40,000 construction workers on strike in UAE

The workers employed with of Arabtec, Dubai's largest construction company involved in many prestigious projects like Burj Dubai, went on strike at its 36 labour camps all across the UAE on November 1, demanding a salary rise of Dh200 (Rs 2000). Strikes are illegal in the UAE. Some 4,500 migrant workers, most of them Indian, downed tools last week, but finally the issue was resolved.

Madinat Al-Hareer - Project to Build World's Tallest Building

The Burj Mubarak Al-Kabir, part of the Madinat Al-Hareer (City of Silk), is planned to soar to a height of 1,001 meters (3,284 ft). Madinat Al-Hareer is an $86 billion dollar project that will include not only the skyscraper but an airport and an expansive desert preserve. The tower will take approximately 25 years to complete.

U.S. Bank Tower

The U.S. Bank Tower (Library Tower, First Interstate World Center) at 633 West Fifth Street in downtown Los Angeles, California, United States is the eighth tallest building in the US, the tallest North American skyscraper west of Chicago, the tallest building in California, and the tallest building with a helipad on the roof (required by the city building code). Standing 1,018 feet (310 m) high, it is also one of the tallest in the world (28th as of 2008). Until the construction of Taipei 101, it was also the tallest structure in a major active seismic region; its structure was designed to resist an earthquake of 8.3 on the Richter Scale. It consists of 73 stories above ground and two parking levels below ground. Construction was started in 1987 and was completed in 1989. The building was designed by Henry N. Cobb of the architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and cost $350 million to build. It is one of the most recognizable buildings[citation needed] in Los Angeles, often used in establishing shots for the city in films and television programs.

Two Prudential Plaza

Two Prudential Plaza is a skyscraper that was built in Chicago in 1990. At 303 m (995 ft) tall, it is the fifth-tallest building in Chicago and the eleventh tallest in the United States. The building was designed by the firm Loebl, Schlossman & Hackl, with Stephen T. Wright as the principal in charge of design. It has also been honored with 8 awards, including winning the Best Structure Award from the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois in 1995.

Tuntex Sky Tower

Tuntex Sky Tower, or the T & C Tower , 85 SKYTOWER, is an 85-floor skyscraper located in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Situated in the downtown Ling Ya district the structure is 348 m (1140 feet) high. An antenna pushes the building height to 378 m. The building was constructed from 1994 to 1996 and opened in 1997. It is the tallest in Kaohsiung, and was the tallest in Taiwan until the completion of Taipei 101. It replaced the Shin Kong Life Tower (244.2 m, 801 ft) as the tallest building in Taiwan when it was completed.

The tower has an unusual 'prong' design with two separate 35-floor sections, these merge into a single central tower rising to a spire. This unique design leaves a substantial space below the central part of the tower. The design was inspired by the Chinese character Kao (or Gao ?), meaning "tall," and also the first character in the city's name.

Shun Hing Square

Shun Hing Square is a tall high-rise building or skyscraper in Shenzhen, China. Its structural height is 384 m (1,260 ft) and has 69 stories. It was completed in 1996 and for one year (from 1996 till 1997), it was the tallest building in China until Guangzhou's CITIC Plaza was completed. It now ranks fourth in China and ninth worldwide in the high-rise ranking.

Shimao International Plaza

Shimao International Plaza is a 333 m (1,093 ft) tall office skyscraper of 60 stories in Shanghai. It was completed in 2005 under the design of Ingenhoven, Overdiek und Partner, East China Architecture and Design Institute.

Shimao International Plaza has two spires on its top, which make its total construction height to 333.3 metres. The building is used for offices, while the top floors house the five-star, ultra-luxurious Le Royal Méridien Shanghai.

Q1

Q1 (meaning Queensland Number One) is a skyscraper located in Surfers Paradise, the tourism hub in Gold Coast, Australia.

At 322.5 metres (1,058 feet), Q1 is the world's tallest all-residential building, when measured to the top of its spire. However, Melbourne's Eureka Tower is taller, and hence the world's tallest, if the buildings are compared on either the height of their roof, or their highest habitable floor.

