Editing Skyscraper

{{Short description|Tall habitable building}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
[[File:Burj Khalifa.jpg|thumb| Completed in 2009, the [[Burj Khalifa]], in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is {{As of|2009|alt=currently}} the [[List of tallest buildings|tallest building]] in the world, with a height of {{convert|829.8|m|ft}}. The [[Setback (architecture)|setbacks]] at various heights are a typical skyscraper feature.]]
A '''skyscraper''' is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least {{convert|100|m}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Skyscraper, Emporis Standards |url=https://www.emporis.com/building/standard/75/skyscraper |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511222640/http://www.emporis.com/building/standard/75/skyscraper |url-status=usurped |archive-date=11 May 2015 |website=Emporis.com |access-date=7 November 2020}}</ref> or {{convert|150|m}}<ref>{{cite web |title=What is a Skyscraper? |url=https://www.theb1m.com/video/what-is-a-skyscraper |website=Theb1m.com |access-date=7 November 2020}}</ref> in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall [[Tower block|high-rise buildings]]. Skyscrapers may host offices, hotels, residential spaces, and retail spaces.

One common feature of skyscrapers is having a [[steel frame]] that supports [[Curtain wall (architecture)|curtain walls]]. These curtain walls either bear on the framework below or are suspended from the framework above, rather than resting on [[load-bearing wall]]s of conventional construction. Some early skyscrapers have a steel frame that enables the construction of load-bearing walls taller than those made of [[reinforced concrete]].

Modern skyscraper walls are not [[load-bearing]], and most skyscrapers are characterized by large surface areas of windows made possible by steel frames and curtain walls. However, skyscrapers can have curtain walls that mimic conventional walls with a small surface area of windows. Modern skyscrapers often have a [[Tube (structure)|tubular structure]], and are designed to act like a hollow [[cylinder]] to resist wind, seismic, and other lateral loads. To appear more slender, allow less wind exposure and transmit more daylight to the ground, many skyscrapers have a design with [[Setback (architecture)|setbacks]], which in some cases is also structurally required.

{{As of|September 2023}}, fifteen cities in the world have more than 100 skyscrapers that are {{convert|150|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} or taller.{{efn|[[List of tallest buildings in Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] has 552 skyscrapers; [[List of tallest buildings in Shenzhen|Shenzhen]], China, 373; [[List of tallest buildings in New York City|New York City]], 314; [[List of tallest buildings in Dubai|Dubai]], 252; [[List of tallest buildings in Guangzhou|Guangzhou]], China, 188; [[List of tallest buildings in Shanghai|Shanghai]], 183; [[List of tallest structures in Tokyo|Tokyo]], 168; [[List of tallest buildings in Kuala Lumpur|Kuala Lumpur]], [[List of tallest buildings in Malaysia|Malaysia]]; 156; [[List of tallest buildings in Wuhan|Wuhan]], China, 149; [[List of tallest buildings in Chongqing|Chongqing]], China, 144 ; [[List of tallest buildings in Chicago|Chicago]], 137; [[Chengdu]], China, 117 skyscrapers; [[List of tallest buildings in Jakarta|Jakarta]], 112 skyscrapers; [[List of tallest buildings in Bangkok|Bangkok]], 111; and [[Mumbai]] has 102.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://skyscrapercenter.com/cities?list=buildings-150 |title=Cities by Number of 150m+ Buildings |publisher=The Skyscraper Center |access-date=27 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027030452/https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/cities?list=buildings-150 |archive-date=27 October 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} As of 2024, there are over 7 thousand skyscrapers over 150&nbsp;m (492&nbsp;ft) in height worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Countries by Number of 150m+ Buildings - The Skyscraper Center |url=https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/countries |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=www.skyscrapercenter.com}}</ref>

==Definition==
[[File:Home Insurance Building.JPG|thumb|By some measures, what came to be known as a "skyscraper" first appeared in [[Chicago]] with the 1885 completion of the world's first largely steel-frame structure, the [[Home Insurance Building]]. It was demolished in 1931.|267x267px]]

The term "skyscraper" was first applied to buildings of steel-framed construction of at least 10 [[storey|stories]] in the late 19th century, a result of public amazement at the tall buildings being built in major American cities like [[New York City]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Boston]], [[Chicago]], [[Detroit]], and [[St. Louis]].<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Skyscraper |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/skyscraper |first=Melissa |last=Petruzzello |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=21 February 2022 |quote=Skyscraper, very tall, multistoried building. The name first came into use during the 1880s, shortly after the first skyscrapers were built, in the United States. The development of skyscrapers came as a result of the coincidence of several technological and social developments. The term skyscraper originally applied to buildings of 10 to 20 stories, but by the late 20th century the term was used to describe high-rise buildings of unusual height, generally greater than 40 or 50 stories.}}</ref><ref name="VisualDictionary">{{cite book |last1=Ambrose|first1=Gavin|last2=Harris|first2=Paul|last3=Stone|first3=Sally |title=The Visual Dictionary of Architecture |year=2008 |publisher=AVA Publishing SA |location=Switzerland |isbn=978-2-940373-54-3|page=233|quote=Skyscraper: A tall, multi-story building. Skyscrapers are different from towers or masts because they are habitable. The term was first applied during the late-nineteenth century, as the public marvelled at the elevated, steel-frame buildings being erected in Chicago and New York, USA. Modern skyscrapers tend to be constructed from reinforced concrete. As a general rule, a building must be at least 150 metres high to qualify as a skyscraper.}}</ref>

The first steel-frame skyscraper was the [[Home Insurance Building]], originally 10 stories with a height of {{convert|42|m|ft|abbr=on|disp=or}}, in Chicago in 1885; two additional stories were added.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://magicalhystorytour.blogspot.com/2010/08/skyscrapers.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629192827/http://magicalhystorytour.blogspot.com/2010/08/skyscrapers.html|url-status=dead|title=Magical Hystory Tour: Skyscrapers|date=15 August 2010|archive-date=29 June 2015|quote="No one is certain which was the first true skyscraper, but Chicago's ten-story Home Insurance Building (1885) is a top contender."}}</ref> Some point to Philadelphia's 10-story [[William L. Johnston|Jayne Building]] (1849–50) as a proto-skyscraper,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Charles E. Peterson |date=October 1950 |title=Ante-Bellum Skyscraper |journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=25–28|doi=10.2307/987464 |jstor=987464 |author-link=Charles E. Peterson | quote=In the annals of the American skyscraper there was, perhaps, nothing more daring than John McArthur, Jr.'s design for the Jayne Granite building, erected on lower Chestnut Street near the Philadelphia riverfront, just a century ago (FIG. 2). More than a generation older than the celebrated works of Louis Sullivan in Chicago and St. Louis. [..] Sullivan was for several months a cub draftsman in Furness and Hewitt's office just across the street. Although he does not seem to have mentioned in his writings Dr. Jayne's "proud and soaring" patent medicine headquarters, we may well wonder if some of the famous skyscraper designs of Chicago and St. Louis do not owe a real debt to Philadelphia.}}</ref> or to New York's seven-floor [[Equitable Life Building (Manhattan)|Equitable Life Building]], built in 1870.  Steel skeleton construction has allowed for today's [[Supertall skyscraper|supertall skyscrapers]] now being built worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://magicalhystorytour.blogspot.com/2010/08/skyscrapers.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629192827/http://magicalhystorytour.blogspot.com/2010/08/skyscrapers.html|url-status=dead|title=Magical Hystory Tour: Skyscrapers|date=15 August 2010|archive-date=29 June 2015|quote="The thirteen-story Tower Building (1889) just down the avenue at 50 Broadway, was the first New York skyscraper to use skeletal steel construction."}}</ref> The nomination of one structure versus another being the first skyscraper, and why, depends on what factors are stressed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_v129/ai_4501450/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708020221/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_v129/ai_4501450/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 July 2012 |title=The first skyscraper – new theory that Home Insurance Building was not the first |date=5 April 1986 |author=Ivars Peterson |publisher=CBS Interactive |quote="In my view, we can no longer argue that the Home Insurance Building was the first skyscraper," says Carl W. Condit, now retired from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and author of several books on Chicago architecture. "The claim rests on an unacceptably narrow idea of what constitutes a high-rise commercial building," he says. "If there is a building in which all these technical factors—structural system, elevator, utilities—converge at the requisite level of maturity," argues Condit, "it's the Equitable Life Assurance Building in New York." Completed in 1870, the building rose 7½ stories, twice the height of its neighbors. |access-date=6 January 2010}}</ref>

The structural definition of the word ''skyscraper'' was refined later by architectural historians, based on engineering developments of the 1880s that had enabled construction of tall multi-story buildings. This definition was based on the steel skeleton—as opposed to constructions of load-bearing [[masonry]], which passed their practical limit in 1891 with Chicago's [[Monadnock Building]].

{{Blockquote|What is the chief characteristic of the tall office building? It is lofty. It must be tall. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and pride of exaltation must be in it. It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line.}}
:::—&nbsp;[[Louis Sullivan]]'s ''The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered'' (1896)

Some [[structural engineer]]s define a high-rise as any vertical construction for which wind is a more significant [[Structural load|load factor]] than [[earthquake]] or weight. Note that this criterion fits not only high-rises but some other tall structures, such as [[tower]]s.

Different organizations from the United States and Europe define skyscrapers as buildings at least {{convert|150|m|ft|abbr=on}} in height or taller,<ref name="skyscrapernews.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=1244 |title=Huge New Rogers Skyscraper Proposed |quote=...their eleventh proper skyscraper, that is by definition buildings above 150&nbsp;metres |publisher=skyscrapernews.com |date=3 December 2007 |access-date=3 December 2007 |archive-date=4 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004141145/http://www.skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=1244 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="VisualDictionary"/><ref name="emporis.com">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150511222640/http://www.emporis.com/building/standard/75/skyscraper Data Standards: skyscraper (ESN 24419)]}}, [[Emporis Standards]], accessed on line July 2020. "A skyscraper is defined on Emporis as a multi-story building whose architectural height is at least 100 meters. This definition falls midway between many common definitions worldwide, and is intended as a metric compromise which can be applied across the board worldwide"</ref> with "[[supertall]]" skyscrapers for buildings higher than {{convert|300|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} and "[[List of megatall skyscrapers|megatall]]" skyscrapers for those taller than {{convert|600|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="CTBUH">{{cite web|url=https://www.ctbuh.org/resource/height|title=CTBUH Height Criteria: Tall, Supertall, and Megatall Buildings|date=20 March 2009 |publisher=[[CTBUH]] |access-date=10 July 2020}}</ref>

The tallest structure in ancient times was the {{convert|146|m|ft|abbr =on}} [[Great Pyramid of Giza]] in [[ancient Egypt]], built in the 26th century BC. It was not surpassed in height for thousands of years, the {{convert|160|m|ft|abbr =on}} [[Lincoln Cathedral]] having exceeded it in 1311–1549, before its central spire collapsed.<ref>{{cite web |author=A.F.K. |url=http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/PG/BellsLincoln/BellsLincoln.htm |title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Cathedral Church of Lincoln, by A.F. Kendric, B.A |publisher=Gwydir.demon.co.uk |access-date=5 June 2011 |archive-date=4 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204224341/http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/PG/BellsLincoln/BellsLincoln.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The latter in turn was not surpassed until the {{convert|555|ft|m|sp=us|adj=on}} [[Washington Monument]] in 1884. However, being uninhabited, none of these structures actually comply with the modern definition of a skyscraper.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

