58 Fun Facts About Skyscrapers

In which city does the Burj Khalifa stand?

The Burj Khalifa stands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; completed in 2010, it rises 828 metres, more than twice the Empire State Building's 381-metre roof height.

In which city is the Turning Torso, Santiago Calatrava's twisting residential tower?

The Turning Torso, completed in 2005 in Malmö, Sweden, twists 90 degrees over its 190-metre, 54-storey height; Santiago Calatrava based it on his sculpture of a twisting human torso.

What is usually called the first steel-frame skyscraper, built in Chicago in 1885?

The Home Insurance Building rose only 10 storeys and 42 metres when finished in 1885; two more floors were added in 1890, and it was demolished in 1931 to make way for the Field Building.

Which architect created the load-bearing frame of Chicago's first steel-frame skyscraper of 1885?

William Le Baron Jenney engineered the iron-and-steel skeleton that carried the 1885 building's weight, freeing its walls from load-bearing duty; the combination of frame, fireproofing and elevators set the skyscraper pattern.

Who invented the safety elevator that stops automatically if its hoisting rope breaks?

Elisha Otis demonstrated his safety elevator at the New York Crystal Palace exhibition in 1854, having the hoisting rope cut while he stood on the platform; a ratchet brake held it in place.

What was the first New York office block with passenger elevators, finished in 1870?

The Equitable Life Building on Broadway, finished in 1870, was the first office building fitted with passenger elevators; advertised as fireproof, it burned down in January 1912, killing six people.

Which 16th-century Yemeni city of mudbrick tower houses is an early high-rise city?

Shibam, the 'Manhattan of the Desert' in Hadhramaut, packs some 500 mudbrick tower houses of five to eleven storeys inside its walls; UNESCO listed the walled city in 1982.

What 1891 Chicago structure marked the practical limit of load-bearing masonry?

The Monadnock Building's 1891 north half, by Burnham and Root, carries 16 storeys on brick walls six feet thick at the base, the practical limit of load-bearing masonry; its 1893 south half uses a steel frame.

Above what height do tall-building organisations classify a skyscraper as supertall?

Tall-building bodies class any building over 300 m as supertall; the Chrysler Building, at 319 m, was the first to pass that mark when finished in 1930.

Which St. Louis work by Adler and Sullivan is called the first skyscraper that truly looked the part?

The Wainwright Building of 1891 expresses its steel frame in unbroken vertical piers; Frank Lloyd Wright called it the very first human expression of a tall steel office building as architecture.

Who wrote the 1896 essay The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered?

Louis Sullivan's 1896 essay argued that the tall office building must be 'every inch a proud and soaring thing' and coined the maxim 'form ever follows function'.

New York's Flatiron Building was originally named after which company?

The 1902 building was named the Fuller Building after the George A. Fuller Company, the contractor that developed it; the Flatiron nickname comes from its triangular plan, like a cast-iron clothes iron.

Which architect designed New York's neo-Gothic Woolworth Building, finished in 1913?

Cass Gilbert designed the 241-metre Woolworth Building, finished in 1913 in terracotta-clad neo-Gothic style; it was the world's tallest building on completion and stands on Broadway facing City Hall Park.

What nickname did the Woolworth Building earn in a 1916 booklet?

The Cathedral of Commerce was the title of a 1916 booklet about the building that quoted the Reverend S. Parkes Cadman, who likened its Gothic detailing to a great church.

Which structure did the Chrysler Building surpass in 1930 to become the tallest structure ever built?

When its spire was hoisted into place in October 1929, the 319-metre Chrysler Building overtook the Eiffel Tower, which had been the world's tallest structure since 1889.

Who designed the Chrysler Building?

William Van Alen designed the Chrysler Building for Walter Chrysler; its Art Deco crown is topped by a stainless-steel spire, with eagle gargoyles on the 61st floor and radiator-cap ornaments on the 31st.

Which downtown rival raced the Chrysler Building for the title of world's tallest in 1929?

40 Wall Street, the 283-metre Bank of Manhattan Trust Building by H. Craig Severance, briefly claimed the title; the Chrysler's architect then hoisted a spire secretly assembled inside the frame to beat it.

For how long was the Chrysler Building the tallest building in the world?

The Chrysler Building was the world's tallest for only 11 months, from its completion in May 1930 until the Empire State Building opened on 1 May 1931.

Which firm designed the Empire State Building?

Shreve, Lamb & Harmon designed the Empire State Building, with William F. Lamb as chief designer; construction began on 17 March 1930 and the building opened on 1 May 1931, thirteen and a half months later.

The Empire State Building's spire was originally meant to serve as what?

The spire was built as an airship mooring mast, intended to let passengers disembark by gangplank at the 103rd floor; updrafts and high winds made docking impossible and the idea was abandoned.

