All About Construction

The Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest tower  in the world, with 2716.5-feet of aluminum and steel, and its 26,000 hand-cut glass panels. The Burj Khalifa blows away the next-nearest skyscraper, which is Taiwan's 1670-foot Taipei 101, and the building has even surpassed ultra-tall, ground-cable-supported radio antennas.  Architects' vertical leapfrogging, however, isn't likely to stop at the Burj Khalifa. While the tower will be a tough one to beat, it is likely to remain at the pinnacle for only about another half-dozen years. Developers around the world have proposed numerous new skyscrapers. Some projects have leapt off the drawing boards, though plans for many record-breaking towers have been scuttled because of the global economic spasms of the past couple years. (The original name of the Burj Khalifa, the Burj Dubai, was changed at the last minute to recognize United Arab Emirates president Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who as emir of Abu Dhabi gave struggling...

What are Supertall and Megatall Buildings? “Supertall” is defined as a building over 300 meters (984 feet) in height, and a “Megatall” as a building over 600 meters (1,968 feet) in height. Although great heights are now being achieved with built tall buildings—in excess of 800 meters (2,600 feet)—as of July 2013 there are only 73 supertall and 2 megatall building completed and occupied globally. Thus the completion of a supertall building is still a significant milestone.