Great Skyscrapers Around The

World

Skyscrapers’ History/Inside

A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building.

There is no official definition nor height above which a building may clearly be classified as a skyscraper.

Most cities consider even a building of 262 feet a skyscraper if it projects above its built environment and changes the overall skyline.

The first skyscraper was the ten-storey Home Insurance Building in Chicago, built in 1884–1885.

Location: Paris, FranceCompletion Date: 1889Cost: $1.5 millionHeight: 986 feetMaterials: Wrought ironEngineer(s): Gustave Eiffel

Eiffel Tower

Location: New York, New York, USACompletion Date: 1930Cost: $20 millionHeight: 1,046 feetStories: 77Materials: SteelFacing Materials: BrickEngineer(s): Ralph Squire & Sons

Chrysler Building

Location: New York, New York, USACompletion Date: 1977Cost: $175 millionHeight: 915 feetStories: 59Materials: SteelFacing Materials: Aluminum, reflective glassEngineer(s): William LeMessurier and Associates

Citicorp Center

Location: New York, New York, USACompletion Date: 1931Cost: $41 millionHeight: 1,250 feetStories: 102Materials: SteelFacing Materials: Limestone, granite, brickEngineer(s): H.G. Balcom

Empire State Building

Location: Los Angeles, California, USACompletion Date: 1990Cost: $350 millionHeight: 1,018 feetStories: 75Materials: Concrete, steelFacing Materials: Granite, glassEngineer(s): CBM Engineers

First Interstate World Center (Library Tower)

Location: Chicago, Illinois, USACompletion Date: 1885 (demolished in 1931)Height: 138 feetStories: 10Materials: SteelFacing Materials: BrickEngineer(s): William LeBaron Jenney

Home Insurance Building

Location: Chicago, Illinois, USACompletion Date: 1969Height: 1,127 feetStories: 100Materials: SteelFacing Materials: Aluminum, glassEngineer(s): Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

John Hancock Center

Location: Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaCompletion Date: 1998Cost: $1.6 billionHeight: 1,483 feetStories: 88Materials: Concrete, SteelFacing Materials: Aluminum, Stainless SteelEngineer(s): Thornton-Tomasetti and Ranhill Bersekutu

Petronas Towers

Location: Chicago, IllinoisCompletion Date: 1973Cost: $150 millionHeight: 1,454 feetStories: 110Materials: SteelFacing Materials: Black aluminumEngineer(s): Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Sears Tower

Location: New York, New York, USACompletion Date: 1972 (Tower One), 1973 (Tower Two)Cost: $400 millionHeight: 1,368 feet (Tower One), 1,362 feet (Tower Two)Stories: 110Materials: SteelFacing Materials: Aluminum, steelEngineer(s): Skilling, Helle, Christiansen & Robertson

World Trade Center