Actually this church First United Methodist, in Chicago is the tallest at 173 meters (568 feet).
Take it up with Wikipedia (and emporis, for that matter, where many of the links in this thread refer). Both list the Chicago Temple Building as a church building, but say that the tallest actual church is the Ulmer Münster.
Another vote for the Petronas Twin Towers.
There may be endless debate and argument over the title ‘tallest structure’ or ‘tallest building’. But when the Petronas people get bored with this debate, they can simply shrug and say, okay, ours is the tallest TWINNED structure in the world, and there’s no debate.
The Towers look great, hail, rain or shine, day or night. And remember they are not just masts or transmitter towers - people work there, every day.
The Towers were built in their own urban ‘park’ which is a truly beautiful area, kept immaculately clean and tidy, and where lots of people, day and evening, like to just walk around and hang out. And it’s in KL, so it’s calm and peaceful and friendly with very little crime to worry about.
Inside the ‘base’ of the Twin Towers is the KLCC, the Kuala Lumpur Central City shopping mall and entertainment complex. I know it seems a bit trite to get all enthusiastic about a shopping mall, but it’s vast, it’s beautiful, it’s got a great buzz and atmosphere inside, there’s great shopping to be had inside (not just all the familiar chains) and you can eat and drink in grand style, with a rich variety of cuisine on offer all the time.
They got a lot of things right when they created the Twin Towers. And I’ve seen the view from the 86th floor, and it’s spectacular beyond words.
The little known Monadnock Building in Chicago. I worked there during its renovation (ye gads, has it been 20 years ago already??) and watching the mosaic floor being restored was amazing. There used to be an real barber shop (not hair salon!) there with the old chairs and everything. You could watch the guy sharpen his razor on a strap like in the Andy Griffith show. Don’t know if he’s still there tho - he was probably pushed out by a wine bar.
I love one that will not be built, dammit: this 100-year-old plan by Gaudi, which was very briefly proposed to replace the World Trade Center, instead of the piece of crap that will eventually go up (fortunately, probably not till I’m long dead).
The Gaudi tower looks oddly like Robby the Robot.
Fur the curious, a visual timeline of the world’s tallest skyscrapes. Click on the red dots for more info.
The Illinois. The Mile-High Illinois.
Aaaand…I see ralph124c beat me to it. :smack:
It is utterly insane that no one has professed supreme love for the Empire State Building yet, so I will do it. It is the quintessential skyscraper. The Chrysler Building, by comparison, is the architectural equivalent of a fifty-cent whore wearing too much lipstick, jewelry and perfume.*
- Kidding, kidding. But I’m trying to make a point here.
I’m a fan of the Williamsburgh Bank Building. It’s currently the tallest building in Brooklyn, but probably not for much longer.
Ok, that’s true but why didn’t they make them the two tallest buildings in the world with no contest if it was that important to them. I always got the impression that the Malaysians were dirty cheaters in the tallest building race. They clearly aren’t except by grasping at the smallest technicalities.
Look at this scale drawing and see what the dirty little bastards were trying to pull. Sears tower all the way. They should have just paid for an extra 100 feet and won it fair and square. People fell for it for a while but then the truth started coming out and now we have this multi-tiered tallest building award. Nope. They crapped out and deserve no more than the building the convenience store down the street is in.
I like both, but I definitely prefer the Empire State. It’s probably my favourite of them all. I can’t find a decent pic online.
My favourite local one is the - these days somewhat diminutive - AMP Building (left of the pic) at Circular Quay in Sydney. Once the city’s tallest building, and our first “skyscraper”, it was completed in 1962, and it’s design era really shows, but in a good way. The face of the thing is quite concave when you see it in the flesh.
Excellent choice there delphica. I like your style!
Why, thank you. That makes me happy that I refrained from starting my post with my first thought, which was to respond to your statement:
with:
That’s 'cause BROOKLYN’S IN THE HOUSE! But, that might be taking the borough thing a little far. 
Actually, I do also love the Empire State Building. After all, we’re the Empire State! Gotta love naming the building after our oddly abstract state nickname, which always makes me worry we are on the verge of colonizing India.
delphica, just one minor nitpick while we’re on the topic. It is the Williamsburgh Savings Bank. Being a native Brooklynite, I like to get details like that right. BTW – at least as of the 1970s – the WSB had the tallest 4-faced clock in the world. Don’t know if that is still the case, however.
You, sir, are correct about the name, thanks for the catch. I do not know if the clocks are still the tallest set of 4, but that would be interesting to find out. I am especially fond of the clocks because they are usually slightly off the correct time. I can see one clock face from my apartment, and pass another side on my way to and from work every day. Sometimes they are right, more often they are off by a few minutes, although never much more than 10 minutes. The two faces I monitor are sometimes synchronized, but not necessarily. For years now, I’ve been trying to find a pattern … they don’t seem to lose or gain time incrementally, I’m almost convinced some guy in the clock tower just likes to mess with my head.
I agree with the Empire State Building as being the greatest and most amazingly constructed, but the Chrysler Building would be #2 on my list.
While I grieved deeply for the destruction of the Twin Towers to the Terror events of 9/11 and the loss of life on that day of infamy, the buildings themselves were soulless glass boxes built of inferior material and having no style. I love the grace of the classic stepped Manhattan buildings.
I was just driving through Orlando and I commented to my wife that I love the fact that their newish Tall buildings have some style and very few plain glass boxes.
Jim
I disagree about the WTC. The twin towers weren’t beautiful in the way that the Empire State is, but they looked pretty dang good. It’s a whole different vibe though. They were macho and aggressive, and they did it well.
The Burj Dubai is going to be pretty freakin’ good looking by the time it comes up.
I’ve always liked 1000 de la Gauchetière, downtown Montréal. It doesn’t have the old architecture or the awesome heights of some other buildings mentionned in this tread, but I’ve always loved the look of it as I approached Montréal as a kid. Now that I live here, I get to see it more often, and it still makes me smile.
And although it’s not technically a skyscraper, the Big O (or Big Owe, as it’s commonly refered to!) is another great Montréal skyline view.
<a href=“Turning Torso - Wikipedia”>Turning Torso</a> is less well-known but still way cool, IMO.