A new mega-tall skyscraper aims to be the tallest in the world, upon completion in 2020. "The Tower" will be built on the Dubai Creek Harbor, a massive new tourism development. The Tower will eclipse the Dubai's Burj Khalifa -- currently the tallest building in the world. Height: 928m (3,044ft) Architect: Santiago Calatrava
image courtes of emaar / via aurecon group
The Tower, Dubai, UAE —
The expected completion date for The Tower in Dubai is 2020.
Height: 928m (3,044ft) Architect: Santiago Calatrava
image courtes of emaar / via aurecon group
The Tower, Dubai, UAE —
The building will hold several observation decks in its oval-shaped peak. One deck will offer a 360-degree view of the city.
Height: 928m (3,044ft) Architect: Santiago Calatrava
image courtes of emaar / via aurecon group
Jeddah Tower, Saudi Arabia —
A threat to The Tower's tallest tower ambitions is the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia. This tower is currently under construction and due to top out at 1km at a cost of $1.23 billion.
Height: 3,280ft Architect: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Jeddah Economic Company/Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
The Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE —
Currently world's tallest building, since it was completed in 2010, is the Burj Khalifa. It stands a massive 198 meters (650 feet) above its nearest competitor.
Mecca Royal Clock Tower Hotel, Mecca, Saudi Arabia —
Situated close to the Grand Mosque of the holy city of Mecca, the tower complex is one part of the $15 billion King Abdulaziz Endowment Project, seeking to modernize Mecca and accommodate the ever-growing number of pilgrims.
Height: 601m (1972ft) Floors: 120 Architect: Dar Al-Handasah Architects
FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
One Vanderbilt Avenue, New York —
A new tall tower has broken ground in New York City. Named the One Vanderbilt Avenue tower, the building is designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox architects, and construction officially started today. At 1,401 feet tall, upon completion it will be the second tallest building in New York after the One World Trade Center.
Height: 427m (1,401ft) Architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox
via SL Green Realty Corp
Sky Mile Tower, Tokyo, Japan —
In February, a proposal for a mile-high tower in Tokyo was revealed. Height: 1,600m(5,250ft) Architect: Kohn Pefersen Fox Associates and Leslie E Robertson Associates
Sky Mile Tower, Tokyo, Japan —
The 1,600 meter tower is part of a future city concept named "Next Tokyo 2045," which envisions a floating mega-city in Tokyo Bay.
Height: 1,600m(5,250ft) Architect: Kohn Pefersen Fox Associates and Leslie E Robertson Associates
Kohn Pedersen Fox
1 Undershaft, London, UK —
In December 2015, plans were unveiled for the 1 Undershaft -- a 300m tall building that could become the City of London's tallest building. Height: 300m (984ft) Floors: 73 Architect: Aroland Holdings
DBOX
1 Undershaft, London, UK —
1 Undershaft will sit across the river from London's tallest building, The Shard, which is 9.6 meters taller.
432 Park Avenue, the tallest all-residential tower in the western hemisphere, opened its doors in December 2015, recently became the hundredth supertall building in the world.
Completed in 2015, Asia's tallest building surpasses the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai's Pudong district. Estimated to cost $2.4 billion, its completion marked the end of a project in the financial district stretching back to 1993.
Height: 632m (2073ft) Floors: 128 Architect: Jun Xia, Gensler
Gensler
One World Trade Center, New York, U.S. —
Known as the "Freedom Tower," One World Trade Center stands on part of the site previously occupied by the Twin Towers. It's the highest building in the western hemisphere, and cost $3.9 billion according to Forbes.
The first skyscraper to break the half-kilometer mark, the world's tallest building between March 2004 and March 2010 is also one of the greenest -- certified LEED platinum in 2011. Designed to withstand the elements, including typhoons, earthquakes and 216 km/h winds, Taipei 101 utilizes a 660-tonne mass damper ball suspended from the 92nd floor, which sways to offset the movement of the building.
Height: 508m (1667ft) Floors: 101 Architect: C.Y. Lee & Partners
Taiwan Tourism
Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai, China —
Construction of Shanghai's third supertall building took 11 years, but the skyscraper dubbed "The Bottle Opener" was met with critical praise and high-end residents when it completed in 2008, including the Park Hyatt Shanghai and offices for Ernst & Young, Morgan Stanley, and BNP Paribas.
Height: 492m (1614.17ft) Floors: 101 Architect: Kohn Pederson Fox
ChinaFotoPress/Getty Image
International Commerce Center, Hong Kong, China —
Hong Kong's tallest building has 108 floors -- but walking around it, you'd get a different story. The city's tetraphobia -- the fear of the number four -- means floors with the number have been skipped, and the International Commerce Center is marketed as a 118-story skyscraper.
Height: 484m (1588ft) Floors: 108 Architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox
ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Shanghai Tower —
Standing at 2,074 feet (632 meters) tall, the Shanghai Tower is the world's second tallest building.
Blackstation/courtesy gensler
Petronas Towers 1 and 2, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia —
The joint eighth highest completed skyscraper is still the tallest twin towers in the world. Finished in 1996 and inaugurated in 1999, it's been the site of numerous hair-raising stunts. Felix Baumgartner set a then-BASE jump world record in 1999 by jumping off a window cleaning crane, and in 2009 Frenchman Alain Robert, known as "Spiderman," freeclimbed to the top of Tower Two without safety equipment -- and did so in under two hours.
Height: 451.9m (1483ft) Floors: 88 Architect: Cesar Pelli
Goh Seng Chong/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Zifeng Tower, Nanjing, China —
The architects behind the Burj Khalifa are also responsible for the world's tenth tallest building. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's Zifeng Tower in Nanjing completed in January 2010 and sits just above the Willis Tower (previously the Sears Tower) in the rankings, eclipsing the SOM-designed Chicago icon by a mere 7.9 meters (26 ft).
A hotel and office hybrid, this straightforward supertall building by Wong Tung & Partners in Hunan Province's booming capital city is expected to be completed by 2017.
The Suzhou IFS is two meters shy of the Changsha tower. Height: 450 meters (1476 feet) Architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
E8xE8
World One, Mumbai, India —
The World One skyscraper in Mumbai will be as tall as the Willis Tower, the second tallest building in North America, and will be one of the world's tallest residential structures.
This design mimics and simplifies the neo-Gothic spires of an earlier skyscraper boom, à la the Woolworth and Empire State Buildings. Height: 383 meters (1,257 ft) Architect:Dennis Lau & Ng Chun Man Architects & Engineers
DLN Architects
Three Sixty West Tower B, Mumbai, India —
Kohn Pedersen Fox is back with this 90-story residential building. Zigzagging cuts in the curtain-wall break up the monotony of yet another boxy tower.
Height: 372 metres (1,220 ft) Architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox
