Sawse - Stir it Up!

Which are the world’s tallest buildings? It depends on what you are measuring. The debate continues as to what parts of buildings are deserving of recognition when measuring a buildings height. Should flagpoles, spires, and antennas be included in the total height measurement? Technically speaking, communications towers, observation decks and towers, are thought of as structures, and not actual buildings because the can not be lived in. Contributing to its height, the Taipei 101 has a 60 foot spire that gives the building a total height of 509 meters. The building is at the moment, the tallest in the world.

Also contributing to the height of some of the worlds tallest buildings are the spires that sit atop of the Petronas Twin Towers located in Kuala Lumpur. Before the Taipei 101 building was finished, the Petronas towers were the worlds tallest. Again, the spires contribute to the total height, and are not actually livable space. If livable space were the only consideration when measuring a buildings height, he Sears Tower in Chicago might be the worlds tallest. From ground level to the top of the structure and excluding flagpoles and spires, the Sears Tower would get top bid.

The KVLY-TV mast which is located 30 miles to the north of the small town, Fargo, Noth Dakota, stands at 2,063 ft. (628.8m) Not a building but a transmission antenna, which merely consists of metal and guy-wires, it is one of the tallest standing structures. Structures of this type are not included when measuring the world’s taller buildings because they are not free standing or self supporting. Until recently, Toronto’s CN Tower which stands at a 1,815 ft, (553.3m) was the tallest free standing structure in the world but has since been overtaken by the Burj Dubai. The Burj Dubai is home of the highest observation deck that is open to the public, the deck itself rests at an impressive 1,465 ft. (446.5m) To date the Burj Dubai holds the title of the tallest freestanding structure in the world.

Currently the tallest building which is inhabited is the Taipei 101 of Taiwan. It holds the top title for three out of the four most commonly measured categories. Its highest floor that is inhabited is at 1,441 ft (439.2 m). The buildings spire adds to its architectural height which it is worlds tallest for an occupied building, and its roof at 1,474 ft (449.2 m) is the worlds tallest in its category as well. The Sears Tower has the highest antenna of any occupied building in the world at 1,730 ft, or 527.3 m.

Already the tallest of all free standing structures in the world, the Burj Dubai was reported as standing at 604.9 meters having 159 complete floors in February, 2008. This surpasses the Taipei 101 for the title of the world’s tallest skyscraper. When the Burg Dubai is completed (scheduled for 2009) it will be the king of all buildings, and will hold the record in all four categories that are commonly measured for building height. Not yet officially disclosed, the minimum projected height comes in at 700m. The Burj Dubai will not hold every building height related record. However, the CN Tower will remain as the record holder for a structure with the highest observation deck.

The title for tallest building in the world was pretty much uncontested until 1998. Until then the Sears Tower was considered the tallest because it was occupied and the height was measured from the ground floor to the top of the building, and did not include the antenna masts at the top. Controversy arose when the Petronas towers were built because the buildings spire surpassed the roof of the Sears Tower by 9 meters. If you don’t count the spires, the buildings are not taller than the Sears Tower. Because of this controversy, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), after lowering the rank of the Sears Tower to third tallest in the world, decided to redefine the list of categories, and now included four different categories that are used to determine the tallest buildings in the world.

The four redefined categories are:

Including pinnacles and spires, but not including flagpoles, masts, or antennas, the height from ground level to the top of the buildings structures

The height from ground level to the highest occupied floor

Height to observation deck

The height from the ground floor to the top of the roof

In April of 2004, upon completion of the Taipei 101, it grabbed the record for the first three building height related categories. In July 2007, an announcement was made that the Burj Dubai was now in the lead, as it had passed the Taipei 101, having reached 512 meters. The Sears Tower still retains its title in one of the four categories because of the addition of a broadcast antenna that was added in 2000. This was approximately one year before the destruction of the World Trade Center buildings in 2001. The two tours now hold the ominous record for the world’s tallest buildings to ever by destroyed or demolished.