Let us emphasize from the outset that this is not a text for people who are afraid of heights. 828 meters – this is the current record, reached in 2009 by the Burj Khalifa skyscraper. The Dubai skyscraper ushered in a new decade. And he retained his title despite (literally) increasing competition until today, the early 1920s.

Burj Khalifa is more than 300 m taller than the previous ranking leader, Taipei 101. This half-kilometer (509 m) skyscraper was built in Taiwan’s capital and opened in late 2004. Today… he doesn’t even make the top ten anymore. And soon, he may no longer fit into the second either. Which shows how quickly humanity is growing. So far, 11 skyscrapers have exceeded half a kilometer in height (a number more are planned or under construction). In 2019 alone, work on 26 buildings over 300 m high was completed. When it comes to slightly lower thresholds (ceilings of at least 200m), there are 126 such buildings, nine of which are in Dubai alone.

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Skyscrapers are getting taller

A decade after the opening of the Burj Khalifa, the metropolis is rebuilding on a large scale. The largest project currently under construction is the Dubai Creek Tower. According to Santiago Calatrava’s vision, the building will not be a skyscraper, but a monstrous observation tower. It is true that we do not yet know to what extent. We even talk about 1,300 m (!), others say 928 m (exactly 100 m above the top of the Burj Khalifa).

The giant tower is expected to welcome its first guests in 2021. Why are there so many unknowns and secrets? Well, in this mad race to the top, Dubai cannot feel safe. The UAE will need to prioritize its much larger neighbor, Saudi Arabia.

Kilometer barrier

Saudi Arabia already has the third tallest building in the world: the immense Aburaj al-Bayt complex, measuring 601 m, dominates Mecca. This radically changed the landscape of the holiest place of Muslims (a project of very questionable beauty).

The tallest building in the world, the Jeddah Tower, will be built several dozen kilometers away. It is not yet known how high the skyscraper that will be built in Jeddah will be. But it is certain that he will break the kilometer barrier. For architecture, this is a stage comparable to the moon landing. The author of the structure is Adrian Smith, who also created… Burj Khalifa.

However, there is a catch. In early 2018, construction stopped. And he’s still standing. The investment encountered complications linked to the country’s internal situation, which halted work at around a third of the target height. The building was supposed to be completed in 2020, but we now know that this is unrealistic. More likely, it is 2022. Historically speaking: 1,400 years after the hegira.

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Make America Great Again

A skyscraper is considered to be a building exceeding the ceiling by 150 m. Which city is the skyscraper capital of the world? Interestingly, it’s not New York that takes second place. The first belongs to the city that became the scene of massive social protests in 2019: Hong Kong. More than 350 (!) buildings over 150 m high have been built here. The podium is completed by Shenzhen, a Chinese metropolis bordering Hong Kong and which is chasing New York.

One World Trade Center above Manhattan is 540 m high. This building is the seventh tallest in the United States and the entire Western Hemisphere. And in the top ten, it is the only skyscraper located outside of Asia. America, home of skyscrapers, is falling behind. New York, or more precisely Manhattan, has long since ceased to be the “roof of the world”. The most famous of all skyscrapers and symbol of the “city that never sleeps” – the Empire State Building – retained this title for exactly four decades (1931-71). It then briefly gave way to the original World Trade Center Tower 1, which collapsed on September 11, 2001.

Since 1973, Chicago has been the city with the tallest skyscraper on record. Until 1998, which is a double hyphenation. After a quarter of a century, the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower) lost the title of record holder to Kuala Lumpur and the Petronas Towers. Asia entered the game for the first time.

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The middle Empire

Six of the ten tallest skyscrapers are in China. Including Goldin Finance 117, because although it has not yet been officially opened, it reaches a final height of 596 m. Of the 10 tallest buildings opened in 2019, six were in China. Nearly half of the high-rise buildings mentioned at the beginning, with ceilings exceeding 200 m and completed last year, were built in the Middle Kingdom.

Cities that most of us have probably never heard of before have skyscrapers taller than the Empire State Building. Among them, Suzhou, Changsha, Wuhan, Tianjin. In 2019, the 530 meter high Financial Center building was inaugurated there, the tallest building in the world put into operation last year. The Ping An financial center (number four in the world), almost 600 meters high, has been located in Shenzhen for several years. Last year, 15 buildings over 200 m high were put into service there, a record number. If it maintains this dizzying pace, Shenzhen could overtake New York within a dozen years. And it’s a city that recently celebrated… its 40th anniversary.

In Shanghai is the second tallest building in the world: the Shanghai Tower, 632 meters high. The building has the highest observation deck (562 m). And other, even taller structures are on the way.

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The Old Continent and the Polish skyscraper

But it is not only in the East that humanity is trying to break away from the earth. Varso Tower – this is the name of the tallest skyscraper in Poland. Work has been underway for several years and the opening is planned for 2021. The building will be part of the Varso Place office complex, located near Warsaw Central Station. The Foster + Partners studio is responsible for the project. In short: the architectural pinnacle of the world. After 65 years, the 310 m high building will surpass the Palace of Culture and Science.

It will also be the tallest building in the European Union. That title – at least until Brexit comes to fruition – currently belongs to the London film The Shard, which measures almost 310m.

The tallest skyscraper on the continent is part of the Lakhta Centr complex and is located in Vladimir Putin’s hometown: Saint Petersburg. It was opened in 2019 and will become the new headquarters of Gazprom. Among European metropolises, the largest skyscrapers were built in Moscow. The capital of Russia leaves behind London, Frankfurt am Main and Warsaw.

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Higher and higher in the world

The Old Continent compares modestly to the Middle and Far East in the category of large skyscrapers. In fact, Europe has long since lost its importance in this race. Not a single European skyscraper has passed the half-kilometer mark, and there are no official plans to do so today. But the race to the upside doesn’t seem to be slowing down either. And the Saudis will set the bar high.