Top 10 Tallest Building in the World 2018

The Tallest 10 in 2018:

The projected world's tallest 10 skyscrapers in the year 2018

Humanity has become obsessed with breaking its limits, creating new records only to break them again and again. In fact, our cities skylines have always been defined by those in power during every period in history. At one point churches left their mark, followed by public institutions and in the last decades, it's commercial skyscrapers that continue to stretch taller and taller.

But when it comes to defining which buildings are the tallest it can get complicated. DO antennas and other gadgets on top of the building count as extra meters? What happens if the last floor is uninhabitable? The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has developed their system for classifying tall buildings, measuring from the "level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles of other functional technical equipment." Using this system more than 3,400 buildings have been categorized as over 150 meters tall.

We take a look at world's 10 tallest buildings, according to the CTBUH. List updated on July 2018

10. Shanghai World Financial Center / 492 m / 1,614 ft / 101 floors

Location:  Shanghai, China

Architects:  Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) + Mori Building + Irie Miyake Architects & Engineers 

Structural Engineer:  Leslie E. Robertson Associates

Function:  Hotel & Office

Material:  Composite

Completed:  2008

The Shanghai World Financial Center is a symbol of commerce and culture that speaks to the city's emergence as a global capital. Located in Shanghai's Pudong District, the mixed-use Shanghai World Financial Center is a vertical city, containing 62 office floors, conference facilities, urban retail and dining spaces, and a 174 room five-star Park Hyatt Hotel at the top - the world's highest hotel from the 79th to 93rd floors. Above the hotel, at the 94th to 100th floors, is a visitors space and observatory.

9. TAIPEI 101 / 508 m / 1,667 ft / 101 floors

Location:  Taipei, Taiwan

Architects:  C.Y. Lee & Partners Architects/Planners  

Structural Engineer:  Evergreen Consulting Engineering, Thornton Tomasetti

Material:  Composite

Function:  Office

Completed:  2004

Standing in the Xinyl District of Taipei, an area known for its financial services and vibrant shopping malls. TAIPEI 101 represents a worldwide precedent for sustainable skyscraper development. It achieved a LEED certification for Operations and Maintenance in 2011, an impressive feat for a tower of its size and complexity.

TAIPEI 101 contains a 728-ton tuned mass damper (TMD), a large spherical steel pendulum that offsets lateral movements caused by strong winds. The TMD is located in a large multi-storey cavity near the top of the tower. This location is ideal for countering overturning forces, a necessary precaution in a typhoon-prone part of the world.

8. Citic Tower/ 527.7 m / 1,731 ft / 108 floors

Location:  Beijing, China

Architects:  Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, TFP Farrells, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design

Structural Engineer:  ARUP, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design

Material:  Composite

Function:  Office

Completed:  2018

Citic Tower will be the flagship building of Beijing's comprehensively planned 30-hectare central business district core.

The tower's gently rising and curving form resembles an ancient Chinese ceremonial vessel, called the "zun." This concept is also applied to other key elements of the tower, including the entrances, ground-floor lobby, and observation deck. At the base, the tower thrusts into the ground with massive corner supports, while the exterior shell is gently lifted up and stretched forward at the four sides. The design physically extends the lobby outward, forming, dynamic drop-off spaces. At the top, the exterior envelope becomes more transparent at the observation deck and allows more visibility to the inner trumpet-shaped business center, which lights up at night, forming a beacon that will be visible throughout the city.

7. Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre / 530 m / 1,739 ft / 111 floors

Location:  Guangzhou, China

Architects:  Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Leigh & Orange, Guangzhou Design Institute

Structural Engineer:  ARUP, Leslie E. Robertson Associates

Material:  Composite

Function:  Hotel/Residential/Office

Completed:  2016

Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre is a mixed-use tower located across from Guangzhou International Finance Center and Canton Tower. The project is adjacent to a large central park and a subterranean retail concourse with transportation interchanges, integrating the project into the city and the wider region. The design of Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre is derived from the efficient synthesis of its multiple uses, its form is sculpted at four major transition points: office to residential, residential to hotel, hotel to crown, and crown to sky. Instead of tapering to accommodate the smaller floor plates required for different programs, the tower steps back at four angled parapets. These four setbacks allow for lush sky terraces and dramatic skylights.

6. One World Trade Center / 541.3 m / 1,776 ft / 94 floors

Location:  New York City, New York

Architects:  Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Structural Engineer:  WSP Group, Schlaich Bergermann & Partner, Leslie E. Robertson Associates

Material:  Composite

Function: Office

Completed:  2014

One World Trade Center recaptures the New York Skyline, reasserts downtown Manhattan's preeminence as a business center, and establishes a new civic icon for the country. It is a memorable architectural landmark for the city and the nation, and connects seamlessly to the city with linkages to an extensive underground transportation network. Extending the long tradition of American ingenuity in high-rise construction, the design solution is an innovative mix of architecture, structure, urban design, safety, and sustainability.

5. Lotte World Tower / 554.5 m / 1,819 ft / 123 floors

Location:  Seoull, South Korea  

Architects:  Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, BAUM Architects 

Structural Engineer:  Leslie E. Robertson Associates, Chang Minwoo Structural Consultants, Thornton Tomasetti

Material:  Composite

Function:  Hotel/Residential/Office/Retail

Completed:  2017

Taking inspiration from traditional Korean art forms in the design of the various interior program spaces, the sleek tapered form of Lotte World Tower will stand out from Seoul's rocky, mountainous topography. The tower is programmed with a greater variety of functions than is normally found in a tall building. It contains retail components, offices, a 7-star luxury hotel, and an officetel. Officetels, common in South Korean real estate, offer studio-apartment-style accommodations for people who work in the building and often feature certain services found in hotels, such as furnishings, a security desk, and GYM access. The building's top 10 stories are earmarked for extensive public use and entertainment facilities, including an observation deck and rooftop cafe.

4. Ping An Finance Center / 599.1 m / 1,965 ft / 115 floors

Location:  Shenzhen, China

Architects:  Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, CCDI Group

Structural Engineer:  Thornton Tomasetti, CCDI Group, China Academy of Building Research

Material: Composite

Function: Office

Completed:  2017

Ping An Finance Center is located in the city's Futian District and represents a new generation of the prototypical Asian skyscraper: very tall, very dense, and hyper-connected. Ping An Finance Center rises from a prominent location in the center of the city, connecting seamlessly to neighboring commercial and residential properties, as well as the Pearl River Delta's high-speed rail corridor. At its final height, the tower will symbolize a city which has witnessed unprecedented urban growth - from 300,000 people to approximately 10 million - in the 35 years since becoming China's first Special Economic Zone.

3. Makkah Royal Clock Tower / 601 m / 1,972 ft / 120 floors

Location:  Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Architects:  Dar Al-Handasah Shair & Partners, SL Rasch

Structural Engineer:  BuroHappoid Engineering, Dar Al-Handasah Shair & Partners, SL Rasch

Material:  Steel/Concrete

Function:  Other/Hotel

Completed:  2012

At the heart of the holiest Islamic city, Makkah Royal Clock Tower brings an air of modernization to the bustling historic center of Mecca. The tower was developed as a component of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project and provides comfortable accommodations for devout Muslims that make the journey to the city every year during the Hajj period. It is conveniently located adjacent to the Grand Mosque, which can accommodate up to two million worshippers over the course of the event.

2. Shanghai Tower / 632 m / 2,073 ft / 128 floors

Location:  Shanghai, China

Architects:  Gensler, Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd., East China Architectural Design & Research Institute 

Structural Engineer:  Thornston Tomasetti, Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd., China Academy of Building Research

Material:  Composite

Function:  Office/Hotel

Completed:  2015

As the third tower in the trio of signature skyscrapers at the heart of Shanghai's new Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone, Shanghai Tower embodies a new prototype for tall buildings. Placed in close proximity to Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center, the new tower rises high above the skyline, its curved facade and spiraling form symbolizing the dynamic emergence of modern China. But its twisting form goes beyond just creating a unique appearance, wind tunnel tests confirm a 24 percent savings in structural wind loading when compared to a rectangular building of the same height.

Shanghai Tower is one of the most sustainably advanced tall buildings in the world.

1. Burj Khalifa / 828 m / 2,717 ft / 163 floors

Location:  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Architects:  Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, Hyder Consulting

Structural Engineer:  Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, Hyder Consulting

Material:  Steel/Concrete

Function:  Office/Residential/Hotel

Completed:  2010

Burj Khalifa has redefined what is possible in the design and engineering of super-tall buildings. By combining cutting-edge technologies and cultural influences, the building serves as a global icon that is both a model for future urban centers and speaks to the global movement towards compact, livable urban areas. The Tower and its surrounding neighborhood are more centralized than any other new development in Dubai. At the center of a new downtown neighborhood, Burj Khalifa's mixed-use program focuses the area's development density and provides direct connections to mass transit systems. Burj Khalifa's architecture has embodied references to Islamic architecture and yet reflects the modern global community it is designed to serve.