High-rise apartments flourished in [[classical antiquity]]. [[Ancient Rome|Ancient Roman]] [[Insula (building)|insulae]] in [[Roman Empire|imperial]] cities reached 10 and more stories.<ref name="Gregory S. Aldrete">{{cite book|first =Gregory S. |last =Aldrete|title =Daily Life in the Roman City: Rome, Pompeii and Ostia|date = 2004|isbn = 978-0-313-33174-9|page=79f|publisher =Bloomsbury Academic|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=40AjSfdJXaAC&pg=PA79}}</ref> Beginning with [[Augustus]] (r. 30&nbsp;BC-14&nbsp;AD), several [[Roman emperor|emperors]] attempted to establish limits of {{cvt|20|-|25|m}} for multi-stories buildings, but were met with only limited success.<ref>[[Strabo]], 5.3.7</ref><ref>Alexander G. McKay: Römische Häuser, Villen und Paläste, [[Feldmeilen]] 1984, {{ISBN|3-7611-0585-1}} p. 231</ref> Lower floors were typically occupied by shops or wealthy families, with the upper rented to the lower classes.<ref name="Gregory S. Aldrete"/> Surviving [[Oxyrhynchus Papyri]] indicate that seven-stories buildings existed in [[Roman province|provincial]] towns such as in 3rd century AD [[Hermopolis]] in [[History of Roman Egypt|Roman Egypt]].<ref>Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2719, in: Katja Lembke, Cäcilia Fluck, Günter Vittmann: ''Ägyptens späte Blüte. Die Römer am Nil'', Mainz 2004, {{ISBN| 3-8053-3276-9}}, p.29</ref>

The skylines of many important [[Middle Ages|medieval]] cities had large numbers of high-rise urban towers, built by the wealthy for defense and status. The residential [[Towers of Bologna|Towers]] of 12th century [[Bologna]] numbered between 80 and 100 at a time, the tallest of which is the {{convert|97.2|m|ft|abbr =on}} high Asinelli Tower. A [[Florence|Florentine]] law of 1251 decreed that all urban buildings be immediately reduced to less than {{cvt|26|m}}.<ref name="Werner Müller 345">Werner Müller: "dtv-Atlas Baukunst I. Allgemeiner Teil: Baugeschichte von Mesopotamien bis Byzanz", 14th ed., 2005, {{ISBN|978-3-423-03020-5}}, p.345</ref> Even medium-sized towns of the era are known to have proliferations of towers, such as the 72 towers that ranged up to {{cvt|51|m}} height in [[San Gimignano]].<ref name="Werner Müller 345"/>

The [[History of Arab Egypt|medieval Egyptian]] city of [[Fustat]] housed many high-rise residential buildings, which [[Al-Muqaddasi]] in the 10th century described as resembling [[minaret]]s. [[Nasir Khusraw]] in the early 11th century described some of them rising up to 14 stories, with [[roof garden]]s on the top floor complete with ox-drawn [[water wheel]]s for irrigating them.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Islamic Architecture in Cairo|first=Doris|last=Behrens-Abouseif|year=1992|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|isbn=978-90-04-09626-4|page=6}}</ref> [[Cairo]] in the 16th century had high-rise [[apartment building]]s where the two lower floors were for commercial and storage purposes and the multiple stories above them were [[Renting|rented]] out to [[Leasehold estate|tenants]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Traditional Islamic principles of built environment|first=Hisham|last=Mortada|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2003|isbn=978-0-7007-1700-2|page=viii}}</ref> An early example of a city consisting entirely of high-rise housing is the 16th-century city of [[Shibam]] in [[Yemen]]. Shibam was made up of over 500 tower houses,<ref name=UNESCO/> each one rising 5 to 11 stories high,<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Land without shade|first=Hans|last=Helfritz|journal=Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society|volume=24|issue=2|date=April 1937|pages=201–16|doi=10.1080/03068373708730789}}</ref> with each floor being an [[apartment]] occupied by a single family. The city was built in this way in order to protect it from [[Bedouin]] attacks.<ref name=UNESCO>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/192|title=Old Walled City of Shibam|author=UNESCO World Heritage Centre}}</ref> Shibam still has the tallest [[mudbrick]] buildings in the world, with many of them over {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on}} high.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Hadhramaut|first=J. G. T.|last=Shipman|journal=Asian Affairs|volume=15|issue=2|date=June 1984|pages=154–62|doi=10.1080/03068378408730145}}</ref>

An early modern example of high-rise housing was in 17th-century [[Edinburgh]], Scotland, where a defensive city wall defined the boundaries of the city. Due to the restricted land area available for development, the houses increased in height instead. Buildings of 11 stories were common, and there are records of buildings as high as 14 stories. Many of the stone-built structures can still be seen today in the old town of Edinburgh. The oldest iron framed building in the world, although only partially iron framed, is [[Ditherington Flax Mill|The Flaxmill]] in [[Shrewsbury]], England. Built in 1797, it is seen as the "grandfather of skyscrapers", since its fireproof combination of cast iron columns and cast iron beams developed into the modern steel frame that made modern skyscrapers possible. In 2013 funding was confirmed to convert the derelict building into offices.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-23495105 |title=Shrewsbury Flax Mill: Funding for offices and restoration |date=30 July 2013 |work=BBC News |access-date=30 July 2013}}</ref>

===Early skyscrapers===
{{Main|Early skyscrapers}}

[[File:Oriel_Chambers,_Liverpool_2018.jpg|thumb|230x230px|Built in 1864, [[Oriel Chambers]] in [[Liverpool]] is the world's first metal framed glass [[Curtain wall (architecture)|curtain walled]] building. The stone [[mullion]]s are decorative.]]
[[File:Palaciosalvouruguay.jpg|thumb|267x267px|At its completion in 1928, [[Palacio Salvo]] in [[Montevideo]], was the tallest [[reinforced concrete]] structure at 100 m (330 ft) high.]]
{{Multiple image
| image1            = Wainwright Building, 7th Street and Chestnut Street, St. Louis, MO - 53051647915.jpg
| image2            = Edificio Fuller (Flatiron) edit.jpg
| image3            = Royal Liver Building (219398043).jpeg
| total_width       = 400
| header            = Early skyscrapers
| caption1          = [[Wainwright Building]] (1891) in [[St. Louis]]
| caption2          = [[Flatiron Building]] (1902), in [[New York City]]
| caption3          = [[Royal Liver Building]] (1911), in [[Liverpool]]
}}
In 1857, [[Elisha Otis]] introduced the [[safety elevator]] at the [[E. V. Haughwout Building]] in New York City, allowing convenient and safe transport to buildings' upper floors. Otis later introduced the first commercial passenger elevators to the [[Equitable Life Building (Manhattan)|Equitable Life Building]] in 1870, considered by some architectural historians to be the first skyscraper. Another crucial development was the use of a steel frame instead of stone or brick, otherwise the walls on the lower floors on a tall building would be too thick to be practical. An early development in this area was [[Oriel Chambers]] in [[Liverpool]], England, built in 1864. It was only five floors high.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oriel Chambers |publisher=Liverpool Architectural Society |url=http://www.liverpoolarchitecture.com/tours/buildings/building.php?id=25 |access-date=14 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922062904/http://www.liverpoolarchitecture.com/tours/buildings/building.php?id=25 |archive-date=22 September 2008}}</ref><ref>[http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=428&storycode=3155796&channel=783&c=2 Building Design] Architect's website, 8 January 2010</ref> The [[Royal Academy of Arts]] states, "critics at the time were horrified by its 'large agglomerations of protruding plate glass bubbles'. In fact, it was a precursor to Modernist architecture, being the first building in the world to feature a metal-framed glass [[Curtain wall (architecture)|curtain wall]], a design element which creates light, airy interiors and has since been used the world over as a defining feature of skyscrapers".<ref>{{cite news |title=Britain's top 10 maverick buildings |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/britains-greatest-maverick-building |access-date=8 July 2022 |work=Royal Academy}}</ref>

Further developments led to what many individuals and organizations consider the world's first skyscraper, the ten-story [[Home Insurance Building]] in Chicago, built from 1884 to 1885.<ref name="Verbivore's Feast, p289">{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Chrysti M. |title=Verbivore's Feast: Second Course: More Word & Phrase Origins|publisher=Farcountry Press |year=2006 |page=289 |isbn=978-1-56037-402-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d3bov9J_1w0C&pg=PA289|quote=The word ''skyscraper'', in its architectural context, was first applied to the Home Insurance Building, completed in Chicago in 1885.}}</ref> While its original height of 42.1&nbsp;m (138&nbsp;ft) does not qualify as a skyscraper today, it was record setting for the day. The building of tall buildings in the 1880s gave the skyscraper its first architectural movement, broadly termed the [[Chicago school (architecture)|Chicago School]], which developed what has been called the Commercial Style.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/02/worlds-first-skyscraper-chicago-home-insurance-building-history|title=The world's first skyscraper: a history of cities in 50 buildings, day 9|first=Colin|last=Marshall|date=2 April 2015|website=The Guardian}}</ref>

The architect, Major [[William Le Baron Jenney]], created a load-bearing structural frame. In this building, a steel frame supported the entire weight of the walls, instead of load-bearing walls carrying the weight of the building. This was then draped with a stone curtain for aesthetic purposes. This development led to the "Chicago skeleton" form of construction. In addition to the steel frame, the Home Insurance Building also utilized fireproofing, elevators, and electrical wiring, key elements in most skyscrapers today.<ref>{{cite book|last=[[Judith Dupré|Dupré, Judith]] | date= 2013 | title= Skyscrapers: A History of the World's Most Extraordinary Buildings-Revised and Updated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-bXwAEACAAJ | location=New York | publisher= Hachette/Black Dog & Leventhal| page=14 | isbn=978-1-57912-942-2}}</ref>

[[Burnham and Root]]'s {{convert|45|m|abbr=on}} [[Rand McNally Building]] in Chicago, 1889, was the first all-steel framed skyscraper,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/300004.html |title=The Plan Comes Together |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Chicago |access-date=27 July 2013}}</ref> while [[Louis Sullivan]]'s {{convert|41|m|abbr=on}} [[Wainwright Building]] in St. Louis, Missouri, 1891, was the first [[steel-framed building]] with soaring vertical bands to emphasize the height of the building and is therefore considered to be the first early skyscraper. In 1889, the [[Mole Antonelliana]] in [[Italy]] was 197&nbsp;m (549&nbsp;ft) tall.

Most early skyscrapers emerged in the land-strapped areas of New York City and Chicago toward the end of the 19th century. A land boom in [[Melbourne]], Australia between 1888 and 1891 spurred the creation of a significant number of early skyscrapers, though none of these were steel reinforced and few remain today. Height limits and fire restrictions were later introduced. In the late 1800s, [[London]] builders found building heights limited due to issues with existing buildings. High-rise development in London is restricted at certain sites if it would obstruct [[protected view]]s of [[St Paul's Cathedral]] and other historic buildings.<ref>{{cite news |title=Policy 7.7 Location and design of tall and large buildings | url=https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/london-plan/past-versions-and-alterations-london-plan/london-plan-2016/london-plan-chapter-seven-londons-living-spac-12 |access-date=10 July 2022 |work=London City Hall}}</ref> This policy, 'St Paul's Heights', has officially been in operation since 1927.<ref>{{cite news |title=Protected views and tall buildings |url=https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/planning/planning-policy/protected-views-and-tall-buildings |access-date=10 July 2022 |website=CityofLondon.gov.uk |archive-date=1 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101182326/https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/planning/planning-policy/protected-views-and-tall-buildings |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{Multiple image
| image1 = Empire State Building cropped.jpg
| image2 = Boerentoren (cropped).JPG
| image3 = Edificio Kavanagh, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 31st. Dec. 2010 - Flickr - PhillipC (1).jpg
| total_width = 400
| header = Interwar skyscrapers
| caption1 = [[Empire State Building]] (1931), in [[New York City]], global standard of reference for the height and length of other mega-structures
| caption2 = [[Boerentoren]] (1932), in [[Antwerp]]
| caption3 = [[Edificio Kavanagh]] (1934), in [[Buenos Aires]]
}}

Concerns about [[aesthetics]] and fire safety had likewise hampered the development of skyscrapers across continental Europe for the first half of the 20th century. By 1940, there were around 100 high-rise buildings in Europe ([[List of early skyscrapers]]). Some examples of these are the {{convert|43|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall 1898 [[Witte Huis]] ''(White House)'' in [[Rotterdam]]; the {{convert|51.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall [[PAST (Poland)|PAST Building]] (1906–1908) in [[Warsaw]]; the [[Royal Liver Building]] in Liverpool, completed in 1911 and {{convert|90|m|ft|abbr=on}} high;<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Royal Liver Building |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/511448/Royal-Liver-Building |access-date=23 June 2011}}</ref> the {{convert|57|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall 1924 [[Wilhelm Marx House|Marx House]] in [[Düsseldorf]], the {{convert|65|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall [[:de:Borsig (Unternehmen)#Borsigturm|Borsigturm]] in [[Berlin]], built in 1924, the {{convert|65|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall [[Hansahochhaus]] in [[Cologne]], Germany, built in 1925; the {{convert|61|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Kungstornen]] ''(Kings' Towers)'' in [[Stockholm]], Sweden, which were built 1924–25;<ref>{{cite book|last=Hultin |first=Olof |author2=Bengt O H Johansson |author3=Johan Mårtelius |author4=Rasmus Wærn |title=The Complete Guide to Architecture in Stockholm |publisher=Arkitektur Förlag |year=1998 |location=Stockholm |page=62 |isbn=978-91-86050-43-6}}</ref> the {{convert|77|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[:de:Ullsteinhaus|Ullsteinhaus]] in Berlin, Germany, built in 1927; the {{convert|89|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Edificio Telefónica]] in [[Madrid]], Spain, built in 1929; the {{convert|87.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Boerentoren]] in Antwerp, Belgium, built in 1932; the {{convert|66|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Prudential, Warsaw|Prudential Building]] in [[Warsaw]], Poland, built in 1934; and the {{convert|108|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Terrazza Martini Tower|Torre Piacentini]] in [[Genoa]], Italy, built in 1940.

