We don't entirely agree.
In fact, we feel far too much is made of a skyscraper's height, when there's so much more to reflect on.
Buildings that are great, not because they're tall, but because of what they represent
Buildings that are great, not because they're tall, but because of what they represent
1. Empire State Building, New York, United States
The building that united a country.Height: 437 meters
Cost to build: US$41 million
Completion date: May 1, 1931
Fast fact: The Empire State Building took only one year and 45 days to build, or 7 million man-hours, a record to this day for a skyscraper of its height.
2. China Central Television Headquarters, Beijing, China
Cutting through the Chinese smog.Height: 234 meters
Cost to build: US$600 million
Completion date: January 2008
Fast fact: A building in the complex was badly damaged during a fire that was ignited by fireworks.
3. Commerzbank Headquarters, Frankfurt, Germany
The world’s first ecological office tower.Height: 300.1 meters
Cost to build: US$414 million
Completion date: 1997
Fast fact: There is no observatory or open area on top. The public can only get as far as the plaza level.
4. Elephant Tower, Bangkok, Thailand
10,000 times bigger than a real elephant, and 10,000 times uglier too.Height: 102 meters
Cost to build: NA
Completion date: 1997
Fast fact: The building contains a swimming pool.
5. Bitexco Financial Tower, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Helicopters welcome, rich residents even more so.Height: 262 meters
Cost to build: US$220 million
Completion date: October 31, 2010
Fast fact: With speeds of seven meters per second, the elevators in the building are the third-fastest in the world.
6. Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco, United States
San Francisco makes a point.Height: 260 meters
Cost to build: US$32 million
Completion date: 1972
Fast fact: When The Pyramid's three years of construction began in 1969, signs around the site proclaimed it "a San Francisco landmark since 1972."
7. Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong
You don't need to be big to be noticed.Height: 305 meters
Cost to build: NA
Completion date: May 1990
Fast fact: The building was criticized by feng shui masters for its sharp corners, which in feng shui terms means it will bring bad luck to its neighbors (notably the HSBC main building). Pei had to modify the design before construction began.
8. Kingdom Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
If this is a shovel, we'd like to see the hole it dug.Height: 302 meters
Cost to build: US$458 million
Completion date: 2002
Fast fact: Ladies Kingdom claims to have "almost every thing a female would need" -- even a ladies’ bank and a ladies' mosque.
9. Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Throwing the gauntlet down to Hong Kong as a financial capital.Height: 452 meters
Cost to build: US$1.6 billion
Completion date: June 1996
Fast fact: National poet laureate A. Samad Said was commissioned to write a poem for the towers.
10. Tokyo Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, Tokyo, Japan
Designed like a cocoon for Tokyo's students to learn and grow.Height: 204 meters
Cost to build: NA
Completion date: October 2008
Fast fact: It's the second-tallest educational building in the world, next to the M.V. Lomonosov State University building in Moscow.
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