995	1990
Wells Fargo Plaza	Houston	302	992	1983

With the exception of the original World Trade Center towers in New York, all these iconic structures are still standing. Of course, there is now a much bigger cohort of skyscrapers sharing the skyline with them today.

20 Years of Supertall Skyscraper Construction

In the 21st century, at least one supertall skyscraper has been completed every year. In 2019 alone, the world built more of these incredible structures than the total that existed in 1999.

Here are the 10 tallest skyscrapers completed in the past 20 years:

Building Name	City	Height (m)	Height (ft)	Completion
Burj Khalifa	Dubai	828	2,717	2010
Shanghai Tower	Shanghai	632	2,073	2015
Makkah Royal Clock Tower	Mecca	601	1,972	2012
Ping An Finance Center	Shenzhen	599	1,965	2017
Lotte World Tower	Seoul	555	1,819	2017
One World Trade Center	New York City	541	1,776	2014
Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre	Guangzhou	530	1,739	2016
Tianjin CTF Finance Centre	Tianjin	530	1,739	2019
CITIC Tower	Beijing	528	1,731	2018
TAIPEI 101	Taipei	508	1,667	2004

With activity that reflects the country’s meteoric economic rise, China is an obvious point of focus in the skyscraper conversation. The world’s most populous nation been on a remarkable building tear in recent years, with activity spread throughout the country. No fewer than 30 Chinese cities added supertall skyscrapers to their skylines in the past two decades.

Vertical construction in the United States has been primarily focused in one of the original skyscraper hubs, New York City. In the long, storied history of skyscraper construction in New York City, it’s interesting to note that 8 of its 10 tallest buildings were built in the past 15 years.

Of course, no conversation about skyscrapers is complete without mentioning Dubai. No city on Earth can match the sheer magnitude of supertall skyscraper construction there⁠—a remarkable feat considering the UAE’s size compared to the other two leaders, China and the United States. Over that past 20 years, Dubai added 23 supertall skyscrapers to its skyline, including four that are taller than the Empire State Building. Remarkably, there are another ten buildings under construction today that surpass the 300 meter mark.

What the Future Holds

The process from conceiving to completing supertall skyscrapers can take many years⁠—especially as these ambitious structures reach higher into the sky. For example, the Ping An Finance Center in Shenzhen was first proposed in 2008, but not completed until 2017.

This multi-year process means that the pipeline of upcoming skyscrapers is very predictable. According to CTBUH, there are currently 132 supertall skyscrapers in various phases of construction around the world right now. That’s more than five times the number of existing supertall structures that existed at the dawn of the new millennium. This includes the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, which will be the first skyscraper to hit the one kilometer mark – shattering the record height set by the Burj Khalifa.

Over the next 20 years, as economic fortunes shift and architectural innovations advance, it remains to be seen what heights future skyscrapers will reach.

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