Lykkers, you must all be familiar with skyscrapers. But do you know some interesting facts about them? Let's take a look!
The Empire State Building, the Burj Khalifa, One World Trade Center, the Chrysler Building, and the Sears Tower stand among the world's most renowned skyscrapers. They dominate skylines, imparting a sense of grandeur to cities.
Beholding these colossal architectural marvels can evoke feelings of insignificance or inspire one to pursue lofty aspirations. While their enormity and construction costs are widely acknowledged, let's delve into lesser-known aspects of skyscrapers.
What qualifies a structure as a skyscraper? Which city boasts the highest number of skyscrapers? And what marked the inception of the skyscraper era? Explore these ten fascinating facts about skyscrapers.
1. To qualify as a skyscraper, a building typically requires a minimum of 40 floors. Alternatively, the term "high-rise" may apply, although "skyscraper" is often used for structures exceeding 150 meters or 492 feet.
2.Buildings surpassing 300 meters or 984 feet are termed "Supertall," while those exceeding 600 meters or 1,969 feet are labeled "Megatall."
3.In the late 1800s, a skyscraper had to be at least ten stories tall. The world's inaugural skyscraper, erected in 1885, was Chicago's Home Insurance Building, soaring at 42 meters or 138 feet with ten stories.
4. The Kingdom Tower, eclipsed the Burj Khalifa, becoming the world's tallest skyscraper at over one kilometer or 3,307 feet, with an estimated cost of $1.2 billion.
5. Hong Kong boasts the highest number of skyscrapers globally, with 308, followed by New York City, Dubai, and Shanghai. Chicago and Tokyo share fifth place with 116 each.
6. The Empire State Building, constructed in a mere 410 days over 80 years ago, reigned as the world's tallest edifice for nearly four decades. It was the first structure to exceed 100 floors. By contrast, the Burj Khalifa took 2,185 days for completion, despite being only 2.17 times taller.
7. "Skyscraper Day" on September 3rd commemorates Louis H. Sullivan's birthday, revered as the "father of skyscrapers" for his pioneering designs.
8. Originally, "skyscraper" referred to exceptionally tall individuals in 1857 and towering hats or bonnets in 1800.
9. The Tokyo Tower of Babel, envisioned in 1992 and completed since,, stands as the tallest proposed structure. It was intended to accommodate approximately 30 million people at a cost of 3 quadrillion Yen.
10. In a remarkable feat, a 57-story skyscraper in China was erected in just 19 days, utilizing 2,736 modular units assembled at a staggering pace of three floors per day by the construction company.
If things keep going the way they are, skyscrapers will just keep getting taller. They used to call something a skyscraper if it had like 10 stories, but now it's more like 40. Who knows, in the future, we might see buildings with 70 or even 100 stories becoming the new normal.