After an early competition between New York City and Chicago for the world's tallest building, New York took the lead by 1895 with the completion of the {{convert|103|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall [[American Surety Building]], leaving New York with the title of the world's tallest building for many years. America by far produced the most skyscrapers in this period. 

===Modern skyscrapers===
[[File:Abu Dhabi – Corniche 3 - أبو ظبي - الكورنيش - panoramio.jpg|thumb| Skyscrapers and buildings in  (Abu Dhabi, Middle East)]]
Modern skyscrapers are built with [[steel]] or [[reinforced concrete]] frameworks and [[curtain wall (architecture)|curtain wall]]s of [[glass]] or [[polished stone]]. They use mechanical equipment such as [[water pump]]s and [[elevator]]s. Since the 1960s, according to the CTBUH (Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat) the skyscraper has been reoriented away from a symbol for [[North America]]n corporate power to instead communicate a city or nation's place in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ctbuh2019.com/other-info/50-influential-buildings/ |title=The 50 Most Influential Tall Buildings of the Last 50 Years |publisher=CTBUH |access-date=10 October 2019 |archive-date=10 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010160716/https://ctbuh2019.com/other-info/50-influential-buildings/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{Multiple image
| image1 = Main building of Moscow State University 2009-07 1246853251.jpg
| image2 = Palace of Culture and Science seen, Warsaw, Poland 2019.jpg
| image3 = Hotel International Prague (IMG 0160).jpg
| total_width = 400
| header = Stalinist skyscrapers
| caption1 = [[Main building of Moscow State University]] (1953), in [[Moscow]]
| caption2 = [[Palace of Culture and Science]] (1955), in [[Warsaw]]
| caption3 = [[Grand Hotel International Prague|Grand Hotel International]] (1956), in [[Prague]]
}}

The construction of very tall skyscrapers entered a three-decades-long era of stagnation in 1930 due to the [[Great Depression]] and then [[World War&nbsp;II]]. Shortly after the war ended, Russia began construction on a series of skyscrapers in [[Moscow]]. Seven, dubbed the "[[Seven Sisters (Moscow)|Seven Sisters]]", were built between 1947 and 1953; and one, the [[Main building of Moscow State University]], was the tallest building in Europe for nearly four decades (1953–1990). Other skyscrapers in the style of [[Stalinist architecture|Socialist Classicism]] were erected in East Germany ([[Frankfurter Tor]]), Poland ([[Palace of Culture and Science|PKiN]]), Ukraine ([[Hotel Ukrayina|Hotel Moscow]]), Latvia ([[Latvian Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences]]), and other [[Eastern Bloc]] countries. [[Western Europe]]an countries also began to permit taller skyscrapers during the years immediately following World War II. Early examples include [[Edificio España]] (Spain) and [[Torre Breda]] (Italy).

From the 1930s onward, skyscrapers began to appear in various cities in [[East Asia|East]] and [[Southeast Asia]] as well as in [[Latin America]]. Finally, they also began to be constructed in cities in [[Africa]], the [[Middle East]], [[South Asia]], and [[Oceania]] from the late 1950s.

Skyscraper projects after World War II typically rejected the classical designs of the [[early skyscrapers]], instead embracing the uniform [[International Style (architecture)|international style]]; many older skyscrapers were redesigned to suit contemporary tastes or even demolished—such as New York's [[Singer Building]], once the world's tallest skyscraper.

German-American architect [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]] became one of the world's most renowned architects in the second half of the 20th century. He conceived the glass façade skyscraper<ref>{{cite book|year=2006|title=A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofarch00curl_0|url-access=registration|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofarch00curl_0/page/880 880]|isbn=978-0-19-860678-9}}</ref> and, along with Norwegian [[Fred Severud]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Seven Structural Engineers: The Felix Candela Lectures |publisher=Museum of Modern Art |author=Nordenson, Guy |year=2008 |location=New York City |page=21 |isbn=978-0870707032}}</ref> designed the [[Seagram Building]] in 1958, a skyscraper that is often regarded as the pinnacle of modernist high-rise architecture.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Mies van der Rohe Dies at 83; Leader of Modern Architecture |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0327.html |quote=Mies van der Rohe, one of the great figures of 20th-century architecture. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=17 August 1969 |access-date=21 July 2007}}</ref>

{{Multiple image
| image1 = UNO New York.JPG
| image2 = Seagram Building (35098307116) (cropped).jpg
| image3 = Biurowiec Chałubińskiego 8 w Warszawie 2020 (cropped).jpg
| total_width = 400
| header = Postwar modernist skyscrapers
| caption1 = [[UN Secretariat Building]] (1952), in New York City
| caption2 = [[Seagram Building]] (1958), in New York City
| caption3 = [[Chałubińskiego 8]] (1978), in [[Warsaw]]
}}

Skyscraper construction surged throughout the 1960s. The impetus behind the upswing was a series of transformative innovations<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|author=Lynn Beadle|title=Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z5yfoPpVhmUC&pg=PA482|date=2001|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-203-46754-1|page=482}}</ref> which made it possible for people to live and work in "cities in the sky".<ref name =lehigh>{{cite web|url=https://www1.lehigh.edu/news/designing-cities-sky |title=Designing cities in the sky |publisher=lehigh.edu |date=14 March 2007 }}</ref>

[[File:FR_khan_sculputure_at_Sears_tower.jpg|right|thumb|Sculpture honoring [[Fazlur Rahman Khan]] at the [[Willis Tower]] in Chicago. Khan made important advancements in skyscraper engineering.<ref>{{cite web |title=15 Genius Skyscraper Engineers You've Probably Never Heard Of |url=https://interestingengineering.com/culture/15-genius-skyscraper-engineers-youve-probably-never-heard-of |website=amp.interestingengineering.com|date=27 January 2018 }}</ref>]]

In the early 1960s [[Bangladeshi-American]] structural engineer [[Fazlur Rahman Khan]], considered the "father of [[Tube (structure)|tubular designs]]" for high-rises,<ref>{{cite book |title=Engineering Legends|first=Richard|last=Weingardt|publisher=[[American Society of Civil Engineers|ASCE Publications]]|year=2005|isbn=978-0-7844-0801-8|page=75}}</ref> discovered that the dominating rigid [[steel frame]] structure was not the only system apt for tall buildings, marking a new era of skyscraper construction in terms of multiple [[structural system]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mir M. Ali|first=Kyoung Sun Moon|title=Structural developments in tall buildings: current trends and future prospects|journal=Architectural Science Review|issue=September 2007|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-32962093_ITM|access-date=10 December 2008}}</ref> His central innovation in [[skyscraper design and construction]] was the concept of the [[Tube (structure)|"tube" structural system]], including the "framed tube", "trussed tube", and "bundled tube".<ref name=Ali>{{cite journal|title=Evolution of Concrete Skyscrapers: from Ingalls to Jin mao|first=Mir M.|last=Ali|journal=Electronic Journal of Structural Engineering|volume=1|issue=1|year=2001|pages=2–14|doi=10.56748/ejse.1111|s2cid=251690475|doi-access=free}}</ref> His "tube concept", using all the exterior wall perimeter structure of a building to simulate a thin-walled tube, revolutionized tall building design.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Engineering Legends|first=Richard|last=Weingardt|publisher=[[American Society of Civil Engineers|ASCE Publications]]|year=2005|isbn=978-0-7844-0801-8|page=76}}</ref> These systems allow greater economic efficiency,<ref name=Britannica>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Alfred Swenson & Pao-Chi Chang|title=Building construction: High-rise construction since 1945|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|year=2008|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/83859/building-construction/60143/High-rise-construction-since-1945#toc60143|access-date=9 December 2008}}</ref> and also allow skyscrapers to take on various shapes, no longer needing to be rectangular and box-shaped.<ref name=Bayley/> The first building to employ the tube structure was the [[Plaza on DeWitt|Chestnut De-Witt]] apartment building,<ref name="books.google.com"/> considered to be a major development in modern architecture.<ref name="books.google.com"/> These new designs opened an economic door for contractors, engineers, architects, and investors, providing vast amounts of real estate space on minimal plots of land.<ref name = lehigh/> Over the next fifteen years, many towers were built by Fazlur Rahman Khan and the "[[Chicago School (architecture)|Second Chicago School]]",<ref name=Billington>{{Cite book|title=The Tower and the Bridge: The New Art of Structural Engineering|first=David P.|last=Billington|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=1985|isbn=978-0-691-02393-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/towerbridgenewar00bill/page/234 234–5]|url=https://archive.org/details/towerbridgenewar00bill/page/234}}</ref> including the hundred-story [[John Hancock Center]] and the massive {{convert|442|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Willis Tower]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/bu/sk/li/?id=101030&bt=9&ht=3&sro=81 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301234410/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/bu/sk/li/?id=101030&bt=9&ht=3&sro=81 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=1 March 2007 |title=List of Tallest skyscrapers in Chicago |publisher=Emporis.com |date=15 June 2009 |access-date=5 June 2011}}</ref> Other pioneers of this field include [[Srinivasa 'Hal' Iyengar|Hal Iyengar]], [[William LeMessurier]], and [[Minoru Yamasaki]], the architect of the [[World Trade Center (1973-2001)|World Trade Center]].