Q1 overtook the 21st Century Tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates as the world's tallest residential tower. It is the 20th tallest building in the world when measured to its spire, dwarfing the Gold Coast skyline with the closest buildings to Q1's height being the 220 m (722 ft) North Tower of Circle on Cavill and the under construction 240 m (787 ft) Soul building.

The 297 m (975 ft) Eureka Tower apartment building in Melbourne has also been claimed as the tallest building in Australia, and consequently the tallest residential building in the world, because it has more floors and a significantly higher roof than Q1. However, this building lacks any large spire or mast above the roof. According to the ranking system developed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the Eureka Tower qualifies as the taller building in two of the four categories in which heights are ranked, namely Roof Height and Highest Occupied Floor, while Q1 is taller in the other two categories, Pinnacle Height and Architectural Top. For comparison, the Q1 building has its top floor at a height of 235 m (771 ft), some 62 metres (204 ft) lower than Eureka's roof.

Q1 will lose its status as the world's tallest residential building sometime in 2008, when the 395 metre (1,296 ft) 23 Marina in Dubai is completed.

Nina Tower

Nina Tower is a twin tower of 80-storey and 42-storey high-rise building under construction in Tsuen Wan, New Territories, Hong Kong. Currently, the building is topped out, but other work, such as interior finishes have not yet been completed. The original version of this tower[1] was called just Nina Tower and was supposed to be the tallest tower in the world at 518 m or 1,699 ft. However, due to its location near the Chek Lap Kok Airport, the height was restricted down to the current 318.8 m or 1,046 feet. The owner Chinachem Group later changed her plan to break it into two towers. The lower is known as Nina Tower, symbolising the late Nina Wang, aka Nina Kung Wang, or Kung Yu Sum natively, the owner of Chinachem Group; and the higher is Teddy Tower, aka Wang symbolising her husband Teddy Wang, aka Wang Teh Huei natively, who was kidnapped and disappeared. Despite of tower names, the whole development project is under the name of Nina Tower.

New York Times Building

The New York Times Building is a skyscraper on the west side of Midtown Manhattan, New York that was completed in 2007. Its chief tenant is The New York Times Company, publisher of the The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the International Herald Tribune, as well as other regional papers. Construction was a joint venture of The Times Company, Forest City Ratner Companies - the Cleveland-based real estate firm constructing redeveloping the Brooklyn Atlantic rail yards, and ING Real Estate.

Menara Telekom

Menara Telekom (or Menara TM) is the headquarters of Telekom Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.

It is 310m (1,017ft), has 55 floors, and shaped to represent a sprouting "bamboo shoot". It is located along the Federal Highway, Sprint Expressway and Jalan Pantai Baru and is served by the Rapid KL Kerinchi LRT station. It was designed by Hijjas Kasturi Associates and was constructed between 1998 and 2001 by PECD Berhad.

The complex also includes a theatre able to seat a 2,500 audience, a large prayer hall (surau) and a sports facility. A unique feature of the tower is its 22 open skygardens alternating every three floors. The office floors are separated into north and south wings served by express double-deck elevators.

Near the building is Kerinchi Pylon, the tallest electricity pylon in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

Kingdom Centre

Kingdom Centre in Riyadh is the tallest skyscraper in Saudi Arabia. With a height of 302 m (992 ft), it is considered the 37th tallest building in the world. The tower is built on area of 94,230 square meters of land, while the whole centre is built on a total area of 300,000 square meters. The tower is host to the highest mosque in the world.[1]

The Kingdom Centre is owned by Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, a prince of the Saudi royal family. It is also the headquarters of his holding company: Kingdom Holding Company. The total cost of the project was 1.717 billion Saudi Arabian Riyals and the contract was taken by Saudi Arabian Bechtel. Kingdom Centre is situated in Al-Urubah Road between King Fahd Road and Olaya Street in the growing business district of Olaya in Riyadh. Kingdom Centre was the winner of the 2002 Emporis Skyscraper Award, selected as the "best new skyscraper of the year for design and functionality". A three-level shopping center, which also won a major design award, fills the east wing. The large opening is illuminated at night in continuously changing colors.

