List of tallest buildings and structures
The world's tallest artificial structure is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The building gained the official title of "tallest building in the world" and the tallest self-supported structure at its opening on January 9, 2010. The second-tallest self-supporting structure and the tallest tower in the world is the Tokyo Skytree. The tallest guyed structure is the KVLY-TV mast.
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, an organization that certifies buildings as the "World's Tallest", recognizes a building only if at least 50% of its height is made up of floor plates containing habitable floor area. Structures that do not meet this criterion, such as the CN Tower, are defined as "towers".
There are dozens of radio and television broadcasting towers which measure over 600 metres in height, and only the tallest are recorded in publicly available information sources.
Debate over definitions
The assessment of the height of artificial structures has been controversial. Various standards have been used by different organizations which has meant that the title of world's tallest structure or building has changed depending on which standards have been accepted. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has changed its definitions over time. Some of the controversy regarding the definitions and assessment of tall structures and buildings has included the following:- the definition of a structure, a building and a tower
- whether a structure, building or tower under construction should be included in any assessment
- whether a structure, building or tower has to be officially opened before it is assessed
- whether structures built in and rising above water should have their below-water height included in any assessment.
- whether a structure, building or tower that is guyed is assessed in the same category as self-supporting structures.
- whether only habitable height of the building is considered
- whether communication towers with observation galleries should be considered "habitable" in this sense
- whether rooftop antennas, viewing platforms or any other architecture that does not form a habitable floor should be included in the assessment
- whether a floor built at a high level of a telecommunications or viewing tower should change the tower's definition to that of a "building"
Tallest structures
The tallest artificial structure is Burj Khalifa, a skyscraper in Dubai that reached in height on January 17, 2009. By April 8, 2008 it had been built higher than the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota, USA. That September it officially surpassed Poland's Warsaw radio mast, which stood from 1974 to 1991, to become the tallest structure ever built. Guyed lattice towers such as these masts had held the world height record since 1954.
The Petronius Platform stands off the sea floor leading some, including Guinness World Records 2007, to claim it as the tallest freestanding structure in the world. However, it is debated whether underwater height should be counted, in the same manner as height below ground is ignored on buildings. The Troll A platform is, without any part of that height being supported by wires. The tension-leg type of oil platform has even greater below-water heights with several examples more than deep. However, these platforms are not considered constant structures as the vast majority of their height is made up of the length of the tendons attaching the floating platforms to the sea floor. Despite this, Guinness World Records 2009 listed the Ursa tension leg platform as the tallest structure in the world with a total height of. The Magnolia Tension-leg Platform in the Gulf of Mexico is even taller with a total height of.
Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, set records in three of the four skyscraper categories at the time it opened in 2004; at the time the Burj Khalifa opened in 2010 it remained the world's tallest inhabited building as measured to its architectural height. The height of its roof and highest occupied floor had been surpassed by the Shanghai World Financial Center with corresponding heights of. Willis Tower was the highest in the final category: the greatest height to top of antenna of any building in the world at.
Burj Khalifa broke the height record in all four categories for completed buildings.
Tallest structure by category
Due to the disagreements over how to measure height and classify structures, engineers have created various definitions for categories of buildings and other structures. One measure includes the absolute height of a building, another includes only spires and other permanent architectural features, but not antennas. The tradition of including the spire on top of a building and not including the antenna dates back to the rivalry between the Chrysler Building and 40 Wall Street. A modern-day example is that the antenna on top of Willis Tower is not considered part of its architectural height, while the spires on top of the Petronas Twin Towers are counted.Note: The following table is a list of the tallest completed structure in each of the structural categories below. For a list of structures by function see the list later in the article. There can only be one structure in each category, unless the tallest is the same for more than one structure in the same category.