Many buildings designed in the 1970s lacked a particular style and recalled ornamentation from earlier buildings designed before the 1950s. These design plans ignored the environment and loaded structures with decorative elements and extravagant finishes.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CyjMBQAAQBAJ&q=fazlur+khan+legacy+towers+of+the+future&pg=PA3|title=Life-Cycle and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructure Systems: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE'12), Vienna, Austria, October 3-6, 2012|isbn=9780203103364|last1=Strauss|first1=Alfred|last2=Frangopol|first2=Dan|last3=Bergmeister|first3=Konrad|date=18 September 2012|publisher=CRC Press }}</ref> This approach to design was opposed by Fazlur Khan and he considered the designs to be whimsical rather than rational. Moreover, he considered the work to be a waste of precious natural resources.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CyjMBQAAQBAJ&q=Ignored+the+environment+and+loaded&pg=PA3|title=Life-Cycle and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructure Systems: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE'12), Vienna, Austria, October 3-6, 2012|isbn=9780203103364|last1=Strauss|first1=Alfred|last2=Frangopol|first2=Dan|last3=Bergmeister|first3=Konrad|date=18 September 2012|publisher=CRC Press }}</ref> Khan's work promoted [[Structural Art|structures integrated with architecture]] and the least use of material resulting in the smallest impact on the environment.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ialcce2012.boku.ac.at/keynote_details.php?profile=5|title=IALCCE 2012: Keynote Speakers Details|website=ialcce2012.boku.ac.at|access-date=16 June 2012|archive-date=26 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426000301/https://ialcce2012.boku.ac.at/keynote_details.php?profile=5|url-status=dead}}</ref> The next era of skyscrapers will focus on the environment including performance of structures, types of material, construction practices, absolute minimal use of materials/natural resources, embodied energy within the structures, and more importantly, a holistically integrated building systems approach.<ref name="auto"/>

{{Multiple image
| image1 = 01-01-2014 - Messeturm - trade fair tower - Frankfurt- Germany - 01 (cropped).jpg
| image2 = The Twins SE Asia 2019 (49171985716) (cropped) 2.jpg
| image3 = Jin Mao Tower 2007.jpg
| total_width = 400
| header = [[Postmodern architecture|Postmodern]] skyscrapers
| caption1 = [[Messeturm]] (1990), in [[Frankfurt]]
| caption2 = [[Petronas Towers]] (1998), in [[Kuala Lumpur]]
| caption3 = [[Jin Mao Tower]] (1999), in [[Shanghai]]
}}

Modern building practices regarding supertall structures have led to the study of "vanity height".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ctbuh.org/Publications/Journal/InNumbers/TBINVanityHeight/tabid/5837/language/en-US/Default.aspx |title=Tall Buildings in Numbers Vanity Height |publisher=Ctbuh.org |access-date=21 September 2013 |archive-date=17 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131117120309/http://www.ctbuh.org/Publications/Journal/InNumbers/TBINVanityHeight/tabid/5837/language/en-US/Default.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.showbriefdetail&newsid=2061 |title=CTBUH releases list of supertall towers with highest percentages of 'vanity height' |publisher=World Architecture News |access-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> Vanity height, according to the CTBUH, is the distance between the highest floor and its architectural top (excluding antennae, flagpole or other functional extensions). Vanity height first appeared in New York City skyscrapers as early as the 1920s and 1930s but supertall buildings have relied on such uninhabitable extensions for on average 30% of their height, raising potential definitional and sustainability issues.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theatlanticcities.com/design/2013/09/most-worlds-tallest-buildings-game-system-vanity-height/6822/ |title=Most of the World's Tallest Buildings Game the System With 'Vanity Height' – Jenny Xie |work=The Atlantic Cities |date=9 September 2013 |access-date=21 September 2013 |archive-date=25 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425073754/http://www.theatlanticcities.com/design/2013/09/most-worlds-tallest-buildings-game-system-vanity-height/6822/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Lecher |first=Colin |url=http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-09/worlds-tallest-skyscrapers-have-insane-amount-unoccupied-space |title=The World's Tallest Skyscrapers Have A Dirty Little Secret |date=6 September 2013 |publisher=Popsci.com |access-date=21 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/height-uselessness-article-1.1448935 |title=World's tallest {{sic|skyscapers?|nolink==y}} Only if 'useless' needles count |work=NY Daily News |date=7 September 2013 |access-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> The current era of skyscrapers focuses on [[sustainability]], its built and natural environments, including the performance of structures, types of materials, construction practices, absolute minimal use of materials and natural resources, energy within the structure, and a holistically integrated building systems approach. [[Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design|LEED]] is a current [[green building]] standard.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Alfred Strauss|author2=Dan Frangopol|author3=Konrad Bergmeister|title=Life-Cycle and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructure Systems: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE'12), Vienna, Austria, October 3-6, 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CyjMBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA406|year=2012|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-203-10336-4}}</ref>

Architecturally, with the movements of [[Postmodern architecture|Postmodernism]], [[New Urbanism]] and [[New Classical Architecture]], that established since the 1980s, a more classical approach came back to global skyscraper design, that remains popular today.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Adam|first1=Robert|title=How to Build Skyscrapers|url=http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_2_urbanities-how_to_build.html|magazine=City Journal|access-date=20 September 2014|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923222052/http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_2_urbanities-how_to_build.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Examples are the [[Wells Fargo Center (Minneapolis)|Wells Fargo Center]], [[NBC Tower]], [[Parkview Square]], [[30 Park Place]], the [[Messeturm]], the iconic [[Petronas Towers]] and [[Jin Mao Tower]].

{{Multiple image
| image1 = The Shard from the Sky Garden 2015.jpg
| image2 = New York (33224081040).jpg
| image3 = Shanghai Tower 2015.jpg
| total_width = 400
| header = Contemporary skyscrapers
| caption1 = [[The Shard]] (2012), in [[London]]
| caption2 = [[One World Trade Center]] (2013), in New York City
| caption3 = [[Shanghai Tower]] (2014), in Shanghai
}}

Other contemporary styles and movements in skyscraper design include [[Organic architecture|organic]], [[Sustainable architecture|sustainable]], [[Neo-Futurism|neo-futurist]], [[Structuralism (architecture)|structuralist]], [[High-tech architecture|high-tech]], [[Deconstructivism|deconstructivist]], [[Blobitecture|blob]], [[Digital architecture|digital]], [[Streamline Moderne|streamline]], [[Novelty architecture|novelty]], [[Critical regionalism|critical regionalist]], [[Vernacular architecture|vernacular]], [[Art Deco|Neo Art Deco]] and [[neohistorist]], also known as [[Revivalism (architecture)|revivalist]].

3 September is the global commemorative day for skyscrapers, called "Skyscraper Day".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Whitman |first1=Elizabeth |title=Skyscraper Day 2015: 10 Facts, Photos Celebrating Ridiculously Tall Buildings Around The World|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/skyscraper-day-2015-10-facts-photos-celebrating-ridiculously-tall-buildings-around-2080286|work=[[International Business Times]] |date=3 September 2015 |access-date=3 September 2015}}</ref>

New York City developers competed among themselves, with successively taller buildings claiming the title of "world's tallest" in the 1920s and early 1930s, culminating with the completion of the {{convert|318.9|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Chrysler Building]] in 1930 and the {{convert|443.2|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Empire State Building]] in 1931, the world's tallest building for forty years. The first completed {{convert|417|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] tower became the world's tallest building in 1972. However, it was overtaken by the Sears Tower (now [[Willis Tower]]) in Chicago within two years. The {{convert|442|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall Sears Tower stood as the world's tallest building for 24 years, from 1974 until 1998, until it was edged out by {{convert|452|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Petronas Twin Towers]] in Kuala Lumpur, which held the title for six years.

==Design and construction==
{{Main|Skyscraper design and construction}}
[[File:The_Sky_Garden.jpg|thumb|The Sky Garden in London's [[20 Fenchurch Street]] is an example of where top floors are used as restaurants or viewing areas, and in this case, both.]]
[[File:Shanghai_skyscrapers_5166285.jpg|thumb|Contemporary skyscrapers in [[Shanghai]]]]
The design and construction of skyscrapers involves creating safe, habitable spaces in very tall buildings. The buildings must support their weight, resist wind and earthquakes, and protect occupants from fire. Yet they must also be conveniently accessible, even on the upper floors, and provide utilities and a comfortable climate for the occupants. The problems posed in skyscraper design are considered among the most complex encountered given the balances required between [[economics]], [[Civil Engineering|engineering]], and [[construction]] management.

One common feature of skyscrapers is a steel framework from which curtain walls are suspended, rather than load-bearing walls of conventional construction. Most skyscrapers have a steel frame that enables them to be built taller than typical load-bearing walls of reinforced concrete. Skyscrapers usually have a particularly small surface area of what are conventionally thought of as walls. Because the walls are not load-bearing most skyscrapers are characterized by surface areas of windows made possible by the concept of steel frame and curtain wall. However, skyscrapers can also have curtain walls that mimic conventional walls and have a small surface area of windows.

The concept of a skyscraper is a product of the [[Industrial society|industrialized age]], made possible by cheap [[fossil fuel]] derived energy and industrially refined raw materials such as [[steel]] and [[concrete]]. The construction of skyscrapers was enabled by [[steel frame]] construction that surpassed [[brick and mortar]] construction starting at the end of the 19th century and finally surpassing it in the 20th century together with [[reinforced concrete]] construction as the price of steel decreased and labor costs increased.

The steel frames become inefficient and uneconomic for supertall buildings as usable floor space is reduced for progressively larger supporting columns.<ref name="lehigh.edu">{{cite web|url=http://www.lehigh.edu/~infrk/2011.08.article.html |first1=Yasmin S. |last1=Khan |title= Fazlur Rahman Khan Distinguished Lecture Series |publisher=Lehigh University |access-date=14 June 2013}}</ref> Since about 1960, tubular designs have been used for high rises. This reduces the usage of material (more efficient in economic terms – [[Willis Tower]] uses a third less steel than the Empire State Building) yet allows greater height. It allows fewer interior columns, and so creates more usable floor space. It further enables buildings to take on various shapes.

[[Elevator]]s are characteristic to skyscrapers. In 1852 Elisha Otis introduced the safety elevator, allowing convenient and safe passenger movement to upper floors. Another crucial development was the use of a steel frame instead of stone or brick, otherwise the walls on the lower floors on a tall building would be too thick to be practical. Today major manufacturers of elevators include [[Otis Elevator Company|Otis]], [[ThyssenKrupp AG|ThyssenKrupp]], [[Schindler Group|Schindler]], and [[KONE]].

Advances in construction techniques have allowed skyscrapers to narrow in width, while increasing in height. Some of these new techniques include [[Tuned mass damper|mass dampers]] to reduce vibrations and swaying, and gaps to allow air to pass through, reducing wind shear.<ref>{{cite news |title=Why Can't We Build Skinny Skyscrapers Everywhere?|url=http://www.citylab.com/design/2014/06/why-cant-we-build-skinny-skyscrapers-everywhere/373493/ |first1= Kriston |last1=Capps |newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=26 June 2014|access-date=31 December 2015}}</ref>

===Basic design considerations===
[[File:Jade Signature under construction September 2016.jpg|thumb|A view of the interior structural design can be seen in this residential skyscraper that was constructed in [[Florida]], the [[List of tallest buildings in Sunny Isles Beach|Jade Signature]].]]
Good structural design is important in most building design, but particularly for skyscrapers since even a small chance of catastrophic failure is unacceptable given the tremendous damage such failure would cause. This presents a paradox to [[Civil engineering|civil engineers]]: the only way to assure a lack of failure is to test for all modes of failure, in both the laboratory and the real world. But the only way to know of all modes of failure is to learn from previous failures. Thus, no engineer can be absolutely sure that a given structure will resist all loadings that could cause failure; instead, one can only have large enough margins of safety such that a failure is acceptably unlikely. When buildings do fail, engineers question whether the failure was due to some lack of foresight or due to some unknowable factor.

===Loading and vibration===
The load a skyscraper experiences is largely from the force of the building material itself. In most building designs, the weight of the structure is much larger than the weight of the material that it will support beyond its own weight. In technical terms, the [[dead load]], the load of the structure, is larger than the [[live load]], the weight of things in the structure (people, furniture, vehicles, etc.). As such, the amount of structural material required within the lower levels of a skyscraper will be much larger than the material required within higher levels. This is not always visually apparent. The [[Empire State Building]]'s [[Setback (architecture)|setbacks]] are actually a result of the building code at the time ([[1916 Zoning Resolution]]), and were not structurally required. On the other hand, [[John Hancock Center]]'s shape is uniquely the result of how it supports loads. Vertical supports can come in several types, among which the most common for skyscrapers can be categorized as steel frames, concrete cores, tube within tube design, and shear walls.

The wind loading on a skyscraper is also considerable. In fact, the lateral wind load imposed on supertall structures is generally the governing factor in the structural design. Wind pressure increases with height, so for very tall buildings, the loads associated with wind are larger than dead or live loads.

Other vertical and horizontal loading factors come from varied, unpredictable sources, such as earthquakes.

