I recently read that the world’s tallest building is in Indonesia? Is this correct?
Petronas Towers; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
I believe it’s the twin Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
Yes, that’s what I meant! I got my “…esia” crossed with “…ysia”. Whatever…
Thanks, y’all!
- Jinx
World tallest building is a strange animal. Petronas Towers are considered the tallest buildings in the world, however the top floor of the Sears Tower is quite a bit higher than the top floor of Petronas. However, spires are considered when the height of a building is concerned so Petronas maxes out a whopping 10 metres taller.
Chicago will once again own the tallest-building honor upon completion of 7 South Dearborn. But, the contest is not over.
If you go to the Sears Tower they still claim the title of world’s tallest (whether that is official or just them I couldn’t say).
The deal is, as already mentioned, that the Petronas Towers are taller only by virtue of the spire placed atop the building. The Sears Tower claimed this was unfair since their antennas give them the edge again but the official ruling was the antennas were not part of the structure while the spires were.
In 1997 the Council on Tall Buildings came up with four criteria for tallest building:
- Height to the structural or architectural top.
- Height to the highest occupied floor.
- Height to the top of the roof.
- Height to the top of antenna.
Petronas wins on point #1 but I think the Sears Tower wins on the rest ( this site [also my source for above criteria] says the Sears Tower only wins points 2 & 3 but makes no mention of who wins 4…I can’t imagine any other building that would beat it though unless you count space needles).
It seems apparent that Sears should probably hold the title since it seems to win in the most notable categories (i.e. how far can you get off the ground in one) and it wins in more categories than any other building. Nevertheless the Petronas Towers are now regularly referred to as the tallest.
Wow. If you followed Philistine’s second link, there’s that mention of the Bionic Tower. 4,000+ ft high? 300 stories? How serious is that…
Interesting…the second link here includes a top ten list that is dated as being updated on July, 2001, yet it does not include the World Trade Center. IIRC the WTC, when it was up, just barely missed the Sears Tower for the tallest building title and should certainly have been on any top ten list in July, 2001.
Here’s Cecil’s column on this topic:
Is the world’s tallest building in North Korea?,
and here’s the resulting heated discussion from the Comments on Cecil’s column forum:
Tallest Buildings
Arjuna34
Is this building under construction already? Because buildings that tall probably take at least 3 years, if not longer, to build. Also, according to skyscrapers.com the 7 South Dearborn building is in the ‘Never Built’ category. Does anybody have current information on its status?
I’m pretty sure that #4 was held by the WTC. I think the WTC was the reason they came up with #4. But since it’s now moot, I won’t knock myself out looking for a cite. 
Whack-a-Mole, that list is certainly screwed up. The “Amoco Building” in Chicago listed #10 is now called the AON Building and has been prior to “July 2001” as their table cites. It makes no mention of the WTC, which IIRC were #4 at one time, though perhaps this is due to the attacks and they didn’t change the date on the table.
Here’s what seems to be a much better link, however it also still has the AON Building named as Amoco.
Regarding the antenna thing. For years the Sears Tower’s top floor and antenna were the heighest in the world (for buildings, not including the CN tower). In 1999 or so, the WTC-1 increased its antenna by several meters and surpassed the Sears Tower. I believe it was for HD-TV broadcast ability. For about 3 months the WTC was the winner of #4, until the Sears Tower made the same improvements to its antenna for HD-TV and took back the title. Odds are that your source dates back to either than that 3 month or so window, or perhaps it simply wasn’t aware of the Sears Tower’s addition. Nevertheless, right now, the Sears Tower is has the highest antenna in the world on a building.
The financing fell through on 7 North Dearborn earlier this year. It is not nearing completion. The old building on that site still stands, although it is empty and surrounded by scaffolding and looks like it will be torn down soon.
The Sears Tower is the tallest building in the world. I don’t care what some spire-lovers in Malaysia think. 
I believe that the Sears Tower holds 3 of the top 4 categories for tallest building (tallest occupied floor, tallest building including antenna, height to the top of the roof, height to the structural or architectural top.) With the WTC terrorism, the only category Sears does not lead is height to the structural or architectural top. So 3 out of 4 sounds like tops to me!
Here’s a good site for all of you skyscraper fans: http://www.skyscraperpage.com
Years agao I read that F.L. Wright prposed building a mile-high skyscraper. Is such a tall building feasible? In view of the sept. 11 disaster, will higher skyscrapers EVER be built in the USA?
pERONALLY, i WOULD LOVE TO SEE US BUILD HIGHER SKYSCRAPERS-IT WOULD SOLVE THE CONGESTION PROBLEMS OF THE CITIES.
Well, everything on SOM’s web site gives one the impression that the 7 South Dearborn project is still on. But this Chicago Sun-Times article, dated July 11, 2001, says it’s not likely, though the developer would still like to build it. Then again, given what happened on 9/11, they’re probably having second thoughts, so who knows.
Here’s a link on Frank Lloyd Wright’s mile-high tower.
And shame on Howstuffworks.com for the misinformation. I was too busy reading the article and didn’t even notice their 10-tallest list. Ack.
Part of the reason they don’t think it is feasible to build “Mile High Chicago” IS congestion. All the people who would work and live there (could be 100,000) would cause the Mother of all traffic jams.
But it is apparently feasible, engineering-wise.
The Master speaks on this issue:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000929.html
There was a very long thread about the tallest building in Comments About Cecil’s Column.
And don’t even try bringing up the issue of the CN Tower. It’s been talked to death.
Sorry, I didn’t notice Arjuna34’s earlier post about the column and subsequent debate.