Famous tall buildings. The tallest houses in the world
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Even the ancient Egyptians, using the pyramids as an example, showed the world that the impressive height of the building demonstrates the strength and power of the country, the level of its development. A lot of time has passed since then, but still the countries in which the highest skyscrapers on the planet are built attract attention. So the USA is famous the largest number skyscrapers built in the country, and the United Arab Emirates is known as the state in which the largest skyscraper in the world was built.
Burj Khalifa - the tallest skyscraper in the world
The bold project of the tallest building in the world belongs to the American architect Adrian Smith. In his plans, the skyscraper was a real city located inside the city, which will not only have premises, but also beautiful gardens, parks with magnificent flower beds.
The project, developed by Adrian Smith, was approved, and in 2004 the construction of a skyscraper started. Throughout the construction of the tower, its intended height was kept a closely guarded secret. The investors wanted the building to be the tallest on the planet. At their request, the project had to be amended if a skyscraper competing in height was built somewhere.
The construction of the Burj Khalifa lasted more than 5 years. To make the design safe, the engineers had to solve extraordinary challenging tasks. The skyscraper was supposed to be easy to carry strong gusts wind and high temperatures this region. But thanks to the talent of engineers and architects, these problems were solved, and in 2010, after the completion of construction, the grand opening of the tower took place.
The Burj Khalifa skyscraper impresses with its features:
- its height is 828 m;
- the tower has 163 floors, not counting the basement levels and technical areas located in the spire;
- the skyscraper is supported by 200 piles, the diameter of which is 1.5 m and the length is 45 m;
- the weight of the building is about 500,000 tons.
In the skyscraper, communication between floors is provided by 57 high-speed elevators. To get from the first floor to the last, you will have to make transfers, or you can use the service elevator, the speed of which is much lower.
A tower rises above the Chinese city of Shanghai, the height of which is 632 m. This is the second tallest skyscraper on the planet. The construction of the giant began in 2008, and already in 2013 they were completed last works. The skyscraper has 130 floors that house offices.
Among the skyscrapers leading in height are the towers of Abraj al-Beit. The main one - the Royal Tower - rises above the surface at 601 m. This skyscraper has set several records: the construction has the most big weight and it has the largest clock in the world. The dials of the clocks, located on each side of the rectangular tower, are visible from any corner of the city of Mecca (Saudi Arabia). On 120 floors of the skyscraper there are residential premises, a hotel, trade and catering establishments.
Built in New York, the World Trade Center is also one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world. It rises 543.1 meters above lower Manhattan. It was erected on the site of the twin towers destroyed in 2001. The construction of the skyscraper began in 2004, and its official opening took place in 2012. All 120 floors of the complex are occupied by offices.
The Taipei 101 skyscraper was opened in the capital of Taiwan in 2003, which is the fifth tallest such building. This 101-story building rises 509 meters above the surface. The construction of the skyscraper began in 1999 and lasted more than 4 years. Immediately after the construction, the building was tested for strength by an earthquake that happened here. But after inspection of Taipei by experts, no deformations in the structure of the building or destruction were found. The skyscraper is occupied by trade centers and offices.
In 2008, the construction of a skyscraper was completed in Shanghai, which, due to its unusual shape acquired the name "opener". The project of such a unique structure was drawn up by American architect David Mallot. Construction began in 1997, but due to financial problems construction took more than 10 years. In addition, over the course of the work, changes were made to the project, which complicated the construction process. Today, a 101-storey skyscraper, 492 m high, is occupied by shopping centers, a hotel, offices, and a museum.
The eighth place among the highest skyscrapers of the planet is occupied by the Petronas Towers. These are 2 high-rise buildings connected by the world's largest air bridge. Skyscrapers have become the property of Malaysia. They are built in the capital of the country - Kuala Lumper. The height of these giant twins is 451.9 m. The area of the towers is used with maximum benefit. In order not to take up too much space for arranging the connection between 88 floors, two-story elevators were installed in the skyscraper. The building is occupied by offices and halls for exhibitions and conferences.