===Steel frame===
By 1895, [[steel]] had replaced [[cast iron]] as skyscrapers' structural material. Its malleability allowed it to be formed into a variety of shapes, and it could be riveted, ensuring strong connections.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Built Like Bridges: Iron, Steel, and Rivets in the Nineteenth-century Skyscraper|author1-link=Thomas Leslie (architect) |first=Thomas |last=Leslie |journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians|volume=69 |issue=2 |date=June 2010|pages=234–261 |jstor=10.1525/jsah.2010.69.2.234|doi=10.1525/jsah.2010.69.2.234 }} Abstract only.</ref> The simplicity of a steel frame eliminated the inefficient part of a shear wall, the central portion, and consolidated support members in a much stronger fashion by allowing both horizontal and vertical supports throughout. Among steel's drawbacks is that as more material must be supported as height increases, the distance between supporting members must decrease, which in turn increases the amount of material that must be supported. This becomes inefficient and uneconomic for buildings above 40 stories tall as usable floor spaces are reduced for supporting column and due to more usage of steel.<ref name="lehigh.edu"/>

===Tube structural systems===
{{See also|Tube (structure)}}
[[File:Willis_Tower_From_Lake.jpg|thumb|The [[Willis Tower]] in Chicago visibly expresses the bundled tube frame. Tube frame variations are commonly used in tall modern skyscapers.|400x400px]]
A new structural system of framed tubes was developed by [[Fazlur Rahman Khan]] in 1963. The framed tube structure is defined as "a three dimensional space structure composed of three, four, or possibly more frames, braced frames, or shear walls, joined at or near their edges to form a vertical tube-like structural system capable of resisting lateral forces in any direction by cantilevering from the foundation".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ali |first1=Mir M. |title=Evolution of Concrete Skyscrapers |journal=Electronic Journal of Structural Engineering |date=January 2001 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=2–14 |doi=10.56748/ejse.1111 |s2cid=251690475 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Khan |first1=Fazlur Rahman |author1-link=Fazlur Rahman Khan |last2=Rankine |first2=J. |title=Structural Systems |journal=Tall Building Systems and Concepts |publisher=[[Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat]], [[American Society of Civil Engineers]] |date=1980 |volume=SC |page=42}}</ref> Closely spaced interconnected exterior columns form the tube. Horizontal loads (primarily wind) are supported by the structure as a whole. Framed tubes allow fewer interior columns, and so create more usable floor space, and about half the exterior surface is available for windows. Where larger openings like garage doors are required, the tube frame must be interrupted, with transfer girders used to maintain structural integrity. Tube structures cut down costs, at the same time allowing buildings to reach greater heights. Concrete tube-frame construction<ref name=Ali/> was first used in the [[DeWitt-Chestnut Apartment Building]], completed in [[Chicago]] in 1963,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Alfred Swenson & Pao-Chi Chang|title=building construction|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |year=2008|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/83859/building-construction|access-date=9 December 2008}}</ref> and soon after in the [[John Hancock Center]] and [[construction of the World Trade Center|World Trade Center]].

The [[tube (structure)|tubular systems]] are fundamental to tall building design. Most buildings over 40 stories constructed since the 1960s now use a tube design derived from Khan's structural engineering principles,<ref name="lehigh.edu"/><ref name="constructionweekonline.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-9180-top-10-worlds-tallest-steel-buildings/1/print/ |title=Top 10 world's tallest steel buildings |newspaper=Construction Week Online |date=27 September 2010 |publisher=Constructionweekonline.com |access-date=14 June 2013}}</ref> examples including the [[construction of the World Trade Center]], [[Aon Center (Chicago)|Aon Center]], [[Petronas Towers]], [[Jin Mao Building]], and most other supertall skyscrapers since the 1960s.<ref name=Ali/> The strong influence of tube structure design is also evident in the construction of the current tallest skyscraper, the [[Burj Khalifa]],<ref name=Bayley>{{cite news|title=Burj Dubai: The new pinnacle of vanity|author=Stephen Bayley|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=5 January 2010|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/6934603/Burj-Dubai-The-new-pinnacle-of-vanity.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/6934603/Burj-Dubai-The-new-pinnacle-of-vanity.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=26 February 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref> which uses a [[Buttressed core]].<ref name="academic.csuohio.edu">{{cite web|last1=Baker|first1=William|last2=Pawlikowski|first2=James|title=Higher and Higher: The Evolution of the Buttressed Core|url=http://academic.csuohio.edu/duffy_s/CVE_601_Struct_1.pdf|website=academic.csuohio.edu|access-date=4 April 2017|archive-date=10 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810080936/http://academic.csuohio.edu/duffy_s/CVE_601_Struct_1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

'''Trussed tube and X-bracing:'''
[[File:Skyscraper structure.png|thumb|left|Changes of structure with height; the [[Tube (structure)|tubular systems]] are fundamental for supertall buildings.]]
Khan pioneered several other variations of the tube structure design. One of these was the concept of [[X-bracing]], or the [[Tube (structure)#Trussed tube|trussed tube]], first employed for the [[John Hancock Center]]. This concept reduced the lateral load on the building by transferring the load into the exterior columns. This allows for a reduced need for interior columns thus creating more floor space. This concept can be seen in the John Hancock Center, designed in 1965 and completed in 1969. One of the most famous buildings of the [[Structural Expressionism|structural expressionist]] style, the skyscraper's distinctive X-bracing exterior is actually a hint that the structure's skin is indeed part of its 'tubular system'. This idea is one of the architectural techniques the building used to climb to record heights (the tubular system is essentially the spine that helps the building stand upright during wind and [[seismic loading|earthquake loads]]). This X-bracing allows for both higher performance from tall structures and the ability to open up the inside floorplan (and usable floor space) if the architect desires.

The [[John Hancock Center]] was far more efficient than earlier [[Steel frame|steel-frame]] structures. Where the [[Empire State Building]] (1931), required about 206 kilograms of steel per square metre and [[28 Liberty Street]] (1961) required 275, the John Hancock Center required only 145.<ref name=Britannica/> The trussed tube concept was applied to many later skyscrapers, including the [[Onterie Center]], [[Citigroup Center]] and [[Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong|Bank of China Tower]].<ref name="Introduction to Tall Building architectures">{{cite web|url=http://teaching.ust.hk/~civl101/Civl101%20-%20Introduction%20to%20Tall%20Building%20Structures.pdf |page=34 |title=Introduction to Tall building Structures |author=D. M Chan |publisher=Teaching.ust.hk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217063145/http://teaching.ust.hk/~civl101/Civl101%20-%20Introduction%20to%20Tall%20Building%20Structures.pdf |archive-date=17 December 2010 }}</ref>
[[File:HK Bank of China Tower 2008 (2).jpg|thumb|356x356px|The [[Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong)|Bank of China Tower]] in Hong Kong uses a trussed tube design]]

'''Bundled tube:'''
An important variation on the tube frame is the [[Tube (structure)#Bundled tube|bundled tube]], which uses several interconnected tube frames. The [[Willis Tower]] in Chicago used this design, employing nine tubes of varying height to achieve its distinct appearance. The bundled tube structure meant that "buildings no longer need be boxlike in appearance: they could become sculpture."<ref name=Bayley/>

'''Tube in tube:'''
Tube-in-tube system takes advantage of core shear wall tubes in addition to exterior tubes. The inner tube and outer tube work together to resist gravity loads and lateral loads and to provide additional rigidity to the structure to prevent significant deflections at the top. This design was first used in [[One Shell Plaza]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://khan.princeton.edu/khanOneShell.html |title=One Shell Plaza - Fazlur Khan - Structural Artist of Urban Building Forms |publisher=Khan.princeton.edu |access-date=18 June 2014 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001140950/https://khan.princeton.edu/khanOneShell.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Later buildings to use this structural system include the [[Petronas Towers]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K792dXxSI4UC&q=tube+in+tube+petronas+tower&pg=PA24 |title=Structures in the New Millennium - Google Books |date=January 1997 |access-date=18 June 2014 |isbn=9789054108986 |last1=Lee |first1=P. K. K.|publisher=CRC Press }}</ref>

'''Outrigger and belt truss:'''
The outrigger and belt truss system is a lateral load resisting system in which the tube structure is connected to the central core wall with very stiff outriggers and belt trusses at one or more levels.<ref name="support1">{{cite web |url=http://www.support.tue.nl/archief/studiereizen/studiereis2007/pudong_swf_en.htm |title=SUPport Studytour 2007 |publisher=Support.tue.nl |access-date=18 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714182328/http://www.support.tue.nl/archief/studiereizen/studiereis2007/pudong_swf_en.htm |archive-date=14 July 2014 }}</ref> [[140 William Street, Melbourne|BHP House]] was the first building to use this structural system followed by the First Wisconsin Center, since renamed [[U.S. Bank Center (Milwaukee)|U.S. Bank Center]], in Milwaukee. The center rises 601 feet, with three belt trusses at the bottom, middle and top of the building. The exposed belt trusses serve aesthetic and structural purposes.<ref name="princeton1">{{cite web |url=http://khan.princeton.edu/works.html |title=Major Works - Fazlur Khan - Structural Artist of Urban Building Forms |publisher=Khan.princeton.edu |date= |access-date=18 June 2014 |archive-date=22 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522035020/http://khan.princeton.edu/works.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Later buildings to use this include [[Shanghai World Financial Center]].<ref name="support1"/>

'''Concrete tube structures:'''
The last major buildings engineered by Khan were the [[One Magnificent Mile]] and [[Onterie Center]] in Chicago, which employed his bundled tube and trussed tube system designs respectively. In contrast to his earlier buildings, which were mainly steel, his last two buildings were concrete. His earlier [[DeWitt-Chestnut Apartments]] building, built in 1963 in Chicago, was also a concrete building with a tube structure.<ref name=Ali/> [[Trump Tower]] in New York City is also another example that adapted this system.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Seinuk |first1=Ysrael A. |last2=Cantor |first2=Irwin G. |title=Trump Tower: Concrete Satisfies Architectural, design, and construction demands |journal=Concrete International |date=March 1984 |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=59–62 |url=http://www.concrete.org/Publications/InternationalConcreteAbstractsPortal.aspx?m=details&i=9220 |language=en |issn=0162-4075}}</ref>

'''Shear wall frame interaction system:'''
[[File:Cook County Administration Building (9181641122) (2).jpg|thumb|The [[Cook County Administration Building]] in Chicago was the first to utilize a shear wall frame interaction system|200px]]
Khan developed the shear wall frame interaction system for mid high-rise buildings. This structural system uses combinations of shear walls and frames designed to resist lateral forces.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.iccsafe.org/states/newyorkcity/Building/PDFs/Chapter%2016_Structural%20Design.pdf |title=0a_copy_NYC_2008_IBC.vp |access-date=18 June 2014 |archive-date=28 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828183101/http://www2.iccsafe.org/states/newyorkcity/building/pdfs/chapter%2016_structural%20design.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The first building to use this structural system was the 35-stories Brunswick Building.<ref name="princeton1"/> The Brunswick building (today known as the "[[Cook County Administration Building]]") was completed in 1965 and became the tallest reinforced concrete structure of its time. The structural system of Brunswick Building consists of a concrete shear wall core surrounded by an outer concrete frame of columns and spandrels.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://khan.princeton.edu/khanBrunswick.html |title=Brunswick Building - Fazlur Khan - Structural Artist of Urban Building Forms |publisher=Khan.princeton.edu |access-date=18 June 2014 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001134230/https://khan.princeton.edu/khanBrunswick.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Apartment buildings up to 70 stories high have successfully used this concept.<ref>{{cite web |author=Civil Engineer |url=http://www.civilengineergroup.com/shear-wallframe-interaction.html |title=Shear Wall-Frame Interaction |publisher=Civil Engineering Group |date=12 March 2011 |access-date=18 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140618142806/http://www.civilengineergroup.com/shear-wallframe-interaction.html |archive-date=18 June 2014 }}</ref>

===The elevator conundrum===
The invention of the [[elevator]] was a precondition for the invention of skyscrapers, given that most people would not (or could not) climb more than a few flights of stairs at a time. The elevators in a skyscraper are not simply a necessary utility, like running water and electricity, but are in fact closely related to the design of the whole structure: a taller building requires more elevators to service the additional floors, but the elevator shafts consume valuable floor space. If the service core, which contains the elevator shafts, becomes too big, it can reduce the profitability of the building. Architects must therefore balance the value gained by adding height against the value lost to the expanding service core.<ref name="HSW3">{{cite web|url=http://science.howstuffworks.com/skyscraper3.htm|title=How Skyscrapers Work: Making it Functional|date=3 April 2001|publisher=HowStuffWorks|access-date=30 October 2008}}</ref>
[[File:HK Wan Chai North 中環廣場 Central Plaza 26th floor sky lift lobby October 2018 SSG 01.jpg|thumb|Sky lobby at [[Central Plaza (Hong Kong)|Central Plaza]] in [[Hong Kong]] which has clear signage of the floors served by the different elevators.]]
Many tall buildings use elevators in a non-standard configuration to reduce their footprint. Buildings such as the former [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center Towers]] and Chicago's [[John Hancock Center]] use [[sky lobby|sky lobbies]], where express elevators take passengers to upper floors which serve as the base for local elevators. This allows architects and engineers to place elevator shafts on top of each other, saving space. Sky lobbies and express elevators take up a significant amount of space, however, and add to the amount of time spent commuting between floors.