| Category | Structure | Country | City | Height | Height | Year built | Coordinates |
| Building | Burj Khalifa | Dubai | 829.8 | 2,722 | 2010 | ||
| Self-supporting tower | Tokyo Skytree | Tokyo | 634 | 2,080 | 2011 | ||
| Guyed steel lattice mast | KRDK-TV mast | Galesburg, North Dakota | 628.0 | 2,060 | 1997 | ||
| Mast radiator | Lualualei VLF transmitter | Lualualei, Hawaii | 458 | 1,503 | 1972 | ; | |
| Twin building | Petronas Twin Towers | Kuala Lumpur | 452 | 1,482 | 1998 | ; | |
| Chimney | Ekibastuz GRES-2 Power Station | Ekibastuz | 419.7 | 1,377 | 1987 | ||
| Radar | Dimona Radar Facility | Dimona | 400 | 1,312 | 2008 | ; | |
| Lattice tower | Kiev TV Tower | Kiev | 385 | 1,263 | 1973 | ||
| Electricity pylon | Zhoushan Island Overhead Powerline Tie | Zhoushan | 370 | 1,214 | 2009 | ; | |
| Partially guyed tower | Gerbrandy Tower | IJsselstein | 366.8 | 1,203 | 1961 | ||
| Guyed tubular steel mast | TV Tower Vinnytsia | Vinnytsia | 354 | 1,161 | 1961 | ||
| Bridge | Millau Viaduct | Millau | 342 | 1,122 | 2004 | ||
| Blaw-Knox Tower | Lakihegy Tower | Szigetszentmiklós | 314 | 1,031 | 1968 | ||
| Dam | Jinping-I Dam | Liangshan | 305 | 1,001 | 2013 | ||
| Wind turbine | GE 3.4-137 wind turbine at Naturstromspeicher Gaildorf | Gaildorf | 246.5 | 809 | 2017 | ||
| Statue | Statue of Unity | Narmada district, Gujarat | 240 | 790 | 2018 | ||
| Minaret | Hassan II Mosque | Casablanca | 210 | 689 | 1993 | ||
| Cooling tower | Kalisindh Thermal Power Station | Jhalawar | 202 | 663 | 2012 | ; | |
| Monument | Gateway Arch | St. Louis, Missouri | 192 | 630 | 1965 | ||
| Water tower | Main tower of Kuwait Towers | Kuwait City | 187 | 614 | 1979 | ||
| Wooden structure | ATLAS-I at Kirtland Air Force Base | Albuquerque | 180 | 600 | 1980 | ||
| Masonry tower | Anaconda Smelter Stack | Anaconda, Montana | 178.3 | 585 | 1919 | ||
| Inclined structure | Olympic Stadium | Montreal | 175 | 574 | 1976 | ||
| Obelisk | San Jacinto Monument | La Porte, Texas | 173.7 | 570 | 1939 | ||
| Ferris wheel | High Roller | Las Vegas | 167.6 | 550 | 2014 | ||
| Masonry building | Mole Antonelliana | Torino | 167.5 | 550 | 1889 | ||
| Flagpole | Jeddah Flagpole | Jeddah | 171 | 561 | 2014 | ||
| Church tower | Ulmer Münster | Ulm | 162 | 530 | 1890 | ||
| Industrial hall | Vehicle Assembly Building | Kennedy Space Center, Florida | 160 | 525 | 1966 | ||
| Memorial cross | Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos | El Escorial | 152.4 | 500 | 1957 | ||
| Telescope | Arecibo Telescope | Arecibo, Puerto Rico | 150 | 492 | 1963 | ||
| Roller coaster | Kingda Ka | Jackson, New Jersey | 138.98 | 456 | 2005 | ||
| Tomb | Great Pyramid of Giza | Giza | 138.8 | 455.2 | 2560 BCE | ||
| Air traffic control tower | Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 Control Tower | Sepang | 141.3 | 463.6 | 2013 | ||
| Stupa | Jetavanaramaya | Anuradhapura | 122 | 400 | 273–301 CE | ||
| Wooden lattice tower | Gliwice Radio Tower | Gliwice | 118 | 387 | 1935 | ||
| Storage silo | Schapfen Mill Tower | Ulm | 115 | 377 | 2005 | ||
| Aerial tramway support tower | Pillar of third section of Gletscherbahn Kaprun | Kaprun | 113.6 | 373 | 1966 | ||
| Sphere | Ericsson Globe | Stockholm | 85 | 279 | 1989 | ||
| Lighthouse | Île Vierge Lighthouse | Finistère | 82.5 | 271 | 1902 | ||
| Gopuram | Murudeshwara Temple | Murudeshwara | 76 | 249 | 2008 |
Tallest destroyed structures by category, not surpassed by existing structures
There are some destroyed architectural structures which were taller than the tallest existing structure of their type. There are also destroyed structures omitted from this list that had been surpassed in height prior to being destroyed.| Category | Structure | Country | City | Height | Height | Coordinates | Remarks |