In 2009, Nanjing, one of China's largest megacities, opened the ninth tallest skyscraper in the world - the financial center of Nanjing Greenland. The Zifeng Tower is the business center of Nanjing. Its 89 floors are occupied by offices, trade halls, and entertainment venues. The tower, whose height is 450 m, also has an observatory available to everyone.
The tenth tallest skyscraper in the world is the Willis Tower. The building is located in the American metropolis of Chicago. Its height is 443.1 m. Construction, which started in 1970, was carried out at a record pace, and less than three years later the skyscraper was officially opened. Willis Tower was considered the tallest skyscraper for about 25 years and lost ground in 1998 to the Petronas Towers.
The tallest buildings in the world are the result of engineering advances in construction. Thanks to the development of technology around the world, skyscrapers appear that amaze with their height.
Chart of the tallest structures in the world (timsdad / wikipedia.org)
For many years mankind has been pulled up into the sky. Even the Bible has a story about building Tower of Babel. Not only New York was destined to become a city of skyscrapers. In many cities in Asia, skyscrapers of the most interesting shapes, which added to the list of the highest buildings. The list is presented below.
Kingkei 100 is located in Shenzhen. In the central part of the financial district in Guangdong. It is ranked tenth in the list of tallest buildings. Its height is approximately 442 meters. It is ranked fourth in height in the entire Celestial Empire.
As you might guess from the name, the skyscraper has 100 floors. This building is multifunctional. The first 67 of its floors belong to offices. Above are shopping malls and a hotel. The top four floors are occupied by elite restaurants and a garden, which is called "Heavenly".
Kingkey 100 (11x16 Design Studio / flickr.com)
9th place. Willis Tower - 443 meters, USA
Willis Tower is one of Chicago's landmarks. This is a city in which, like in New York, they once began to build skyscrapers. And here a skyscraper was erected, which is in ninth place on the list.
Willis Tower Observation Deck (Dustin Gaffke / flickr.com)
The building was built in 1973, and for 25 years it was the tallest building in the world. How many floors did it have? There are 110 floors here, and offices occupy quite a considerable area - 418,000 square meters.
It is the second tallest skyscraper in the United States of America. From this height, you can see the entire state of Illinois. Neighboring states can be seen from the observation deck. The equipped place, where a magnificent view opens, is called Skydeck. In general, the tower is very popular among visitors, so it is visited by about 25 thousand people a day.
Willis Tower (Dustin Gaffke / flickr.com)
8th place. Zifeng Tower - 450 meters, China
Located in Nanjing in the financial center of Nanjing Greenland. This is one of the high-rise buildings of the new millennium - it was built in 2008. Included in the list of the tallest buildings in the world.
The tower owes its extraordinary appearance to the architect Adrian Smith. The tower seems to be surrounded by two interconnected elements, which symbolizes two dancing dragons.
It is the third tallest in China. Many of the windows glisten in the sun and are somewhat reminiscent of the scales of giant reptiles. The building contains many offices, an intercontinental hotel, shops and an observatory. On the roof there is a garden with a swimming pool.
Since the top of the building is equipped with lighting, the skyscraper looks like a lighthouse at night and can be used as a landmark in a dark city.
From different sides, this building looks different every time, this feature is due to its unique design.
7th place. Petronas Twin Towers - 452 meters, Malaysia
These glittering towers are located in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. They look like two giant ears of corn connected by a bridge.
Petronas Towers (Davidlohr Bueso / flickr.com)
They are considered a real masterpiece of modern architecture. And they are on our list of buildings. On the plan of the whole complex, you can see that the buildings look like an eight-pointed star. One of the symbols of the Muslim world.