John Hancock Center

The John Hancock Center at 875 N. Michigan Ave. in Chicago, Illinois, is a 100-story, 344 m (1,127 ft) tall skyscraper designed by structural engineer Fazlur Khan of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. When completed in 1969, it was the tallest building in the world outside New York City. It is the third-tallest skyscraper in Chicago and the fourth-tallest in the United States, after the Sears Tower, the Empire State Building and the Aon Center. When measured to the top of its antenna masts, it stands at 457 m (1,500 ft). The building is home to offices and restaurants, as well as about 700 condominiums and contains the highest residences in the world. This skyscraper was named for its builder the John Hancock Insurance company.

The 95th floor has long been home to a restaurant, the latest tenant being "The Signature Room on the 95th Floor." While patrons dine, they can look out at Chicago and Lake Michigan. The Hancock Center's observation facilities compete with the Sears Tower's Skydeck across town. The Hancock Center is in a commercial district, while the Sears Tower is in the financial district. The Hancock Center 94th floor observation deck displays exhibits about the city of Chicago. Maps explain the view in each direction and a special meshed-in area allows the visitors to feel the winds 314 m (1,030 ft) above ground level. The 44th-floor skylobby features America's highest indoor swimming pool.

Jin Mao Building

The Jin Mao Building or Jin Mao Tower is an 88-story landmark skyscraper in the Lujiazui area of the Pudong district of Shanghai, People's Republic of China. It contains offices and the Shanghai Grand Hyatt hotel. Until 2007 it was the tallest building in the PRC, the fifth tallest in the world by roof height and the seventh tallest by pinnacle height. Along with the Oriental Pearl Tower, it is a centerpiece of the Pudong skyline. It was surpassed on September 14, 2007 by the Shanghai World Financial Center.

JPMorgan Chase Tower

The 75-story, 305.4 m (1,002 ft) tall JPMorgan Chase Tower of Houston, Texas, formerly the Texas Commerce Tower, is the tallest building in Texas, the tallest five-sided building in the world, and one of the world's tallest structures.

The tower was built in Downtown Houston at 600 Travis Street in 1981 as the Texas Commerce Tower. It was designed by noted architects I.M. Pei & Partners. The local architect and architect of record is 3D/International. In some early plans, the building reached up to 80 stories; however, the FAA expressed concern that additional height was a risk for aircraft going into and out of nearby William P. Hobby Airport.

Upon its completion, the building surpassed Aon Center in Los Angeles to become the tallest building in the United States west of the Mississippi River, a title it held until Los Angeles' Library Tower, now known as the U.S. Bank Tower, was built in 1990.

International Finance Centre

International Finance Centre (abbr. IFC, branded as "ifc") is an integrated commercial development on the waterfront of Hong Kong's Central District.

A prominent landmark on Hong Kong Island, it consists of two skyscrapers, the ifc mall, and the 55-storey Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong. Tower 2 is the tallest building in Hong Kong, usurping the place once occupied by Central Plaza. It is the third tallest building in the Greater China region and the 7th tallest office building in the world, based on structural heights; by roof height only Taipei 101 and Sears Tower exceed it. The Union Square Phase 7, currently under construction above the MTR Kowloon station, and scheduled for completion in 2010, will usurp 2IFC's various titles.

The Airport Express Hong Kong Station is directly beneath it.

First Canadian Place

First Canadian Place is a skyscraper in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At 298 metres, or 978 feet (355 metres with antenna included), it is Canada's tallest skyscraper and the eleventh tallest building in North America. It is the third tallest free-standing structure in Canada, after CN Tower, also in Toronto, and the Inco Superstack in Sudbury, Ontario.

Eureka Tower

The Eureka Tower is a residential building in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Australia. Construction began in August 2002 and the exterior completed on June 1, 2006. The plaza was finished in June 2006 and the building was officially opened on October 11, 2006. The project was designed by Melbourne architectural firm Fender Katsalidis Australia and was built by Grocon (Grollo Australia). The developer of the tower was Eureka Tower Pty Ltd, a joint venture consisting of Daniel Grollo (Grocon), investor Tab Fried and one of the Tower's architects Nonda Katsalidis

Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel

The Emirates Towers Hotel, also referred to as Emirates Tower Two is a 56-floor five-star business hotel in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The hotel includes 40 luxury suites and is operated by the Jumeirah International Group. Connected with 54-floor Emirates Office Tower by a retail boulevard they form what is commonly referred to as the Emirates Towers complex. At a structural height of 309 m (1,014 feet) Emirates Towers Hotel is the smaller of the two of the sister towers but still ranks as the 29th tallest currently-standing structure in the world[1] and the third (3rd) tallest complete in-use hotel in the world[2]. Construction was completed on April 15, 2000.