| Guyed mast | Warsaw Radio Mast | Gąbin | 646.38 | 2,121 | Completed in 1974, collapsed on August 8, 1991 | ||
| Scientific research tower | BREN Tower | Nevada Test Site | 462 | 1,516 | Completed in 1962, demolished May 23, 2012 | ||
| Guyed tubular steel mast | Shushi-Wan Omega Transmitter | Tsushima | 389 | 1,276 | Completed in 1973, dismantled in 1998 | ||
| Structure for scientific experiment | Smokey Shot Tower | Nevada Test Site | 213 | 700 | Guyed mast, which carried 44 kt yield nuclear bomb "Smokey" on top until its explosion on August 31, 1957 | ||
| Wooden structure | Mühlacker Wood Radio Tower | Mühlacker | 190 | 623 | Completed in 1934, destroyed on April 6, 1945, by the Germans to prevent usage by the Allies, replaced by mast radiator | ||
| Masonry building | Mole Antonelliana | Turin | 167.5 | 549.5 | Spire destroyed by a tornado in 1953 | ||
| Pre-Industrial era building | Lincoln Cathedral | Lincoln | 160 | 524 | Completed in 1311, spire blown off in 1549 | ||
| Gasometer | Gasometer Zeche Nordstern | Gelsenkirchen | 147 | 482 | Completed in 1938, damaged at an air raid on May 13, 1940 in such a manner, that it was not usable any more and had to be demolished. | ||
| Storage silo | Henninger Turm | Frankfurt | 120 | 394 | Constructed in 1961, demolished in 2013 |
Tallest structure by function
Tallest buildings
Up until the late 1990s, the definition of “tallest building” was not altogether clear. It was generally understood to be the height of the building to the top of its architectural elements including spires, but not including "temporary" structures, which could be added or changed relatively easily without requiring major changes to the building's design. Other criteria for height measurement generally were not considered, which occasionally caused some controversy.One historic case involved the building now famous for the Times Square Ball. Known as One Times Square, it was the headquarters for The New York Times, which gave Times Square its name. Completed in 1905, it reached a height of to its roof, or including its rooftop flagpole, which the Times hoped would give it a record high status. But because a flagpole is not an integral architectural part of a building, One Times Square was not generally considered to be taller than the Park Row Building in Lower Manhattan, which was therefore still New York's tallest.
A bigger controversy was the rivalry between two New York skyscrapers built in the Roaring Twenties — the Chrysler Building and the Bank of Manhattan Trust Building, now called the Trump Building but better known as 40 Wall Street. The latter was tall, had a shorter pinnacle, and had a much higher top occupied floor. In contrast, the Chrysler Building employed a very long spire secretly assembled inside the building to claim the title of world's tallest building with a total height of, despite having a lower top occupied floor and a shorter height when both buildings' spires are not counted in their heights. Although the architects of record for 40 Wall were H. Craig Severance and Yasuo Matsui, the firm of Shreve & Lamb served as consulting architects. They wrote a newspaper article claiming that 40 Wall was actually the tallest, since it contained the world's highest usable floor. They pointed out that the observation deck of 40 Wall was nearly higher than the top floor of the Chrysler, whose surpassing spire was strictly ornamental and essentially inaccessible. Despite the protest, the Chrysler Building was generally accepted as the tallest building in the world for almost a year, until it was surpassed by the Empire State Building’s in 1931.