Two identical skyscrapers are connected by a pedestrian span. Each tower has 88 floors. The construction of this structure took 6 years and 800 million dollars. On the area of all its premises, 48 football fields would fit.
As in other similar buildings, offices are located here. various companies. At the very bottom is a huge shopping center, occupying six floors. It has many high end shops.
On the territory around the towers there is a vast park with a pool and a fountain, where you can see a unique spectacle - singing fountains. For some time, these towers were lucky enough to be the tallest skyscrapers on the planet.
Petronas Twin Towers - 452 meters, Malaysia (Simon Clancy / flickr.com)
6th place. International Commerce Center (ICC, China) - 484 meters, China
The building has 118 floors. The third tallest building in China is located in autonomous region People's Republic of China.
It towers over 4,000 other high-rise buildings in Hong Kong. Year of construction - 2010.
It is located in the west of Hong Kong in the Kowloon area on Unity Square. It was originally conceived as a building with even greater height. But due to the ban on the construction of buildings exceeding the surrounding mountains, the number of storeys was reduced.
At the very bottom is a shopping center. An observation deck is open for tourists, which is located on the 100th floor.
Above are high-end five-star restaurants and a hotel that includes a presidential suite on the 117th floor. One day stay in it costs 100 thousand Hong Kong dollars. You can get to the last floors or go down with the help of 30 working elevators.
The building of the World Financial Center is located in one of the major cities of China - in Shanghai. This is the tallest building in China.
It owes its fantastic appearance to an American architect, David Mallot. The skyscraper is popular with local population got the nickname - "opener".
Why he had such a name, you can guess from the appearance. A popular souvenir among tourists who come here is a drink opener in the shape of this famous skyscraper.
On the 100th floor, you can see the city from the mark - 472 m. The hotel, which is located on the upper floors, was for some time the highest hotel in the world.
The shape of the opening at the top of the building was originally supposed to be round, but the authorities decided that this symbolized the land of the rising sun, so the window began to have a trapezoidal shape.
4th place. Taipei 101 - 509 meters, Taiwan
It is located in the capital of Taiwan - Taipei. It has 101 floors. More than one and a half billion dollars have been spent on design and construction work.
The construction was quite expensive. It was necessary to build a skyscraper that had to withstand the strongest earthquakes and typhoons. Appearance was also given sufficient attention. It is built in postmodern style and has various elements of Asian culture and European innovations.
Taipei 101 - 509 meters, Taiwan (中岑范姜 / flickr.com)
3rd place. World Trade Center 1 - 541 meters, USA
It is located in the New York area, Manhattan. It is the tallest skyscraper in the US. Together with the antenna, the height of the structure is 541 meters, and without the antenna - 417 meters. Having made some simple calculations, you can find out how many meters the spire adds to the building. Its length is 124 meters.
The building was built just on the spot where the Twin Towers, which died during the disaster, were located until 2001. The new skyscraper is named the Freedom Tower. This building is the first of a complex of skyscrapers, which was supposed to be a reminder of the September 11 tragedy.
The memorial was unveiled in 2011 by the current and previous presidents of the United States. Exactly where the foundations of the two towers were, two large pools were made. Construction works began in 2006, and their completion was planned for 2013. At the time of construction, the Freedom Tower was the tallest skyscraper in the United States.
Freedom Tower, New York (Phil Dolby / flickr.com)
2nd place. Abraj Al Bayt - 601 meters, Kuwait
it high tower with a huge clock that looks like Big Ben in London. Time can also be viewed from four sides. The diameter of the dials is 43 meters. Their height is 400 meters. This is the largest and tallest clock in the world.
The spire, 45 meters long, connects the clock on the tower and the golden crescent - a religious symbol. The building is located in Mecca. It is the tallest building in Kuwait. Located on the other side of the Al-Haram Mosque, where the great Islamic shrine is located.
The building houses a hotel called the Royal Clock Tower. Pilgrims visiting Mecca stop here. Construction work on the construction of this tower ended in 2012.