Emirates Office Tower

The Emirates Office Tower, also referred to as Emirates Tower One is a 54-floor office building along Sheikh Zayed Road in the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Connected with the 56-floor Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel by a retail boulevard, they form what is commonly referred to as the Emirates Towers complex. The tower has a total structural height of 354.6 m (1,163 ft) and roof height of 311 m (1,020 ft) making it the 12th tallest currently-standing fully-habitable building in the world[1]. Emirates Office Tower One is taller than Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel despite having two fewer floors. Construction was completed in November 1999.

CITIC Plaza

CITIC Plaza is an 80-story skyscraper built in Tianhe District, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China. Its structural height is 391 m (1,283 ft) including two tall antenna-like spires on the top. When it was completed in 1997, it was the tallest building in the world. Currently, it ranks fourth in China, seven in Asia and eighth worldwide in the high-rise ranking. Located in the growing and expanding Tianhe District, it is part of a complex of the same name which also consists of two 38-story residential buildings. Its proximity includes a new train station, a new metro station, and the Tianhe Sports Center, where the 6th National Games was held.

Chrysler Building

The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Standing at 319 m (1,047 ft) high,[1] it was briefly the world's tallest building before it was overtaken by the Empire State Building in 1931. However, the Chrysler Building remains the world's tallest brick building.[2][3] After the destruction of the World Trade Center, it is again the second tallest building in New York City. This classic example of Art Deco architecture is considered by many, at least among contemporary architects (see below), to be the finest building in New York City.

Central Plaza

Central Plaza is the second tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong. With a height of 374 m / 1227 feet, Central Plaza is only surpassed by 2 IFC (415 m/1,362 ft) in Central. The building is located at 18 Harbour Road, in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island. It used to be the tallest building in Asia from 1992 to 1996, until the Shun Hing Square in Shenzhen, People's Republic of China, was built. The 78-storey building was completed in August 1995. The building surpassed the Bank of China Tower as the tallest building in Hong Kong until the completion of 2IFC.

Central Plaza was also the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world, until it was surpassed by CITIC Plaza, Guangzhou. The building uses a triangular floor plan. On the top of the tower is a four-bar neon clock that indicates the time by displaying different colors in 15 minute intervals, blinking at the change of the quarter.

An anemometer is installed on the tip of the building's mast; the anemometer sits at 378 metres (1,240 ft) above sea level. The mast has a height of 102 m (335 ft). It also houses the world's highest church--Hong Kong City Church.

The Center

The Center is the fourth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after Two International Finance Centre (88 storeys), Central Plaza and Bank of China Tower. With a height of 346 m (1,135 feet), it comprises 73 storeys. The Center is one of the few skyscrapers in Hong Kong that is entirely steel-structured with no reinforced concrete core. It is located on Queen's Road Central in the Central and Western district, roughly halfway between the MTR Island Line's Sheung Wan and Central stations.

Burj Al Arab

The Burj Al Arab is a luxury hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates managed by the Jumeirah Group and built by Said Khalil. It was designed by Tom Wright of WS Atkins PLC. At 321 metres (1,053 ft), it is the tallest building used exclusively as a hotel.[2] However, the Rose Tower, also in Dubai, which has already topped Burj Al Arab's height, will take away this title upon its completion in 2007. The Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island 280 metres (919 ft) out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It is an iconic structure, designed to symbolize Dubai's urban transformation and to mimic the billowing sail of a boat.

Bank of China Tower

The Bank of China Tower is one of the most recognized skyscrapers in Central, Hong Kong. It houses the headquarters for the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited. The building is located at 1 Garden Road, in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island.

Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Chinese American architect I. M. Pei, the building is 305.0 metres (1,000.7 ft) high with two masts reaching 367.4 metres (1,205.4 ft) high. The 72 story building was built in 1989 and is located near Central MTR station. This was the tallest building in Hong Kong and Asia from 1989 to 1992, and it was the first building outside the United States to break the 305 m (1,000 ft) mark. That also means it was the tallest outside America from its completion year, 1990. It is now the third tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after Two International Finance Center and Central Plaza.