What crashed into the Empire State Building's 79th floor in July 1945?

A US Army B-25 Mitchell bomber, flown by Lieutenant Colonel William F. Smith in thick fog on 28 July 1945, hit the north face at the 79th floor, killing 14 people.

Which 1933 film first made the Empire State Building a screen icon?

King Kong (1933) ends with the giant ape climbing the Empire State Building and swatting at biplanes from its top; the building has since appeared in more than 250 films and television series.

For roughly how many years was the Empire State Building the world's tallest?

The Empire State Building was the world's tallest for roughly 40 years, from 1931 until the World Trade Center's North Tower topped out in 1970; that tower was itself overtaken by a Chicago skyscraper in 1973.

Which engineer is called the father of tubular designs for high-rises?

Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill developed the framed, trussed and bundled tube systems in the 1960s; they let towers go higher with far less steel, as in his John Hancock Center and Willis Tower designs.

The Willis Tower is designed as how many square tubes clustered together?

The Willis Tower is a bundled tube of nine 75-foot-square steel tubes; seven of them stop short at the 50th, 66th and 90th floors, giving the tower its stepped profile, and only two reach the top.

Under what name did Chicago's Willis skyscraper open as the world's tallest in 1973?

It opened in 1973 as the Sears Tower, headquarters of Sears, Roebuck and Co.; the retailer moved out to suburban Hoffman Estates in the early 1990s, and the building was renamed for the Willis Group in 2009.

How long did the Petronas Towers hold the world's tallest title after taking it in 1998?

The Petronas Towers held the title for six years from their 1998 completion until Taipei 101 overtook them; at 452 metres they had edged out Chicago's 442-metre champion on the strength of their spires.

Which architect designed the Petronas Towers?

César Pelli, the Argentine-American architect, designed the Petronas Towers; their floor plan is based on the Rub el Hizb, an eight-pointed Islamic star, with circular infills adding floor space.

On which floors is the Petronas Towers' double-decker skybridge located?

The skybridge links the towers at the 41st and 42nd floors, 170 metres up; it is not fixed rigidly, so it can slide as the towers sway, and it doubles as an emergency escape route between them.

How tall is Taipei 101 to the tip of its spire?

Taipei 101 rises 508 metres to the tip of its spire, with 101 floors above ground and five below; its tiered form of eight-storey segments evokes a bamboo stalk.

How heavy is the steel pendulum that damps sway inside Taipei 101?

The ball is visible to visitors from the 88th to the 92nd floor.

Taipei 101 stands roughly how far from a major fault line?

Taipei 101 stands only about 200 m from a major fault line, so outrigger trusses at eight-floor intervals tie its core columns to the perimeter for the stiffness needed to ride out earthquakes.

Before its 2010 inauguration, the Burj Khalifa went by what name?

Built as Burj Dubai, the tower was renamed Burj Khalifa at its opening on 4 January 2010 in honour of UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, whose Abu Dhabi government had bailed out the emirate's debts.

Who was chief architect of the Burj Khalifa at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill?

Adrian Smith, design partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, was chief architect of the Burj Khalifa; his earlier supertalls include Shanghai's Jin Mao Tower and Chicago's Trump International Hotel and Tower.

What floor geometry does the Burj Khalifa use to optimise hotel and residential space?

The Burj Khalifa's Y-shaped plan sets three wings around a central core, giving the hotel rooms and apartments long window frontages while the buttressed core stiffens the tower against wind.

Which fashion house runs the hotel in the Burj Khalifa's lower floors?

The Armani Hotel, designed by Giorgio Armani himself, occupies 15 of the tower's lower 39 floors and opened in April 2010; sky lobbies on the 43rd and 76th floors house swimming pools.

Which building became the world's second-tallest when it topped out at 678.9 m?

Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, with 118 storeys, reached 678.9 m with its spire, second only to the Burj Khalifa when it topped out; it was designed by the Australian firm Fender Katsalidis.

Which design firm created the 632-metre, twisting Shanghai Tower?

Gensler's design partner Jun Xia led the Shanghai Tower, whose twisting glass skin rotates about 120 degrees over its 632-metre height, cutting wind loads by roughly a quarter.

What symbolic height in feet does One World Trade Center reach with its spire?

One World Trade Center rises 1,776 feet (541 m) to the tip of its spire, a figure chosen to mark 1776, the year of the US Declaration of Independence.

What was One World Trade Center's colloquial name before the Port Authority dropped it in 2009?

Known as the Freedom Tower from Daniel Libeskind's 2003 master plan, the building was officially renamed One World Trade Center by the Port Authority in March 2009; David Childs of SOM designed it.

