25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Empire State Building, New York – Height: 437 meters.
Cost to build: $41 million.
Completion date: May 1, 1931.
Fast fact: The Empire State Building took only one year and 45 days to build, or 7 million man hours -- a record to this day for a skyscraper of its height. Its glory days are numbered though -- developers in China just broke ground on the world's tallest building, Sky City, with plans to whip it up in just 10 months.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
China Central Television Headquarters, Beijing – Height: 234 meters.
Cost to build: $600 million.
Completion date: 2012.
Fast fact: A building in the CCTV complex was badly damaged during a fire ignited by fireworks.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Commerzbank Headquarters, Frankfurt, Germany – Height: 300.1 meters.
Cost to build: $414 million.
Completion date: 1997.
Fast fact: There's no observatory or open area on top. The public can only get as far as the plaza level.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
The Shard, London – Height: 310 meters.
Cost to build: $666 million.
Completion date: November 2012.
Fast fact: Architect Renzo Piano made the first rough sketch of The Shard on the back of a restaurant menu in Berlin in 2000.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Elephant Tower, Bangkok – Height: 102 meters.
Cost to build: N/A.
Completion date: 1997.
Fast fact: The elephant is Thailand's national animal; it appeared on the national flag when the country was known as Siam.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Chrysler Building, New York – Height: 320 meters.
Cost to build: $15-20 million.
Completion date: May 1930.
Fast fact: The building became the tallest in the world when architect William van Alen added a surprise 186-foot spire to the top, beating the Eiffel Tower and another skyscraper being built at the same time on Wall Street.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Bitexco Financial Tower, Ho Chi Minh City – Height: 262 meters.
Cost to build: $220 million.
Completion date: October 31, 2010.
Fast fact: Bitexco Financial Tower's helipad on the 52nd floor juts out 22 meters.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea – Height: 330 meters.
Cost to build: $750 million.
Completion date: N/A.
Fast fact: The hotel has held the Guinness World Record for world's tallest unoccupied building for an unenviable 21 years.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco – Height: 260 meters.
Cost to build: $32 million.
Completion date: 1972.
Fast fact: When the Transamerica Pyramid's three years of construction began in 1969, signs around the site proclaimed it "a San Francisco landmark since 1972."
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong – Height: 367.4 meters.
Cost to build: N/A.
Completion date: May 1990.
Fast fact: The building was criticized by feng shui masters for its sharp corners, which, they claimed, would bring bad luck to its neighbors (notably the HSBC main building).
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Kingdom Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Height: 302 meters.
Cost to build: $1 billion.
Completion date: 2002.
Fast fact: Riyadh's building code forbids any building to have more than 30 usable floors, but doesn't impose height restrictions.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur – Height: 452 meters.
Cost to build: $1.6 billion.
Completion date: June 1996.
Fast fact: National poet laureate A. Samad Said was commissioned to write a poem for Malaysia's tallest towers.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Tokyo Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, Tokyo – Height: 204 meters.
Cost to build: N/A.
Completion date: October 2008.
Fast fact: As the name suggests, the Tokyo Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower resembles the silky home of various larvae. Students are said to be educated inside the 50-level tower and metaphorically transformed into something bigger and more beautiful.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai – Height: 492 meters.
Cost to build: $1.2 billion.
Completion date: August 2008.
Fast fact: The square "bottle opener" opening at the top is designed to reduce stress of wind pressure, and was originally circular. However, Shanghainese citizens and the city's mayor protested, claiming it was too similar to the rising sun design of the Japanese flag.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Hotel & Casino Grand Lisboa, Macau – Height: 261 meters.
Cost to build: $385 million.
Completion date: 2008.
Fast Fact: Designed by Hong Kong architects Dennis Lau and Ng Chun Man, the golden structure combines the visual effects of crystals, fireworks and the long plumes of a Brazilian headdress -- all symbols of prosperity to guide the money home.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Bahrain World Trade Center, Manama, Bahrain – Height: 240 meters.
Cost to build: $150 million.
Completion date: 2008.
Fast fact: Upon completion, this was the world's first wind-powered mega-structure.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Two International Finance Center, Hong Kong – Height: 415 meters.
Cost to build: $2.5 billion.
Completion date: August 2008.
Fast facts: Two International Financial Center is the definitive point of Hong Kong's skyline and a symbol of its wealth. In "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life," Lara Croft leaped off the building.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Burj al Arab, Dubai, U.A.E. – Height: 321 meters.
Cost to build: $650 million.
Completion date: December 1999.
Fast fact: The hotel is not, nor does it claim to be, a seven-star hotel. That famed designation was dreamed up by a creative journalist when touring the property.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan – Height: 508 meters.
Cost to build: $1.8 billion.
Completion date: 2004.
Fast fact: The building is designed to resemble a growing bamboo stalk, a symbol of everlasting strength in Chinese culture.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Torre Agbar, Barcelona, Spain – Height: 142 meters.
Cost to build: $130 million.
Completion date: 2004.
Fast fact: The design is inspired by a geyser, shooting up to touch the sky above Barcelona.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Burj Khalifa, Dubai, U.A.E. – Height: 828 meters.
Cost to build: $1.5 billion.
Completion date: January 2009.
Fast fact: Not only is this currently the world's tallest building, it's home to the world's highest mosque, on the 158th floor. The tower is more than twice the height of the Empire State Building in New York.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
30 St. Mary Axe, London – Height: 180 meters.
Cost to build: $212 million.
Completion date: 2003.
Fast fact: Despite its curvaceous body, the entire building only has one piece of curved glass in its construction -- the lens at the top of the building.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Turning Torso, Malmo, Sweden – Height: 190 meters.
Cost to build: $80 million.
Completion date: 2005.
Fast fact: In line with Sweden's low-emission promise, the tallest residential building in the country is supplied with 100% locally produced renewable energy.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
One World Trade Center, New York – Height: 541 meters.
Cost to build: $3.9 billion.
Completion date: May 2013.
Fast fact: The height of 1,776 feet is a symbolic reference to the year in which the United States' Declaration of Independence was signed.
25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore – Height: 194 meters.
Cost to build: $6.3 billion.
Opening date: April 2010.
Fast fact: Marina Bay Sands is one of the world's most expensive standalone casino properties, with total construction costs estimated at more than $6 billion.
