It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s just a really tall building!
Kidding aside, tall buildings are taking over cities around the globe. Manila is not an exception. Once you take a step to the concrete roads of our metropolis, you’ll see right away the tall buildings rising against the skyline. The possibility of vertical city is very high.
Other countries already started doing the vertical revolution through building tall buildings left and right. Asia is currently leading as the continent that has the collection of the tallest buildings in the world. We collected the list of the top 10 tallest buildings in the whole planet, gathered some awesome facts about them, and see the takeaway that we can learn from these architecture.
#10: NANJING GREENLAND FINANCIAL COMPLEX
Location: Nanjing, China
Height: 1,480 ft
Floor Count: 89
This super building’s form was derived from the three important elements of Nanjing’s history. The first one is the Yangtze River which flows in the city, the second one if the lush green landscape that covers Nanjing, and lastly, the dragon iconography, which is a famous symbol in China. The center of the building is for office space. It also has an outdoor swimming pool and a garden.
#9: PETRONAS TOWERS
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Height: 1483 ft.
Floor Count: 88
The Petronas Towers in Malaysia was considered the tallest building in the whole world for seven years, until it was dethroned by Taipei 101 in 2004. The name of this famous building is actually a short for “Petroliam Nasional”, the leading petroleum company in Malaysia. The said petroleum company is currently using the Tower 1 of the building.
#8: INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE CENTER
Location: Hong Kong
Height: 1588 ft.
Floor Count: 108
The International Commerce Center located at the heart of Hong Kong, houses the most influential financial institutions in the whole world. The building represents commerce, economy, and community. The building surrounds the Kowloon Station of Mass Transit Railway (MTR), the main railway transit in the Philippines.
#7: SHANGHAI WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER
Location: Shanghai, China
Height: 1614 ft.
Floor Count: 101
When developers started building the Shanghai World Financial Center, their number one aim is to make it the tallest building in the whole world. But the plan got backfired when Taipei 101 started rising. After the events of 9/11, the building redesigned to withstand a disaster such as a plane crash. In 2007, the upper floors of the building caught fire. Fortunately no one got hurt.
#6: TAIPEI 101
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Height: 1667 ft.
Floor count: 101
Taipei 101 will forever be known as the building that ousted the Petronas Towers from its seven year reign as the tallest building in the world. The park that surrounds Taipei 101 serves as feng shui that help in preventing negative energy from escaping the famous building. Taipei 101 also symbolically represents the tallest sun dial in the world.
#5: CHOW TAI FOOK CENTRE
Location: Guangzhou, China
Height: 1739 ft.
Floor count: 111
China serves as a conference hall, hotel, and restaurant at the heart of Guangzhou, China. It’s completed this year, 2016. But it already shines as one of the top buildings to look out for in today.
#4: ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER
Location: New York City, United States
Height: 1792 ft.
Floor count: 104
One World Trade Center is not only the tallest building in New York City, it also serves as the official historical site for the 9/11 tragedy. It has a 9/11 museum where visitors can see stories, videos, and artifacts about the former World Trade Center. Because of the said tragedy, developers of the this building made sure that it’s one of the safest building with the world by using 40,000 metric tons of structural steel.
#3: MAKKAH CLOCK ROYAL TOWER HOTEL
Location: Saudi Arabia
Height: 1972 ft.
Floor count: 120
This building is also known as the world’s tallest hotel and the world’s biggest and tallest clock. The project is believed to cost a whopping $1.6 billion. The building also houses Saudi Arabia’s highest observation deck, an Islamic Museum, and a Lunar Observation Centre.
#2: SHANGHAI TOWER
Location: Shanghai, China
Height: 2074 ft.
Floor count: 121 ft.
Designed with sustainability in mind, the Shanghai Tower has 270 wind-driven generators. It also has one of the fastest elevator in the world that can travel up to 1080 meter per minute. It also has 1,800 parking spaces and divided into seven zones much like a neighborhood. The Shanghai Tower is an evidence of China’s future turn towards vertical cities.
#1: BURJ KHALIFA
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Height: 2717 ft.
Floor count: 163
The world’s tallest building since 2009, the astounding Burj Khalifa is also known for holding six other world records. The design of this building was said to be inspired by the Hymenocallis flower. So much rebar was used in the construction of Burj Khalifa that if they were laid down end-to-end, the total length would be one-quarter of the total way across the globe.
The takeaway:
China has the most number of bets in this list thanks to their aim of becoming the first country to host vertical cities. Their growing population seems to be the reason behind why they are keen on building tall structures. Sustainability is also the number one priority when it comes to building a structure, to avoid previous tragedies that happened.
The Philippines also has a collection of awe-inspiring buildings. Click on our portal to see them!