Other buildings, such as the [[Petronas Towers]], use [[double-deck elevator]]s, allowing more people to fit in a single elevator, and reaching two floors at every stop. It is possible to use even more than two levels on an elevator, although this has never been done. The main problem with double-deck elevators is that they cause everyone in the elevator to stop when only person on one level needs to get off at a given floor.

Buildings with sky lobbies include the [[World Trade Center (2001–present)|World Trade Center]], [[Petronas Twin Towers]], [[Willis Tower]] and [[Taipei 101]]. The 44th-floor sky lobby of the John Hancock Center also featured the first [[high-rise]] indoor [[swimming pool]], which remains the highest in the United States.<ref name=Emporis>{{cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=116876|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040415075239/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=116876|url-status=usurped|archive-date=15 April 2004|title=John Hancock Center|author=Emporis GmbH}}</ref>

==Economic rationale==
[[File:HongKong_view_from_Victoria_Peak.jpg|thumb|200x200px|Hong Kong's high land prices and geographic limitations justify the construction of skyscrapers<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Dizzying Pics of Hong Kong's Massive High-Rise Neighborhoods|language=en-US|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/2013/08/unbelievable-photographs-of-hong-kongs-crazy-high-rises/|access-date=8 July 2021|issn=1059-1028}}</ref>]]
Skyscrapers are usually situated in [[city centre]]s where the price of land is high. Constructing a skyscraper becomes justified if the price of land is so high that it makes [[economics|economic]] sense to build upward as to minimize the cost of the land per the total floor area of a building. Thus the construction of skyscrapers is dictated by economics and results in skyscrapers in a certain part of a large city unless a [[building code]] restricts the height of buildings.

Skyscrapers are rarely seen in small cities and they are characteristic of large cities, because of the critical importance of high land prices for the construction of skyscrapers. Usually only office, commercial and hotel users can afford the rents in the city center and thus most tenants of skyscrapers are of these classes.

Today, skyscrapers are an increasingly common sight where land is expensive, as in the centres of big cities, because they provide such a high ratio of rentable floor space per unit area of land.

Another disadvantage of very high skyscrapers is the loss of usable floorspace, as many elevator shafts are needed to enable performant vertical travelling. This led to the introduction of express lifts and [[sky lobby|sky lobbie]]s where transfer to slower distribution lifts can be done.

==Environmental impact==
{{Further|Bird-skyscraper collisions}}
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2017}}
[[File:30_St_Mary_Axe_from_Leadenhall_Street.jpg|thumb|274x274px|[[The Gherkin]] in London is an example of a modern environmentally friendly skyscraper.]]
Constructing a single skyscraper requires large quantities of materials like steel, concrete, and glass, and these materials represent significant [[embodied energy]]. Skyscrapers are thus material and energy intensive buildings.

Skyscrapers have considerable mass, requiring a stronger foundation than a shorter, lighter building. In construction, building materials must be lifted to the top of a skyscraper during construction, requiring more energy than would be necessary at lower heights. Furthermore, a skyscraper consumes much electricity because [[potable]] and non-potable water have to be pumped to the highest occupied floors, skyscrapers are usually designed to be [[HVAC|mechanically ventilated]], elevators are generally used instead of stairs, and electric lights are needed in rooms far from the windows and windowless spaces such as elevators, bathrooms and stairwells.

Skyscrapers can be artificially lit and the energy requirements can be covered by [[renewable energy]] or other electricity generation with low [[greenhouse gas emissions]]. Heating and cooling of skyscrapers can be efficient, because of centralized [[HVAC]] systems, heat radiation blocking [[window]]s and small surface area of the building. There is [[Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design]] (LEED) certification for skyscrapers. For example, the Empire State Building received a gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating in September 2011 and the Empire State Building is the tallest LEED certified building in the United States,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://inhabitat.com/nyc/empire-state-building-achieves-leed-gold-certification/ |first=Jessica |last=Dailey |title=Empire State Building Achieves LEED Gold Certification |work=Inhabitat.com |date=14 September 2011 |access-date=30 July 2013 |archive-date=28 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628192334/http://inhabitat.com/nyc/empire-state-building-achieves-leed-gold-certification/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> proving that skyscrapers can be environmentally friendly. [[The Gherkin]] in [[London]], the [[United Kingdom]] is another example of an environmentally friendly skyscraper.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

In the lower levels of a skyscraper a larger percentage of the building floor area must be devoted to the building structure and services than is required for lower buildings:
* More structure – because it must be stronger to support more floors above
* [[Skyscraper design and construction#The elevator conundrum|The elevator conundrum]] creates the need for more lift shafts—everyone comes in at the bottom and they all have to pass through the lower part of the building to get to the upper levels.
* [[Building services]] – power and water enter the building from below and have to pass through the lower levels to get to the upper levels.

In low-rise structures, the support rooms ([[chiller]]s, [[transformer]]s, [[boiler]]s, [[pump]]s and [[air handling unit]]s) can be put in basements or roof space—areas which have low rental value. There is, however, a limit to how far this plant can be located from the area it serves. The farther away it is the larger the risers for ducts and pipes from this plant to the floors they serve and the more floor area these risers take. In practice this means that in highrise buildings this plant is located on 'plant levels' at intervals up the building.

===Operational energy===

The building sector accounts for approximately 50% of greenhouse gas emissions, with operational energy accounting for 80-90% of building related energy use.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Saroglou|first1=Tanya|last2=Meir|first2=Isaac A.|last3=Theodosiou|first3=Theodoros|last4=Givoni|first4=Baruch|date=August 2017|title=Towards energy efficient skyscrapers|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.05.057|journal=Energy and Buildings|volume=149|pages=437–449|doi=10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.05.057|bibcode=2017EneBu.149..437S |issn=0378-7788|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Operational energy use is affected by the magnitude of conduction between the interior and exterior, convection from infiltrating air, and radiation through [[Glazing (window)|glazing]]. The extent to which these factors affect the operational energy vary depending on the [[microclimate]] of the skyscraper, with increased wind speeds as the height of the skyscraper increases, and a decrease in the [[Dry-bulb temperature|dry bulb temperature]] as the altitude increases.<ref name=":2" /> For example, when moving from 1.5 meters to 284 meters, the dry bulb temperature decreased by 1.85&nbsp;°C while the wind speeds increased from 2.46 meters per seconds to 7.75 meters per second, which led to a 2.4% decrease in summer cooling in reference to the [[Freedom Tower]] in New York City. However, for the same building it was found that the annual energy use intensity was 9.26% higher because of the lack of shading at high altitudes which increased the cooling loads for the remainder of the year while a combination of temperature, wind, shading, and the effects of reflections led to a combined 13.13% increase in annual energy use intensity.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ellis|first=Peter|date=15 August 2005|title=Simulating Tall Buildings Using EnergyPlus|url=https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy05osti/38133.pdf|journal=National Renewable Energy Laboratory}}</ref>

In a study performed by Leung and Ray in 2013, it was found that the average [[energy use intensity]] of a structure with between 0 and 9 floors was approximately 80 kBtu/ft/yr, while the energy use intensity of a structure with more than 50 floors was about 117 kBtu/ft/yr. Refer to Figure 1{{where|date=January 2025}} to see the breakdown of how intermediate heights affect the energy use intensity. The slight decrease in energy use intensity over 30-39 floors can be attributed to the fact that the increase in pressure within the heating, cooling, and water distribution systems levels out at a point between 40 and 49 floors and the energy savings due to the microclimate of higher floors are able to be seen.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Leung|first=Luke|date=December 2013|title=Low-energy Tall Buildings? Room for Improvement as Demonstrated by New York City Energy Benchmarking Data|journal=International Journal of High-Rise Buildings|volume=2|s2cid=6166727}}</ref>  There is a gap in data in which another study looking at the same information but for taller buildings is needed.

====Elevators====

A portion of the operational energy increase in tall buildings is related to the usage of elevators because the distance traveled and the speed at which they travel increases as the height of the building increases. Between 5 and 25% of the total energy consumed in a tall building is from the use of [[elevator]]s. As the height of the building increases it is also more inefficient because of the presence of higher drag and friction losses.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sachs|first=Harvey|date=April 2005|title=Opportunities for Elevator Energy Efficiency Improvements|url=https://www.aceee.org/sites/default/files/pdf/white-paper/elevators2005.pdf|journal=American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy}}</ref>

===Embodied energy===

The [[embodied energy]] associated with the construction of skyscrapers varies based on the materials used. Embodied energy is quantified per unit of material. Skyscrapers inherently have higher embodied energy than low-rise buildings due to the increase in material used as more floors are built. Figures 2 and 3{{where|date=January 2025}} compare the total embodied energy of different floor types and the unit embodied energy per floor type for buildings with between 20 and 70 stories. For all floor types except for steel-concrete floors, it was found that after 60 stories, there was a decrease in unit embodied energy but when considering all floors, there was exponential growth due to a double dependence on height. The first of which is the relationship between an increase in height leading to an increase in the quantity of materials used, and the second being the increase in height leading to an increase in size of elements to increase the structural capacity of the building. A careful choice in building materials can likely reduce the embodied energy without reducing the number of floors constructed within the bounds presented.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Foraboschi|first1=Paolo|last2=Mercanzin|first2=Mattia|last3=Trabucco|first3=Dario|date=January 2014|title=Sustainable structural design of tall buildings based on embodied energy|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2013.09.003|journal=Energy and Buildings|volume=68|pages=254–269|doi=10.1016/j.enbuild.2013.09.003|bibcode=2014EneBu..68..254F |issn=0378-7788|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

===Embodied carbon===

Similar to embodied energy, the [[Embodied carbon emissions|embodied carbon]] of a building is dependent on the materials chosen for its construction. Figures 4 and 5{{Where|date=July 2021}} show the total embodied carbon for different structure types for increasing numbers of stories and the embodied carbon per square meter of gross floor area for the same structure types as the number of stories increases. Both methods of measuring the embodied carbon show that there is a point where the embodied carbon is lowest before increasing again as the height increases. For the total embodied carbon it is dependent on the structure type, but is either around 40 stories, or approximately 60 stories. For the square meter of gross floor area, the lowest embodied carbon was found at either 40 stories, or approximately 70 stories.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gan|first1=Vincent J.L.|last2=Chan|first2=C.M.|last3=Tse|first3=K.T.|last4=Lo|first4=Irene M.C.|last5=Cheng|first5=Jack C.P.|date=September 2017|title=A comparative analysis of embodied carbon in high-rise buildings regarding different design parameters|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.05.156|journal=Journal of Cleaner Production|volume=161|pages=663–675|doi=10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.05.156|bibcode=2017JCPro.161..663G |issn=0959-6526|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

===Air pollution===
In urban areas, the configuration of buildings can lead to exacerbated wind patterns and an uneven dispersion of [[pollutant]]s. When the height of buildings surrounding a source of [[air pollution]] is increased, the size and occurrence of both "dead-zones" and "hotspots" were increased in areas where there were almost no pollutants and high concentrations of pollutants, respectively. Figure 6{{where|date=January 2025}} depicts the progression of a Building F's height increasing from 0.0315 units in Case 1, to 0.2 units in Case 2, to 0.6 units in Case 3. This progression shows how as the height of Building F increases, the dispersion of pollutants decreases, but the concentration within the building cluster increases. The variation of [[velocity field]]s can be affected by the construction of new buildings as well, rather than solely the increase in height as shown in the figure.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Aristodemou|first1=Elsa|last2=Boganegra|first2=Luz Maria|last3=Mottet|first3=Laetitia|last4=Pavlidis|first4=Dimitrios|last5=Constantinou|first5=Achilleas|last6=Pain|first6=Christopher|last7=Robins|first7=Alan|last8=ApSimon|first8=Helen|date=February 2018|title=How tall buildings affect turbulent air flows and dispersion of pollution within a neighbourhood|journal=Environmental Pollution|volume=233|pages=782–796|doi=10.1016/j.envpol.2017.10.041|pmid=29132119|issn=0269-7491|doi-access=free|bibcode=2018EPoll.233..782A |hdl=10044/1/58556|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