1 place. Burj Khalifa - 828 meters, United Arab Emirates
Many are interested in which building is the tallest and how many floors does it have? This is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, in the United United Arab Emirates. This is the tallest building in the world.
Burj Khalifa - 828 meters, United Arab Emirates (Mohammed J / flickr.com)
It is far ahead in height of all the skyscrapers and structures of the planet. The tallest skyscraper looks like a giant mirror stalagmite.
Another name is Burj Dubai. The building was erected in early 2010. It has 163 floors. The floors of this building are almost entirely residential.
There is a hotel, various offices and a shopping center. An observation deck is equipped for visitors. There is also underground parking, which can accommodate 3,000 cars.
For many years, only American cities could boast of real skyscrapers. But over time, the architecture of more and more countries was replenished with unusually tall buildings. And today, the leaders of the top 20 tallest buildings in the world are the countries of the Middle and Far East.
Central Plaza (374 m), Bulgaria
The building is mainly occupied by offices of various companies, and its mast is a church.
Emirates Park Towers (376 m), UAE
The highest hotel complex in the world.
Tuntex Sky Tower (378 m), China
The structure is designed in the form of a Chinese character meaning "high".
Shun Hing Square (384 m), China
This steel structure has 34 elevators, and there is an observation deck on the roof itself.
CITIC Tower (391 m.), China
In 2007, the building was considered the third tallest in all of China. Today it houses offices and shops.
Al Hamra Tower (412 m.), Kuwait
A feature of the building was its asymmetry, symbolizing the national clothes of the inhabitants of Kuwait developing in the wind. From the roof of this cement skyscraper, you can enjoy stunning views of the Persian Gulf.
Hong Kong International Financial Center (415 m)
The building, which theoretically can accommodate fifteen thousand people.
Jin Mao Tower (421 m.), China
Fundamental in architectural project buildings became the number "eight" as a symbol of well-being in the culture of China.
Most of these facilities are built in cities with the highest cost per sq.m. You can see the TOP 10 cities with the most expensive real estate in this article:
Chicago Trump International Hotel and Tower (423 m), USA
The second tallest building in the United States.
Kingkey-100 (442 m.), China
The upper floors of this building are known for their "hanging" garden.
Guangzhou International Financial Center (441 m), China
The peculiarity of the building is its streamlined shape, designed in a similar way to level the effects of air currents.
Empire State Building (443 m.), USA
On the marble finish of the building there are panels with seven wonders of the world.
Nanjing Greenland Financial Center (450m), China
There is even an observatory in this triangular structure, and the most wonderful view opens from the top point.
Petronas Towers (452 m), Malaysia
This building is unique because of its foundation, for the strength of which piles were driven a hundred meters underground.
John Hancock Center (457 m.), USA
A feature of the structure is considered to be a hollow structure, resembling a quadrangular column.
Hong Kong International Commerce Center (484 m), Hong Kong
The building is known for the fact that on its upper floors there is a five-star hotel with the "highest" pool in the world.
Shanghai World Financial Center (492 m), China
This skyscraper can supposedly withstand an earthquake of up to 7 points. When designing it Special attention focused on rescuing people in emergency situations.
Taipei 101 (509 m.), Taiwan
The elevators of this skyscraper are among the fastest in the world. The building is reinforced with powerful supports, and the danger of collapse during natural disasters lowers the massive pendulum ball.
Willis Tower (527 m.), USA
The largest office building in the world, consisting of nine square pipes and equipped with two antennas on the roof.
Burj Khalifa (828 m), United Arab Emirates
Each of these majestic structures not only impresses with its dimensions, but also causes incredible admiration for the peculiarities of architectural solutions.
