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Skyscraper

For other uses, see Skyscraper (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Highrise.

Completed in 2009, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is currently the tallest building in the world, with a height of 829.8 meters (2,722 ft). The setbacks at various heights are a typical skyscraper feature.

A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least 100 meters (330 ft)[1] or 150 meters (490 ft)[2] in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise buildings. Historically, the term first referred to buildings with between 10 and 20 stories when these types of buildings began to be constructed in the 1880s.[3] Skyscrapers may host offices, hotels, residential spaces, and retail spaces.

One common feature of skyscrapers is having a steel frame that supports curtain walls. This idea was invented by Viollet le Duc in his discourses on architecture.[4] These curtain walls either bear on the framework below or are suspended from the framework above, rather than resting on load-bearing walls of conventional construction. Some early skyscrapers have a steel frame that enables the construction of load-bearing walls taller than of 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 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 setbacks, which in some cases is also structurally required.

As of September 2023, fourteen cities in the world have more than 100 skyscrapers that are 150 m (492 ft) or taller: Hong Kong with 552 skyscrapers; Shenzhen, China with 373 skyscrapers; New York City, US with 314 skyscrapers; Dubai, UAE with 252 skyscrapers; Guangzhou, China with 188 skyscrapers; Shanghai, China with 183 skyscrapers; Tokyo, Japan with 168 skyscrapers; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with 156 skyscrapers; Wuhan, China with 149 skyscrapers; Chongqing, China, with 144 skyscrapers; Chicago, US, with 137 skyscrapers; Chengdu, China with 117 skyscrapers; Jakarta, Indonesia, with 112 skyscrapers; and Bangkok, Thailand, with 111 skyscrapers.[5]

  1. ^ "Skyscraper, Emporis Standards". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  2. ^ "What is a Skyscraper?". Theb1m.com. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  3. ^ Petruzzello, Melissa. "Skyscraper". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 21 February 2022. 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.
  4. ^ Hoffmann, Donald (1969). "Frank Lloyd Wright and Viollet-le-Duc". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 28 (3): 173–183. doi:10.2307/988556. JSTOR 988556.
  5. ^ "Cities by Number of 150m+ Buildings". The Skyscraper Center. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.