As urban centers continue to expand upward and outward, the present velocity fields will continue to trap polluted air close to the tall buildings within the city. Specifically within major cities, a majority of air pollution is derived from transportation, whether it be cars, trains, planes, or boats. As [[urban sprawl]] continues and pollutants continue to be emitted, the air pollutants will continue to be trapped within these urban centers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Borck|first=Rainald|date=1 May 2016|title=Will skyscrapers save the planet? Building height limits and urban greenhouse gas emissions|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166046216000053|journal=Regional Science and Urban Economics|language=en|volume=58|pages=13–25|doi=10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2016.01.004|bibcode=2016RSUE...58...13B |issn=0166-0462|hdl=10419/96835|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Different pollutants can be detrimental to human health in different ways. For example, [[Particulates|particulate matter]] from vehicular exhaust and power generation can cause asthma, bronchitis, and cancer, while [[nitrogen dioxide]] from motor engine combustion processes can cause neurological disfunction and asphyxiation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kim|first1=Ki-Hyun|last2=Kumar|first2=Pawan|last3=Szulejko|first3=Jan E.|last4=Adelodun|first4=Adedeji A.|last5=Junaid|first5=Muhammad Faisal|last6=Uchimiya|first6=Minori|last7=Chambers|first7=Scott|date=May 2017|title=Toward a better understanding of the impact of mass transit air pollutants on human health|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.01.113|journal=Chemosphere|volume=174|pages=268–279|doi=10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.01.113|pmid=28178609|bibcode=2017Chmsp.174..268K|issn=0045-6535|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

===LEED/green building rating===
[[File:Shanghai Tower in 2015 (2).jpg|thumb|[[Shanghai Tower]], the tallest and largest LEED Platinum certified building in the world since 2015.]]
Like with all other buildings, if special measures are taken to incorporate [[sustainable design]] methods early on in the design process, it is possible to obtain a green building rating, such as a [[Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design|Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)]] certification. An [[integrated design]] approach is crucial in making sure that design decisions that positively impact the whole building are made at the beginning of the process. Because of the massive scale of skyscrapers, the decisions made by the design team must take all factors into account, including the buildings impact on the surrounding community, the effect of the building on the direction in which air and water move, and the impact of the construction process, must be taken into account. There are several design methods that could be employed in the construction of a skyscraper that would take advantage of the height of the building.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ali|first=Mir|date=2008|title=Overview of Sustainable Design Factors in High-Rise Buildings|url=https://global.ctbuh.org/resources/papers/download/1308-overview-of-sustainable-design-factors-in-high-rise-buildings.pdf|journal=Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat}}</ref>

The microclimates that exist as the height of the building increases can be taken advantage of to increase the [[Passive ventilation|natural ventilation]], decrease the cooling load, and increase daylighting. Natural ventilation can be increased by utilizing the [[stack effect]], in which warm air moves upward and increases the movement of the air within the building. If utilizing the stack effect, buildings must take extra care to design for fire separation techniques, as the stack effect can also exacerbate the severity of a fire.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ayşin Sev|last2=Görkem Aslan|date=4 July 2014|title=Natural Ventilation for the Sustainable Tall Office Buildings of the Future|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1094381|doi=10.5281/zenodo.1094381|journal=Zenodo}}</ref> Skyscrapers are considered to be internally dominated buildings because of their size as well as the fact that a majority are used as some sort of office building with high cooling loads. Due to the microclimate created at the upper floors with the increased wind speed and the decreased dry bulb temperatures, the cooling load will naturally be reduced because of infiltration through the thermal envelope. By taking advantage of the naturally cooler temperatures at higher altitudes, skyscrapers can reduce their cooling loads passively. On the other side of this argument, is the lack of shading at higher altitudes by other buildings, so the [[solar heat gain]] will be larger for higher floors than for floors at the lower end of the building. Special measures should be taken to shade upper floors from sunlight during the overheated period to ensure thermal comfort without increasing the cooling load.<ref name=":3" />

==History of the tallest skyscrapers==
{{Main|History of the tallest buildings in the world|List of tallest buildings}}
At the beginning of the 20th century, New York City was a center for the [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts architectural]] movement, attracting the talents of such great architects as [[Stanford White]] and [[Carrere and Hastings]]. As better construction and engineering technology became available as the century progressed, New York City and Chicago became the focal point of the competition for the tallest building in the world. Each city's striking skyline has been composed of numerous and varied skyscrapers, many of which are icons of 20th-century architecture:

* The [[E. V. Haughwout Building]] in Manhattan was the first building to successfully install a passenger elevator, doing so on 23 March 1857.<ref>{{cite inside|pages=101-103}}</ref>
* The [[Equitable Life Building (Manhattan)|Equitable Life Building]] in Manhattan was the first office building to feature passenger elevators.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States|date=November 1901|title=The Elevator Did It|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jmwPAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA43|journal=The Equitable News: An Agents' Journal|issue=23|page=11|access-date=10 January 2012|archive-date=12 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012234137/http://books.google.com/books?id=jmwPAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA43|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nyt19960908">{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=8 September 1996|title=1915 Equitable Building Becomes a 1996 Landmark|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/08/realestate/1915-equitable-building-becomes-a-1996-landmark.html|access-date=14 May 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=9 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809154626/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/08/realestate/1915-equitable-building-becomes-a-1996-landmark.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* The [[Home Insurance Building]] by [[William Le Baron Jenney]] in Chicago, which was built in 1884, was the first tall building with a steel skeleton.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/topics/home-insurance-building|title=Home Insurance Building|work=HISTORY.com|date=21 August 2018 }}</ref>
* The [[Singer Building]], an expansion to an existing structure in [[Lower Manhattan]] was the world's tallest building when completed in 1908. Designed by [[Ernest Flagg]],<ref name="nyt20050102">{{cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|authorlink=Christopher Gray (architectural historian)|date=2 January 2005|title=Streetscapes: Once the Tallest Building, but Since 1967 a Ghost|work=The New York Times|url=http://travel.nytimes.com/2005/01/02/realestate/02scap.html|access-date=1 August 2010|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> it was {{convert|612|ft|m|sp=us}} tall.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Singer Building|website=The Skyscraper Center|publisher=[[Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat]]|url=https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/singer-building/2080|access-date=2 July 2019|archive-date=12 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612232448/https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/singer-building/2080|url-status=live}}</ref>
* The [[Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower]], across [[Madison Square Park]] from the [[Flatiron Building]], was the world's tallest building when completed in 1909. It was designed by the architectural firm of [[Napoleon LeBrun]] & Sons and stood {{Convert|700|ft|m|sp=us}} tall.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=26 May 1996|title=Streetscapes/Metropolitan Life at 1 Madison Avenue;For a Brief Moment, the Tallest Building in the World|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/26/realestate/streetscapes-metropolitan-life-1-madison-avenue-for-brief-moment-tallest.html|access-date=5 July 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* The [[Woolworth Building]], a neo-Gothic "Cathedral of Commerce" overlooking [[New York City Hall]], was designed by [[Cass Gilbert]]. At 792&nbsp;feet (241&nbsp;m), it became the world's tallest building upon its completion in 1913, an honor it retained until 1930.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|title=Streetscapes: 40 Wall Street; A Race for the Skies, Lost by a Spire|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=15 November 1992|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/15/realestate/streetscapes-40-wall-street-a-race-for-the-skies-lost-by-a-spire.html|access-date=3 November 2017|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107033354/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/15/realestate/streetscapes-40-wall-street-a-race-for-the-skies-lost-by-a-spire.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[40 Wall Street]], a 71-story, {{Convert|927|ft|m|-tall|abbr=|adj=mid}} [[Gothic Revival architecture|neo-Gothic]] tower designed by [[H. Craig Severance]], was the world's tallest building for a month in May 1930.<ref>{{cite book|first=Jay|last=Hoster|title=Early Wall Street 1830–1940|publisher=[[Arcadia Publishing]]|location=Charleston|year=2014|pages=127|isbn=978-1-4671-2263-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MA0vBQAAQBAJ|access-date=7 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/05/06/archives/bank-of-manhattan-built-in-record-time-structure-927-feet-high.html|title=Bank of Manhattan Built in Record Time; Structure 927 Feet High, Second Tallest in World, Is Erected in Year of Work.|date=6 May 1930|work=The New York Times|access-date=27 April 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 
* The [[Chrysler Building]] in New York City took the lead in late May 1930 as the tallest building in the world, reaching 1,046&nbsp;feet (319&nbsp;m).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=83 |title=Chrysler Building. Quote: An exhibition in the building's lobby reports the height as 1046 |publisher=Skyscraperpage.com |access-date=5 June 2011}}</ref> Designed by [[William Van Alen]], an [[Art Deco]] style masterpiece with an exterior crafted of brick,<ref>{{cite web|author=Emporis GmbH |url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=114867 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040415123744/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=114867 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=15 April 2004 |title=– Chrysler Building statistics |publisher=Emporis.com |access-date=5 June 2011}}</ref> the Chrysler Building continues to be a favorite of New Yorkers to this day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://favoritearchitecture.org/afa150.php |title=America's Favorite Architecture: Chrysler Building ranked 9th |publisher=Favoritearchitecture.org |access-date=5 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510113118/http://favoritearchitecture.org/afa150.php |archive-date=10 May 2011}}</ref>
* The [[Empire State Building]], nine streets south of the Chrysler in Manhattan, topped out at 1,250&nbsp;feet (381&nbsp;m) and 102 stories in 1931.  The first building to have more than 100 floors, it was designed by [[Shreve, Lamb and Harmon]] in the contemporary [[Art Deco]] style and takes its name from the [[List of U.S. state nicknames|nickname]] of [[New York State]]. The antenna mast added in 1951 brought pinnacle height to 1,472&nbsp;feet (449&nbsp;m), lowered in 1984 to 1,454&nbsp;feet (443&nbsp;m).<ref name="pollak">{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D03EEDD153FF930A15757C0A9609C8B63&scp=4&sq=%22empire%20state%20building%22%20height%201,454&st=cse|title=75 YEARS: F. Y. I.|last=Pollak |first=Michael|date=23 April 2006|work=The New York Times|access-date=31 October 2009}}</ref>
* The [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] by [[Minoru Yamasaki]] officially surpassed the Empire State Building in 1970, was completed in 1973, and consisted of two tall towers and several smaller buildings. For a short time the World Trade Center's North Tower―completed in 1972―was the world's tallest building, until surpassed by the [[Willis Tower|Sears Tower]] in 1973. Upon completion, the towers stood for 28&nbsp;years, until the [[September 11 attacks]] destroyed the buildings in 2001.
* The [[Sears Tower]] (now known as Willis Tower) was completed in 1974. It was the first building to employ the "[[Tube (structure)|bundled tube]]" structural system, designed by [[Fazlur Khan]]. It was surpassed in height by the [[Petronas Towers]] in 1998, but remained the tallest in some categories until [[Burj Khalifa]] surpassed it in all categories in 2010. It is currently the third tallest building in the [[United States]], after [[One World Trade Center]] (which was built following 9/11), and [[Central Park Tower]] in [[New York City]].