In a previous article, we discussed the tallest skyscrapers in Russia. Unfortunately, now none of the skyscrapers erected in the country is among the ten tallest buildings in the world. Therefore, until the completion of the construction of the Lakhta Center (hello to the commentators of the previous article), we will talk about skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China, USA, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
willis tower
The oldest of the dozens of existing most tall skyscrapers the world was built in 1974 in Chicago. Its height is 442 meters without the spire, with the spire - 527 meters. In the Russian-language Wikipedia, the Willis Tower ranks 11th, but this is somewhat incorrect: the Lakhta Center, which has already been ranked 8th in the ranking, will be completed in 2018.Just think: in forty years, only nine skyscrapers in the world have surpassed the 108-story Willis Tower in Chicago, and in the United States, only the Freedom Tower, opened in 2014, beat this result.
The skyscraper was designed by the architectural bureau Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which later erected both the Freedom Tower and the tallest on this moment building - "Burj Khalifa" in Dubai. The building was originally called the Sears Tower, and the Willis name was given in 2009. The foundation of the Willis Tower rests on concrete piles driven into solid rock. The frame consists of nine square "tubes" forming one large square at the base. Each such "pipe" consists of 20 vertical beams and many horizontal ones. All nine "pipes" are welded up to the 50th floor, then seven pipes go up to 66, five remain to the 90th floor, and the remaining two "pipes" rise another 20 floors. What exactly it looks like is clear from a 1971 photograph.
The worker stands on the spire of the tower.
Willis Tower is on the right in this photo, with two spiers.
Zifeng Tower
In Chinese Nanjing, until the middle of the 19th century, there was a Porcelain Pagoda, a Buddhist temple 78 meters high. Travelers described it as one of the wonders of the world. It was replaced by the Zifeng skyscraper.The construction of the 450-meter Zifeng high-rise building was completed in 2009. It is business center cities. It houses offices, shops, shopping centers, restaurants and an observatory. In total - 89 floors.
Work on the construction of the tower lasted only four years. In the process, the project was changed: the tower could have a height of 300 meters. For China, where the population density is extremely high, effective use land is extremely important. The triangular construction site was used to the maximum: the skyscraper has triangular base.
The idea of the architects was to interweave the motifs of Chinese dragons, the Yangtze River and green gardens. The river is the vertical and horizontal seams separating the glass surfaces. These surfaces themselves, according to architectural thought, are a reference to dancing dragons. Vegetation and pools were placed inside the building.
View of the city from the spire on a skyscraper.
petronas towers
In the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, in 1998, skyscrapers were erected called the Petronas Towers. The height of the two 88-storey skyscrapers is 451 meters, including the spire.The skyscraper was built in the "Islamic" style, each building is an eight-pointed star with semicircular ledges for stability. The construction site was changed after geological surveys. Initially, one skyscraper was supposed to stand on limestone, the other on rock, so one of the buildings could sag. The site was moved 60 meters. The foundation of the towers is currently the deepest concrete foundation: the piles are driven 100 meters into the soft ground.
Construction was complicated by an important condition: only domestically produced materials could be used. Especially for the building, they developed durable elastic concrete, reinforced with quartz and comparable in strength to steel. The mass of the skyscraper turned out to be twice that of similar steel buildings.
The bridge between the twin towers is fixed with ball bearings. Rigid fastening is impossible, as the towers sway.
The elevators in the building are two-story models designed by Otis. One cabin stops only on odd floors, the second - on even ones. This allowed to save space inside the skyscrapers.
International Commerce Center
The 118 floors of the Hong Kong International Commerce Center house offices, a hotel and shopping malls. The height of the building is 484 meters. It was originally planned to build a skyscraper with a height of 574 meters, but the project was changed due to a ban on the construction of buildings higher than Mount Victoria.Construction was completed in 2010, but there was no official opening: tenants were already using the building with might and main. From floors 102 to 118, it is the highest above ground hotel operated by the Ritz-Carlton. On the last, 118th floor, there is the highest swimming pool in the world.
The building can withstand earthquakes up to seven points, has fire-protected floors. After the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, the design of the building was finalized so that it could withstand a direct hit by an aircraft.
