World's Tallest Buildings

Over a few years ago, the question, what is the world's tallest building?, could be easily answered. However, today the matter is open for debate due to the various new buildings and structures coming up, as well as the innovation in architecture in recent years. The height of the buildings, and therefore the recognition of the tallest building in the world, is the responsibility of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) today. Though the Council has been set up to report and study all the aspects of construction of tall buildings, it is most known for deciding some of the tallest buildings in the world.

The CTBUH decides on the tallest buildings in the world on four factors, them being:

• Height to the structural or architectural top, this includes the pinnacles and spires, but not flagpoles of masts
• The height to the top of the roof
• The Height to the top of the highest structural floor
• The Height of the top of the spires and pinnacles and antennas

According to these factors, the Sears Towers were the tallest building in the world since 1973. It is located in Chicago, Illinois. It was the world's tallest building until 1996. Today, the Sears Tower tops the list as far as height of the highest occupied floor and height of the top of the roof is concerned. The Sears Tower is settled on two city blocks and rises around a quarter mile above the ground. It has one hundred and ten stories and offers around four million square feet of commercial and office space.

The Empire State Building is also one of the tallest buildings in the world. It was the tallest building in the world for more than thirty years. The Empire State Building is also one of the seven wonders of the world. The Empire State Building rises to one thousand, two hundred and fifty feet on its hundred and second floor. Its full structural height is about one thousand, four hundred and fifty three feet (1453 ft). The building as around eighty five stories and offers more than two hundred thousand square feet of office space. It was also the first building to have more than a hundred stories. It weighs more than three hundred thousand metric tones. (300,000).

The Petronas Twin Towers were also once the world's tallest buildings. They are located in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. They were the tallest buildings when measured according to the height from the main entrance to the structural top. The Towers are still the tallest twin towers in the world. It is about thirty three feet higher than the Sears Tower

The Petronas Twin Towers are eighty storied and rise upto one thousand four hundred and eighty three feet. It cost a $1.2 billion to make. The Petronas Twin Towers were completed in 1997. The two towers are joined at the forty-first and forty-second floor by a hundred and ninety two feet (192 ft) long skybridge.

The Jin Mao Building is also one of the tallest buildings in the world. It is a eighty eight story skyscraper, being the tallest building in People's Republic of China. The building has a total of twenty four thousand square meter plot of land. According to the factors set by the CTBUH, it is the seventh tallest building in the world as regards the pinnacle height, while it is the fifth tallest building in the world with regard to the roof height. These are some of the tallest buildings in the world.

The Taipei 101 is the tallest skyscraper in the world today. It is tallest according to three of the four categories set by the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The Taipei 101 has a total of one hundred and six stories, with five stories being underground. It holds the record for the ground to structural top at one thousand six hundred and seventy one feet, (1671 ft) and Ground to highest occupied floor, at one thousand four hundred and forty one feet (1441 ft).