The World’s 10 Tallest Towers Under Construction

The World’s 10 Tallest Towers Under Construction: "

Earlier this week the Architectural Record posted a slideshow of the tallest buildings going up around the world. Tall new buildings are great for cities, as the above picture suggests, because they immediately bestow serenity and greenery upon their surroundings, whilst sparkling in the eternal sunlight. The list of the ten tallest under construction comes via the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Drumroll please …

1. India Tower (Mumbai): 2,362 feet, 125 floors. Completion date: 2016


2. Ping An International Finance Center Tower 1 (above, Shenzhen, China): 2,165 feet, 115 floors. Completion date: 2015


3. Shanghai Tower (Shanghai): 2,074 feet, 128 floors. Completion date: 2014


4. Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel (Makkah, Saudia Arabia): 1,972 feet, 95 floors. Completion date: 2011


5. Goldin Finance 117 (Tianjin, China): 1,959 feet, 117 floors. Completion date: 2015


6. Doha Convention Center Tower (Doha, Qatar): 1,808 feet, 112 floors. Construction currently stopped.


7. One World Trade Center (New York): 1,776 feet, 105 floors. Completion date: 2013


8. Chow Tai Fook Centre (Guangzhou, China): 1,739 feet, 116 floors. Completion date: 2016


9. Dalian Greenland Center (Dalian, China): 1,699 feet, 108 floors. Completion date: 2016


10. Pentominium (Dubai): 1,692 feet, 122 floors. Completion date: 2013

While none of these buildings approaches the world’s tallest — the Burj Khalifa, at 2,717 feet — their completion would entirely recast the rest of the ten tallest buildings in the world. Even the shortest building listed above will stand taller than the world’s current number two: the Taipei 101. Of course, as Architectural Record points out, tall building plans are subject to the ebb and flow of the global economy:

As might be expected during a prolonged downturn, plans for huge new record-setting skyscrapers have been delayed or flat-out scrapped, from the 91-story Dubai Towers in Qatar to the 84-story Faros de Panama in Panama. Here in the United States, Santiago Calatrava’s Chicago Spire, which at 2,000 feet was to be the world’s tallest apartment building, was nixed last year.

Still, most of the above seem on track. Half of the towers-in-progress are located in China, underscoring the country’s ambitious infrastructure and urban planning program. The buildings will be integrated into the country’s expanding rail system: the Chow Tai Fook Centre, for instance, will be serviced by three subway lines and a commuter line. Of the estimated 25,000 people that will enter the building each day, up to 90 percent will reach it by bus or train. Only one of the buildings is going up in the United States, but six of the ten were conceived by American design firms.

Image: Thornton Tomasetti

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