Due to its silhouette, the skyscraper got the name "opener". The trapezoidal opening at the top was supposed to be spherical, but the Chinese government forced the design to be changed so that the building did not resemble the rising sun on the Japanese flag. Such changes made it possible to reduce the cost and simplify the design. This was planned upper part building:
Here is the result:
Taipei 101
Taiwan's capital, Taipei, boasts a skyscraper over half a kilometer tall. Together with the spire, Taipei 101 is 509.2 meters tall and has 101 floors.Taipei 101 for some time was also distinguished by the fastest elevators in the world: they rise at a speed of more than 60 kilometers per hour, or 16.83 meters per second. From the fifth to the eighty-ninth floor, people rise in 39 seconds. Now new record belongs to the Shanghai Tower.
On the 87th and 88th floors there is a 660-ton steel pendulum ball. This architectural solution was made not only to decorate the interior. The pendulum allows the building to compensate for gusts of wind. A strong, but not rigid steel frame can withstand the strongest earthquakes. These solutions, together with a foundation of piles one and a half meters in diameter, driven 80 meters into the ground, made the building one of the safest in the world. On March 31, 2002, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake destroyed two cranes on the building and killed five people. The tower itself was not damaged. But there is a theory that it was the skyscraper that activated seismic activity.
Freedom Tower
World Trade Center 1 in Manhattan, New York, outpaced its rival Taipei 101 by 32 meters, although if you count the distance from the ground to the roof, the American Freedom Tower, on the contrary, loses to the Taiwanese tower by 37 meters. Center Height international trade 1 - 541.3 meters on the spire and 417 on the roof.The building stands on the site that was occupied by the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, which were destroyed as a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The design of WTC1 took into account the experience of the past, and the lower 57 meters are made using concrete instead of the steel structure that has become the standard.
The building officially opened on November 3, 2014. It is occupied by offices trading platforms, restaurants and City Television Alliance.
Royal clock tower
In Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 2012, a complex of high-rise buildings of the Tower of the House was built opposite the entrance to the al-Haram mosque, where the main shrine of Islam, the Kaaba, is located. The tallest building in the complex is the Royal Clock Tower Hotel with a height of 601 meters. It is designed to accommodate up to one hundred thousand pilgrims from the five million people who visit Mecca every year. The Royal Clock Tower is the third tallest building in the world.On the tower at a height of 400 meters there are four dials with a diameter of 43 meters. They are visible from any part of the city. This is the highest altitude clock in the world at the moment.
The length of the spire at the top of the hotel is 45 meters. The spire has 160 loudspeakers for the call to prayer. The 107-ton crescent at the very top of the building has several rooms, one of which is a prayer room.
The tower has 21,000 flashing lights and 2.2 million LEDs.
shanghai tower
The second tallest skyscraper is located in China. This is the Shanghai Tower, a building with a height of 632 meters, adjacent to another skyscraper from the list - the Shanghai World Financial Center. 130 floors housed offices, retail and entertainment centers, hotel.The elevators in the building were developed by Mitsubishi Electric. Their speed is 18 meters per second, or 69 kilometers per hour. At the moment, these are the fastest elevators in the world. There are three such elevators in the building, four more two-story elevators develop a speed of 10 meters per second.
beautiful view you should not expect from the windows of a skyscraper. The building has double walls and a second shell designed to keep the temperature in.
The tower has a twisted design, which adds stability to fight the wind.
This view shows a spiral trough for collecting rainwater used for heating and air conditioning.
Burj Khalifa
Opened in 2010 in Dubai, UAE, the Burj Khalifa tower overtook all existing skyscrapers and is still the leader in height.The tower was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the architects behind the Willis Tower and 1 World Trade Center we talked about earlier. The construction of the Dubai Tower was carried out by Samsung, which also participated in the construction of the Petronas Towers. There are 57 elevators in the building, you need to use them with transfers - only one service elevator can go up to the last floor.
The tower houses the Armani Hotel, which was designed by Giorgio Armani himself, apartments, offices, shopping centers, fitness centers and observation decks with jacuzzis. Indian billionaire B.R. Shetty purchased two floors in their entirety, including the 100th floor, at a cost of over US$12 million each.
As with the Petronas Towers, the world's tallest skyscraper has its own special kind of concrete. It can withstand temperatures up to 48 degrees Celsius. During construction, concrete was laid at night, adding ice to the solution. The builders did not have the opportunity to fix the foundation in the rocky soil, and they used two hundred piles 45 meters long and 1.5 meters in diameter.
If the Shanghai Tower has a gutter for collecting rainwater, then in the case of the Burj Khalifa tower, this approach is not needed: there is little rainfall in the desert. Instead, the building has a condensate collection system that collects up to 40 million liters of water per year for watering plants.
During the filming of Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Tom Cruise decided to climb the tower to write Katie Holmes's name on it and get a great shot.
Planned buildings
At the moment, there are only two building projects that can take the first line in the ranking of the tallest skyscrapers in the world.At 828 meters high, the Burj Khalifa doesn't seem as impressive compared to the Dubai Creek Harbor Tower project. Its height on the roof will be 928 meters - that is, it will already beat the current record by 100 meters. And the height along the spire will completely exceed one kilometer - it will reach 1014 meters. But this is not certain - the parameters of the building are kept secret. Like the Eiffel Tower, the Dubai Creek Harbor Tower will be open for World Expo 2020 if all goes according to plan. The foundation was laid on October 10, 2016. Add tags
Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, the tallest building in the world. The height of the building is 828 meters. Its construction began in 2004, and the grand opening ceremony took place on January 4, 2010.
The skyscraper project was designed by the American architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, which also designed the Willis Tower in Chicago, World Trade Center 1 in New York and many other famous buildings. The author of the project is the American architect Adrian Smith.
The Burj Khalifa was originally planned to be the tallest building in the world. When the skyscraper was still under construction, its design height was kept secret. If during the construction of the tower a skyscraper of a higher height had been designed somewhere, then adjustments could have been made to the project.
Inside the complex there is a hotel, apartments, offices and shopping centers. The building has 3 separate entrances: the entrance to the hotel, the entrance to the apartments and the entrance to the office premises. The Armani hotel and offices occupy floors 1 to 39. 900 apartments occupy floors 44 to 72 and 77 to 108. The 100th floor is wholly owned by Indian billionaire Shetty. Office rooms occupy floors from 111 to 121, from 125 to 135 and from 139 to 154. On the 43rd and 76th floors are located GYM's, swimming pools, viewing platforms. The highest observation deck is located on the 124th floor at an altitude of 472 meters. On the 122nd floor is the Atmosphere restaurant - a restaurant located on the very high altitude in the world.
The construction of the skyscraper began in 2004 and proceeded at a rate of 1-2 floors per week. Especially for the Burj Khalifa, a special brand of concrete was developed that can withstand temperatures up to +50 degrees Celsius. Concrete work was completed after the construction of the 160th floor, followed by the assembly of a 180-meter spire from metal structures.
The Burj Khalifa has special equipment that cools and flavors the air inside the building. At the same time, the building is finished with tinted glass thermal panels, which reduce the heating of the premises inside, which reduces the need for air conditioning.
2 Tokyo Sky Tree
Tokyo Sky Tree is a television tower in Tokyo, the tallest among the television towers in the world and the second tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa. The height of the TV tower together with the antenna is 634 meters.
In July 2011, all television in Japan was supposed to go digital, but the Tokyo TV Tower was not tall enough to transmit on upper floors some skyscrapers, so a taller tower was built. Construction began in July 2008 and was completed on February 29, 2012. The opening took place on May 22.