That was in turn surpassed by the twin towers of New York’s original World Trade Center in 1972, which were in turn surpassed by the Sears Tower in Chicago in 1974. Now called the Willis Tower it was to its flat rooftop, or including its original antennas. But in 1978 One World Trade Center attained a taller absolute height when it added its new broadcasting antenna, for a total height of. The WTC north tower maintained this height record from 1978 until 2000, when the owners of the Willis Tower extended its broadcasting antennae for a total height of. Thus the status of the Willis Tower as the “totally” tallest was restored in the face of a new threat looming in the Far East — the “Siamese Twins.”
A major controversy erupted upon completion of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998. These twin towers, at, had a higher architectural height, but a lower absolute pinnacle height and a lower top occupied floor than the Willis Tower in Chicago. Counting buildings as structures with floors throughout, and with antenna masts excluded, the Willis was still considered the tallest at that time. Excluding their spires, which are higher than the flat roof of Willis, the Petronas Towers are not taller than Willis. At their convention in Chicago, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat found the Willis Tower to be the third-tallest building, and the Petronas Towers to be the world's two tallest buildings.
Responding to the ensuing controversy, the CTBUH then revised their criteria and defined four categories in which the world's tallest building can be measured, retaining the old criterion of height to architectural top, and adding three new categories:
- Height to Architectural Top. This measurement is the most widely used and is used to define the rankings of the 100 Tallest Buildings in the World.
- Highest Occupied Floor
- Height to Top of Roof
- Height to Tip
The height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance. At the time, the Willis Tower held first place in the second and third categories, the Petronas Towers held the first category, and the original WTC north tower held the fourth category with its antenna. In 2000, however, a new antenna mast was placed on the Willis Tower, giving it the record in the fourth category. On April 20, 2004, the 101-storey Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, was completed, taking the world record for the first three categories. On July 21, 2007, it was announced that Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE, had surpassed Taipei 101. Since its completion in early 2010, Burj Khalifa leads in all categories with its spire height of.
Before Burj Khalifa was completed, Willis Tower led in the height-to-tip category with after its antenna was extended in 2000, making Willis Tower slightly taller height-to-tip than the WTC north tower's antenna that measured. After the September 11, 2001, attacks, the WTC became the world's tallest two buildings to be destroyed or demolished. They took that distinction from the Singer Building, which stood tall until the late 1960s where One Liberty Plaza now stands right across Church Street from the WTC site.
A different superlative for skyscrapers is their number of floors. The original World Trade Center set that record at 110 in the early 1970s, and this was not surpassed until the Burj Khalifa opened in 2010.
Structures such as the CN Tower, the Ostankino Tower and the Oriental Pearl Tower are excluded from these categories because they are not "habitable buildings", which are defined as frame structures made with floors and walls throughout.
History of record holders in each CTBUH">Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat">CTBUH category
Tallest freestanding structures on land
Freestanding structures must not be supported by guy wires, the sea or other types of support. It therefore does not include guyed masts, partially guyed towers and drilling platforms but does include towers, skyscrapers and chimneys.The world's tallest freestanding structure on land is defined as the tallest self-supporting artificial structure that stands above ground. This definition is different from that of world's tallest building or world's tallest structure based on the percentage of the structure that is occupied and whether or not it is self-supporting or supported by exterior cables. Likewise, this definition does not count structures that are built underground or on the seabed, such as the Petronius Platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Visit world's tallest structure by category for a list of various other definitions.
The tallest freestanding structure on land is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The building surpassed the height of the previous record holder, the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, on September 12, 2007. It was completed in 2010, with final height of.