Momentum in setting records passed from the United States to other nations with the opening of the [[Petronas Twin Towers]] in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1998. The record for the world's tallest building has remained in Asia since the opening of [[Taipei 101]] in Taipei, Taiwan, in 2004. A number of architectural records, including those of the world's tallest building and tallest free-standing structure, moved to the Middle East with the opening of the [[Burj Khalifa]] in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

This geographical transition is accompanied by a change in approach to skyscraper design. For much of the 20th century large buildings took the form of simple geometrical shapes. This reflected the "international style" or [[Modern architecture|modernist]] philosophy shaped by [[Bauhaus]] architects early in the century. The last of these, the Willis Tower and World Trade Center towers in New York, erected in the 1970s, reflect the philosophy. Tastes shifted in the decade which followed, and new skyscrapers began to exhibit [[Postmodernism|postmodernist]] influences. This approach to design avails itself of historical elements, often adapted and re-interpreted, in creating technologically modern structures. The Petronas Twin Towers recall Asian [[pagoda]] architecture and Islamic geometric principles. Taipei 101 likewise reflects the [[pagoda]] tradition as it incorporates ancient [[Motif (visual arts)|motifs]] such as the [[Ruyi (scepter)|ruyi]] symbol. The Burj Khalifa draws inspiration from traditional [[Islamic art]]. Architects in recent years{{when|date=October 2024}} have sought to create structures that would not appear equally at home if set in any part of the world, but that reflect the culture thriving in the spot where they stand.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}

The following list measures height of the roof, not the pinnacle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/statistics/worlds-tallest-buildings |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127102428/http://www.emporis.com/statistics/worlds-tallest-buildings |url-status=usurped |archive-date=27 January 2012 |title=The World's Tallest Buildings &#124; Statistics |publisher=Emporis |access-date=12 March 2014}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=March 2014}} The more common gauge is the "highest architectural detail"; such ranking would have included Petronas Towers, built in 1996.

{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!Built || Building || City || Country || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Official Height||Floors|| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Pinnacle || Current status
|-
|1870 || [[Equitable Life Building (New York City)|Equitable Life Building]] || [[New York City|New York]] || rowspan=12| {{flag|United States}} || 43&nbsp;m||142&nbsp;ft|| 8 || || || Destroyed by fire in 1912
|-
|1889 || [[Auditorium Building, Chicago|Auditorium Building]] || [[Chicago]] || 82&nbsp;m||270&nbsp;ft||17 |||||| Standing
|-
|1890 || [[New York World Building]] || [[New York City|New York]] || 94&nbsp;m||309&nbsp;ft||20 ||106&nbsp;m||349&nbsp;ft|| Demolished in 1955
|-
|1894 || [[Philadelphia City Hall]] || [[Philadelphia]] || 155.8&nbsp;m||511&nbsp;ft  || 9 || 167&nbsp;m||548&nbsp;ft|| Standing
|-
|1908 || [[Singer Building]] || rowspan=7| [[New York City|New York]] || 187&nbsp;m||612&nbsp;ft|| 47 |||||| Demolished in 1968
|-
|1909 || [[Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower|Met Life Tower]] || 213&nbsp;m||700&nbsp;ft||50 |||||| Standing
|-
|1913 || [[Woolworth Building]] || 241&nbsp;m||792&nbsp;ft||57 |||||| Standing
|-
|1930 || [[40 Wall Street]] || 282&nbsp;m||925&nbsp;ft|| 70||283&nbsp;m||927&nbsp;ft|| Standing
|-
|1930 || [[Chrysler Building]] || 319&nbsp;m||1046&nbsp;ft||77 ||319&nbsp;m||1,046&nbsp;ft|| Standing
|-
|1931 || [[Empire State Building]] || 381&nbsp;m||1,250&nbsp;ft||102 ||443&nbsp;m||1,454&nbsp;ft|| Standing
|-
|1972 || [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] (North Tower) || 417&nbsp;m||1,368&nbsp;ft||110 ||526.8&nbsp;m||1,728&nbsp;ft|| Destroyed in 2001 in the [[September 11 attacks]]
|-
|1974 || [[Willis Tower]] (formerly Sears Tower) || [[Chicago]] || 442&nbsp;m||1,450&nbsp;ft || 110 || 527.3&nbsp;m||1,729&nbsp;ft  || Standing
|-
|1996 || [[Petronas Towers]] || [[Kuala Lumpur]] || {{flag|Malaysia}} || 451.9&nbsp;m ||1,483&nbsp;ft  || 88 || 451.9&nbsp;m || 1,483&nbsp;ft || Standing
|-
|2004 || [[Taipei 101]] || [[Taipei]] || {{flag|Taiwan}} || 508.3&nbsp;m ||1,667&nbsp;ft  || 101 || 509.2&nbsp;m || 1,668&nbsp;ft || Standing
|-
|2010 || [[Burj Khalifa]] || [[Dubai]] || {{flag|United Arab Emirates}} || 828&nbsp;m || 2,717&nbsp;ft || 163 || 829.8&nbsp;m || 2,722&nbsp;ft  || Standing
|}

===Gallery===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="220">
File:Empire State Building cropped.jpg|The [[Empire State Building]] was the tallest from 1931 to 1971. It was the first skyscraper to have over 100 floors.
File:Photo of WTC1 (cropped).jpg|The original [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|1 World Trade Center]] (North Tower) was the tallest in the world from 1971 to 1974
File:Sears Tower1.JPG|The [[Willis Tower]] in Chicago was the world's tallest building from 1974 to 1998
File:The Twins SE Asia 2019 (49171985716) (cropped) 2.jpg|The [[Petronas Towers]] in Kuala Lumpur were the tallest from 1998 to 2004.
File:Taipei 101 in 2019.jpg|[[Taipei 101]] in Taipei, the world's tallest skyscraper from 2004 to 2010, was the first to exceed the {{cvt|500|m}} mark.
</gallery>

==Future developments==
{{See also|List of visionary tall buildings and structures|List of future tallest buildings}}
Proposals for such structures have been put forward, including the Burj Mubarak Al Kabir in [[Kuwait]] and [[Azerbaijan Tower]] in [[Baku]]. Kilometer-plus structures present architectural challenges that may eventually place them in a new architectural category.<ref name="Sadek">{{cite news|url=http://www.arabianbusiness.com/537095-reaching-for-the-stars|title=Reaching for the stars|last=Owainati|first=Sadek|newspaper=Arabian Business |date=3 November 2008 |publisher=ArabianBusiness.com |access-date=15 November 2008}}</ref> The first building under construction and planned to be over one kilometre tall is the [[Jeddah Tower]].

===Wooden skyscrapers===
{{Main|List of tallest wooden buildings}}
[[File:Ascent MKE completed.jpg|thumb|The 25-story [[Ascent MKE]] is the world highest mass timber structure.<ref>{{cite news |title=World's tallest timber building opens |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/delivering-mission/apply/worlds-tallest-timber-building-opens |agency=Forest Service |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture}}</ref>]]
Several wooden skyscraper designs have been designed and built. A 14-story housing project in [[Bergen|Bergen, Norway]] known as 'Treet' or 'The Tree' became the world's tallest wooden apartment block when it was completed in late 2015.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-construction-environment/wooden-plyscrapers-challenge-concrete-and-steel-idUSKBN1611U5|title=Wooden 'plyscrapers' challenge concrete and steel|work=U.S. Reuters|access-date=22 March 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> The Tree's record was eclipsed by [[Brock Commons Tallwood House|Brock Commons]], an 18-story wooden [[dormitory]] at the [[University of British Columbia]] in [[Canada]], when it was completed in September 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/the-university-of-british-columbias-brock-commons-takes-the-title-of-tallest-wood-tower_o|title=The University of British Columbia's Brock Commons Takes the Title of Tallest Wood Tower|date=16 September 2016|newspaper=Architect|access-date=10 December 2016}}</ref>

A 40-story residential building 'Trätoppen' has been proposed by architect Anders Berensson to be built in [[Stockholm|Stockholm, Sweden]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dezeen.com/2016/04/25/anders-berensson-architects-tratoppen-wooden-skyscraper-concept-stockholm-cross-laminated-timber/|title=Anders Berensson proposes wooden skyscraper for Stockholm|date=25 April 2016|website=Dezeen|access-date=10 December 2016}}</ref> Trätoppen would be the tallest building in Stockholm, though there are no immediate plans to begin construction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Tratoppen,_Stockholm|title=Tratoppen, Stockholm - Designing Buildings Wiki|website=designingbuildings.co.uk|language=en|access-date=22 March 2018}}</ref> The tallest currently-planned wooden skyscraper is the 70-story [[W350 Project]] in Tokyo, to be built by the Japanese wood products company Sumitomo Forestry Co. to celebrate its 350th anniversary in 2041.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/feb/16/plyscraper-city-tokyo-tower-wood-w350|title=Plyscraper city: Tokyo to build 350m tower made of wood|last=Hunt|first=Elle|date=16 February 2018|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=22 March 2018}}</ref> An 80-story wooden skyscraper, the River Beech Tower, has been proposed by a team including architects [[Perkins + Will]] and the [[University of Cambridge]]. The River Beech Tower, on the banks of the [[Chicago River]] in [[Chicago|Chicago, Illinois]], would be 348 feet shorter than the W350 Project despite having 10 more storys.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.archdaily.com/796649/the-tallest-timber-tower-yet-perkins-plus-wills-concept-proposal-for-river-beech-tower|title=The Tallest Timber Tower Yet: Perkins + Will's Concept Proposal for River Beech Tower|date=6 October 2016|work=ArchDaily|access-date=22 March 2018|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

Wooden skyscrapers are estimated to be around a quarter of the weight of an equivalent [[Reinforced concrete|reinforced-concrete]] structure as well as reducing the building carbon footprint by 60–75%. Buildings have been designed using [[Cross laminated timber|cross-laminated timber]] (CLT) which gives a higher rigidity and strength to wooden structures.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21706492-case-wooden-skyscrapers-not-barking-top-tree|title=Building materials: Top of the tree|newspaper=The Economist|date=10 September 2016|access-date=10 December 2016}}</ref> CLT panels are prefabricated and can therefore save on building time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seattlemag.com/are-high-rise-wood-buildings-seattles-future|title=Are High-Rise Wood Buildings in Seattle's Future? |website=Seattle Business Magazine|date=15 September 2016 |access-date=10 December 2016}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Architecture}}
* [[CTBUH Skyscraper Award]]
* [[Earthscraper]]
* [[Emporis Skyscraper Award]]
* [[Groundscraper]]
* [[List of cities with the most skyscrapers]]
* [[List of tallest buildings]]
* [[List of tallest structures]]
* [[Pencil tower]]
* [[Plyscraper]]
* [[Seascraper]]
* [[Skyscraper design and construction]]
* [[Skyscraper Index]]
* [[Skyscraper Museum]] in NYC
* [[Skyscrapers in film]]
* [[Skyline]]
* [[Vertical farming]], "farmscrapers"
* [[World's littlest skyscraper]]
* [[Drag coefficient|drag-coefficient]]
* [[Fatigue (material)|material-fatigue]]
* [[Downforce|down-force]]
* [[Steel frame]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web|last=Adam|first=Robert|title=How to Build Skyscrapers|url=http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_2_urbanities-how_to_build.html|work=City Journal|access-date=4 April 2014|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923222052/http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_2_urbanities-how_to_build.html|url-status=dead}} 
*[[Judith Dupré]]. ''Skyscrapers: A History of the World's Most Extraordinary Buildings-Revised and Updated.'' (2013). Hachette/Black Dog & Leventhal. 2013 ed.: {{ISBN|978-1-57912-942-2}} 
*''Skyscrapers: Form and Function'', by David Bennett, Simon & Schuster, 1995.
* {{cite nysky}}
* Willis, Carol, ''Form Follows Finance: Skyscrapers and Skylines in New York and Chicago''. Princeton Architectural Press, 1995. 224 P. {{ISBN|1-56898-044-2}}
* Van Leeuwen, Thomas A P, ''The Skyward Trend of Thought: The Metaphysics of the American Skyscraper'', Cambridge: MIT Press, 1988.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Skyscrapers}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.ctbuh.org Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140210021749/https://flipboard.com/section/skyscrapercity-bqxHt8 SkyscraperCity] construction updates magazine
* [http://standards.phorio.com/?t=definition&code=6761770913 Skyscraper definition on Phorio Standards]
* [http://www.skyscraper.org Skyscraper Museum]
* [http://www.skyscraperpage.com SkyscraperPage] Technical information and diagrams
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{{Supertall skyscrapers}}
{{Developments}}
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[[Category:Skyscrapers| ]]
[[Category:Structural engineering]]
[[Category:Structural system]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Building types]]