During the construction of the tower, special system, compensating, according to the architects, up to 50% of the force of tremors during earthquakes.
The tower is mainly used for digital TV and radio broadcasting, mobile telephony and navigation systems. In addition, it is a popular tourist attraction. In the TV tower you can visit 2 observation decks: one is located at an altitude of 350 meters, the other is at an altitude of 450 m. a large number of boutiques and several restaurants, and at the foot of the tower there is a mini-complex with a shopping area, an aquarium and a planetarium.
3 Shanghai Tower
The Shanghai Tower is the tallest skyscraper in China and the third tallest building in the world. Its height is 632 meters.
The spirally curved tower was designed by a large American company Gensler. In June 2009, a foundation pit was dug, and the construction of the first floors of the tower began. In August 2013, a solemn ceremony was held in Shanghai to erect the last beam at a height of 632 meters, that is, the skyscraper was brought to roof level. Facade cladding was completed in September 2014, and all interior work— in 2015.
In 2016, the Shanghai Tower was supposed to overtake the Pingan International Financial Center under construction in Shenzhen, but at the last moment its height was reduced from 660 to 600 m.
The lowest floor of the Shanghai Tower is dedicated to the historical museum of the city. Each area of the tower contains shops and galleries. There is a hotel in the middle of the building. Also inside there is a restaurant, the peculiarity of which is that it rotates around its axis, a concert hall and a club. The skyscraper attracts about 2.8 million travelers annually. The tower has several viewing platforms.
High-speed elevators are installed in the Shanghai Tower, rising up at a speed of eighteen meters per second. The building is equipped with 106 Mitsubishi Electric elevators, three of which are high-speed and reach a record height of 578 meters, breaking the Burj Khalifa record of 504 meters.
4 Abraj al-Bayt
Abraj al-Bayt is a complex of high-rise buildings built in Mecca. It is the largest structure in the world by mass, and it is also the tallest structure in Saudi Arabia. The height of the building is 601 meters. Its construction began in 2004 and was completed in 2012.
Abraj al-Bayt stands opposite the entrance to the al-Haram mosque, in the courtyard of which is the Kaaba, the main shrine of Islam. The tallest tower in the complex, which serves as a hotel, houses about 100,000 of the more than five million pilgrims who visit Mecca each year for the Hajj.
The Abraj al-Beit towers house a four-story shopping arcade and a parking garage with space for more than 800 vehicles. In residential towers there are apartments for permanent residents of the city.
At the top of the highest Royal Tower, there is a huge clock with a diameter of 43 meters (the length of the hour hand is 17 meters, the minute hand is 22), located at a height of more than 400 meters above the ground. Four of their dials are set on the four cardinal points. The clock is visible from anywhere in the city and is the largest and highest clock in the world.
The Royal Tower is crowned with a 45-meter spire with a gilded crescent. There are 160 powerful loudspeakers on the spire in eight rows, capable of broadcasting the call to prayer over a distance of more than seven kilometers. The crescent is the largest ever built. Inside, it is divided into several service rooms, among which a small prayer room is the highest in the world. The diameter of the crescent is 23 meters. It is covered with golden mosaic.
5 Guangzhou TV Tower
Guangzhou TV Tower is the second tallest TV tower in the world. Built in 2005-2010 by ARUP for the 2010 Asian Games. The height of the TV tower is 600 meters. Up to a height of 450 meters, the tower was erected in the form of a combination of a hyperboloid bearing mesh shell and a central core.
The mesh shell of the tower is made of steel pipes large diameter. The tower is crowned with a steel spire 160 meters high. The tower is designed to broadcast TV and radio signals, as well as to view the panorama of Guangzhou and is designed to receive 10,000 tourists a day.
Glazed observation platforms are located at heights of 33, 116, 168 and 449 meters, and an open observation platform is located at a height of 488 meters. Revolving restaurants are located at 418 and 428 meters.