History
The following is a list of structures that have held the title as the tallest freestanding structure on land.| Record from | Record held | Name and location | Constructed | Height | Height | Coordinates | Notes |
| c. 10000 BC | 2000 | Göbekli Tepe, Anatolia | c. 10000 BC | 5-6 | 18 | The earliest temple of humankind. | |
| c. 8000 BC | 4000 | Tower of Jericho, West Bank | c. 8000 BC | 8.5 | 28 | ||
| c. 4000 BC | 1350 | Anu Ziggurat, Uruk | c. 4000 BC | 13 | 40 | ||
| c. 2650 BC | 40 | Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt | c. 2650 BC | 62 | 203 | ||
| c. 2610 BC | 5 | Meidum Pyramid in Egypt | c. 2610 BC | 93.5 | 307 | Shortly after completion Meidum Pyramid collapsed due to bad design/instability and is now. | |
| c. 2605 BC | 5 | Bent Pyramid in Egypt | c. 2605 BC | 101.1 | 332 | Angle of slope decreased during construction to avoid collapse. | |
| c. 2600 BC | 40 | Red Pyramid of Sneferu, Egypt | c. 2600 BC | 105 | 345 | ||
| c. 2560 BC | 3871 | Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt | c. 2560 BC | 146 | 481 | By 1647, the Great Pyramid had eroded to a height of approximately. | |
| 1311 | 238 | Lincoln Cathedral in England | 1092–1311 | 160 | 525 | The central spire was destroyed in a storm in 1549. While the reputed height of is accepted by most sources, others consider it doubtful | |
| 1549 | 20 | St. Mary's Church in Stralsund, Germany | 1384–1478 | 151 | 495 | ||
| 1569 | 4 | Beauvais Cathedral in France | 1225–1604 | 153 | 502 | Spire collapsed in 1573 ; today, the church stands at a height of. | |
| 1573 | 94 | St. Mary's Church in Stralsund, Germany | 1384–1478 | 151 | 495 | The spire burnt down after a lightning strike in 1647. The current spire's height is. | |
| 1647 | 227 | Strasbourg Cathedral in France | 1439 | 142 | 469 | By 1647, the Great Pyramid had eroded to a height of approximately hence Strasbourg Cathedral was higher. | |
| 1874 | 2 | St. Nikolai in Hamburg, Germany | 1846–1874 | 147 | 483 | ||
| 1876 | 4 | Cathédrale Notre Dame in Rouen, France | 1202–1876 | 151 | 495 | ||
| 1880 | 4 | Cologne Cathedral in Germany | 1248–1880 | 157 | 515 | ; | |
| 1884 | 5 | Washington Monument in Washington D.C., United States | 1884 | 169 | 555 | The world's tallest all-stone structure, as well as the tallest obelisk-form structure. | |
| 1889 | 41 | Eiffel Tower in Paris, France | 1887–1889 | 300 | 986 | First structure to exceed 300 metres in height. The addition of a telecommunications tower in the 1950s brought the overall height to. | |
| 1930 | 1 | Chrysler Building in New York, United States | 1928–1930 | 319 | 1,046 | ||
| 1931 | 36 | Empire State Building in New York, United States | 1930–1931 | 381 | 1,250 | First building with 100+ storeys. The addition of a pinnacle and antennas later increased its overall height to. This was subsequently lowered to. | |
| 1967 | 8 | Ostankino Tower in Moscow, Soviet Union | 1963–1967 | 540 | 1,762 | Remains the tallest in Europe. Fire in 2000 led to extensive renovation. | |
| 1975 | 32 | CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada | 1973–1976 | 553 | 1,815 | The tallest in the Western Hemisphere. | |
| 2007 | present | Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates | 2004–2009 | 829.8 | 2,722 | Holder of world's tallest freestanding structure. Topped out at in 2009. |
Notable mentions include the Pharos of Alexandria, built in the third century BC and estimated between. It was the world's tallest non-pyramidal structure for many centuries. Another notable mention includes the Jetavanaramaya stupa in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, which was built in the third century, and was similarly tall at. These were both the world's tallest or second-tallest non-pyramidal structure for over a thousand years.