Which I. M. Pei design was the first supertall skyscraper outside the United States?

The Bank of China Tower, I. M. Pei's 367-metre design of 1990, was the first building outside the United States to pass 305 metres; it was Asia's tallest until Central Plaza overtook it in 1992.

Which Italian architect designed The Shard in London?

Renzo Piano designed The Shard, completed in 2012 at 309.6 metres beside London Bridge station; its tapering glass form was first sketched, he said, on a restaurant napkin.

Which state owns 95 percent of The Shard?

The State of Qatar owns 95 percent of The Shard, having stepped in with funding in 2008 when the credit crunch threatened the project; developer Sellar Property Group holds the remaining 5 percent.

Which 462-metre Saint Petersburg tower became Europe's tallest building on completion in 2019?

Lakhta Center, the 462-metre Gazprom headquarters on the Gulf of Finland shore of Saint Petersburg, was completed in 2019 and overtook Moscow's Federation Tower as Europe's tallest building.

Which Chicago-based organisation announces the official World's Tallest Building?

The CTBUH, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, was founded at Lehigh University in 1969 and is based in Chicago; it certifies the World's Tallest Building by architectural height, counting spires but not antennas.

Which Saudi skyscraper was designed to be the first structure 1 kilometre tall?

Jeddah Tower was planned to rise at least 1,000 metres on the Red Sea coast north of Jeddah; construction began in 2013 but halted in 2018 with the tower only partly built.

Which Riyadh skyscraper is crowned by a skybridge across a large parabolic opening?

Kingdom Centre, completed in 2002 at 302 metres, is crowned by an inverted parabolic arch with an observation skybridge spanning the opening near its top.

Which Seoul skyscraper was the first in South Korea to top 100 storeys?

Lotte World Tower in Seoul, opened in 2017 with 123 floors and a height of 555 metres, was the first South Korean building to pass 100 storeys; its tapering form evokes Korean ceramics and calligraphy brushes.

Which retailer occupies the base of Central Park Tower on Billionaires' Row?

A seven-storey Nordstrom flagship, the chain's first full-line store in New York, opened in October 2019 in the base of Central Park Tower, the 1,550-foot residential skyscraper on West 57th Street.

Which city's Torre Latinoamericana rode out the major earthquakes of 1957 and 1985 undamaged?

The Torre Latinoamericana, completed in 1956 with 44 floors, rode out Mexico City's 1957 and 1985 earthquakes undamaged, an early proof that a skyscraper could be built safely on soft lakebed soil.

Buildings taller than what height are classed as 'megatall' skyscrapers?

Tall-building bodies define a megatall as a building over 600 m; only a handful qualify, led by the Burj Khalifa and the Shanghai Tower.

Oriel Chambers, the first building with a metal-framed glass curtain wall, stands in which English city?

Oriel Chambers on Water Street, Liverpool, designed by Peter Ellis in 1864, is only five floors high; a critic derided its 'protruding plate-glass bubbles', yet its iron frame and oriel windows anticipated the curtain wall.

Which English town's 1797 Flaxmill has been called the 'grandfather of skyscrapers'?

Ditherington Flax Mill in Shrewsbury, completed in 1797 to Charles Bage's design, was the world's first iron-framed building; its fireproof cast-iron columns and beams are the ancestor of the steel skeleton behind modern towers.

Which 1889 Chicago work by Burnham and Root was the first all-steel framed skyscraper?

The Rand McNally Building, a ten-storey Burnham and Root design of 1889–1890, was the first skyscraper with an all-steel frame, dropping the iron and masonry mixes of earlier frames; it was demolished in 1911.

Moscow's Stalin-era skyscrapers built between 1947 and 1953 are known collectively by what nickname?

The Seven Sisters are the seven Stalinist towers finished between 1947 and 1953; the tallest, Moscow State University's main building at 240 metres, was Europe's tallest building until Frankfurt's Messeturm in 1990.

Which 1958 Mies van der Rohe tower is often called the pinnacle of modernist high-rise architecture?

The Seagram Building on Park Avenue, finished in 1958 by Mies van der Rohe with Philip Johnson, set a bronze-and-glass curtain wall behind an open plaza; its structural engineer was the Norwegian-born Fred Severud.

On which date is the informal 'Skyscraper Day' observed?

Skyscraper Day falls on 3 September each year, a novelty-calendar observance chosen to mark the 1856 birthday of the Chicago architect often called the father of skyscrapers.

The 97.2 m Asinelli Tower is the tallest of the medieval towers in which Italian city?

The Asinelli Tower, built in the early 12th century and 97.2 metres tall, is the tallest of Bologna's surviving medieval towers; it stands beside the shorter, more tilted Garisenda, and dozens of others once crowded the city.