The tallest secular building between the collapse of the Pharos and the erection of the Washington Monument may have been the Torre del Mangia in Siena, which is tall, and was constructed in the first half of the fourteenth century, and the Torre degli Asinelli in Bologna, also Italy, built between 1109 and 1119.
World's highest observation deck
Timeline of development of world's highest observation deck since inauguration of Eiffel Tower.Higher observation decks have existed on mountain tops or cliffs, rather than on tall structures. The Grand Canyon Skywalk, constructed in 2007, protrudes over the west rim of the Grand Canyon and is approximately above the Colorado River, making it the highest of these types of structures.
Timeline of guyed structures on land
As most of the tallest structures are guyed masts, here is a timeline of world's tallest guyed masts, since the beginning of radio technology.As many large guyed masts were destroyed at the end of World War II, the dates for the years between 1945 and 1950 may be incorrect. If Wusung Radio Tower survived World War II, it was the tallest guyed structure shortly after World War II.
Tallest towers
Towers include observation towers, monuments and other structures not generally considered to be "habitable buildings", they are meant for "regular access by humans, but not for living in or office work, and are self-supporting or freestanding, which means no guy-wires for support", meaning it excludes from this list of continuously habitable buildings and skyscrapers as well as radio and TV masts.Bridge towers or pylons, chimneys, transmission towers, and most large statues allow human access for maintenance, but not as part of their normal operation, and are therefore not considered to be towers.
The Tokyo Skytree, completed in February 2012, is, making it the tallest tower, and second-tallest freestanding structure in the world.
History of tallest tower
The following is a list of structures that have historically held the title as the tallest towers in the world.| From | To | Tower | Town | Pinnacle height |
| 280 BC | 1180 AD | Pharos Lighthouse | Alexandria, Egypt | 122 m |
| 1180 | 1240 | Malmesbury Abbey Tower | Malmesbury, UK | 131.3 m |
| 1240 | 1311 | Tower of Old St Paul's Cathedral | London, UK | 150 m |
| 1311 | 1549 | Tower of Lincoln Cathedral | Lincoln, UK | 159.7 m |
| 1549 | 1647 | Tower of St Mary's church | Stralsund, Germany | 151 m |
| 1647 | 1874 | Tower of Strasbourg Cathedral | Strasbourg, France | 142 m |
| 1874 | 1876 | Tower of St. Nikolai | Hamburg, Germany | 147 m |
| 1876 | 1880 | Tower of Rouen Cathedral | Rouen, France | 151 m |
| 1880 | 1889 | Tower of Cologne Cathedral | Cologne, Germany | 157.38 m |
| 1889 | 1958 | Eiffel Tower | Paris, France | 312.3 m |
| 1958 | 1967 | Tokyo Tower | Tokyo, Japan | 332.6 m |
| 1967 | 1975 | Ostankino Tower | Moscow, Russia | 540.1 m |
| 1975 | 2010 | CN Tower | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | 553.33 m |
| 2010 | 2011 | Canton Tower | Guangzhou, China | 600 m |
| 2011 | present | Tokyo Skytree | Tokyo, Japan | 634 m |
Tallest structures, freestanding structures, and buildings
The list categories are:- The structures list uses pinnacle height and includes architectural structures of any type that might use some external support constructions like cables and are fully built in air. Only the three tallest are listed, as more than fifty US TV masts have stated heights of.
- The structures list uses pinnacle height and includes architectural structures of any type that are not totally built in the air but are using support from other, denser media like salt water. All structures greater than are listed.
- The freestanding structures list uses pinnacle height and includes structures over that do not use guy-wires or other external supports. This means truly free standing on its own or, in similar sense, non-supported structures.
- The building list uses architectural height and includes only buildings, defined as consisting of habitable floors. Both of these follow CTBUH guidelines. All supertall buildings are listed.
- Eight buildings appear on the freestanding structures category list with heights different from another category. This is due to the different measurement specifications of those lists.
- Only current heights and, where reasonable, target heights are listed. Historical heights of structures that no longer exist, for example, for having collapsed, are excluded.