The structural expressionism adopted in the design of this building resembles growing bamboo shoots, symbolising livelihood and prosperity. The whole structure is supported by the five steel columns at the corners of the building, with the triangular frameworks transferring the weight of the structure onto these five columns.

A small observation deck on the 43rd floor of the building is open to the public; visits to the main observation deck on the 70th floor are by appointment only.

Bank of America Plaza

The Bank of America Plaza is a skyscraper located in Midtown Atlanta named for its largest tenant, the Bank of America. Standing 1,023 ft (311.8 m), it ranks as the 27th tallest building in the world. It is also the tallest building in the United States outside of Chicago and New York City, and the tallest building in any U.S. state capital. It has 55 stories of office space and was completed in 1992, when it was called the NationsBank Building. Originally intended to be the headquarters for C&S/Sovran Bank, it became NCNB/NationsBank's property following the 1991 merger of C&S/Sovran and NCNB.[2] The Bank of America Plaza was the last American skyscraper built to be one of the ten tallest in the world (in the 14 years since its construction all new entries onto the top ten list have been in Asia).

Baiyoke Tower II

The Baiyoke Tower II, located on 222 Rajprarop Road in the Ratchathewi district of Bangkok, Thailand, is the country's tallest building. It contains the Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the tallest hotel in Southeast Asia and the third-tallest all-hotel structure in the world, with 673 guest rooms.

The building is 304 m (997 ft) tall, or 328 m (1,076 ft) tall if its antenna is included. It has 85 floors, with a public observatory on the 77th floor, a bar called "Roof Top Bar & Music Lounge" on the 83rd floor, and a 360-degree revolving roof deck on the 84th floor. Construction on the building ended in 1997, with the antenna being added two years later, in 1999.

The Baiyoke Sky Hotel website itself lists the height without the antenna as 309 m (1,014 ft), but the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), Emporis, and SkyscraperPage list it as 304 m (997 ft), with SkyscraperPage stating that this height was supplied by the structural engineering company.

AT&T Corporate Center

The AT&T Corporate Center is the 4th tallest completed skyscraper in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States and the 9th tallest in the United States at a height of 1,007 ft (307 m) containing 60 floors. Completed in 1989, the 1.7 million square foot (158,000 m²) supertall building stands two blocks east of the Chicago River and northeast of the Sears Tower at 227 West Monroe Street (100 South Franklin alternate address) in the Loop community area of downtown Chicago. Composed of retail and commercial office space, the tower is the tallest building constructed in Chicago in the last quarter of the 20th century.The building was built to consolidate American Telephone & Telegraph Company central regional headquarters offices.

Aon Center

The Aon Center (200 East Randolph Street) is a modern skyscraper in Chicago designed by architect Edward Durell Stone and completed in 1973 as the Standard Oil Building. With 83 floors and a height of 346 m (1,136 ft), it is the second tallest building in Chicago, surpassed in height only by the Sears Tower. It is the third tallest in the United States behind the Empire State Building and the 15th tallest in the world. The building is managed by Jones Lang LaSalle.

Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in New York City, New York at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York. It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion in 1931 until the construction of the World Trade Center North Tower topped out on December 23, 1970.

The Empire State Building has been named by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The building and its street floor interior are designated landmarks of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and confirmed by the New York City Board of Estimate.[5] It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.[3][6][7] The building is owned by Harold Helmsley's company and managed by its management/leasing division Helmsley-Spear.

World Trade Center

The World Trade Center in New York City, United States, (sometimes informally referred to as the WTC or the Twin Towers) was a complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan, mostly designed by American architect Minoru Yamasaki and engineer Leslie Robertson and developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It was initiated in 1960 by a Lower Manhattan Association created and chaired by David Rockefeller, who had the original idea of building the Center, with strong backing from the then-New York governor, his brother Nelson Rockefeller. The World Trade Center, New York, like most World Trade Centers located around the globe, belonged to the family of World Trade Centers Association. Larry Silverstein held the most recent lease to the complex, the Port Authority having leased it to him in July 2001. The complex, located in the heart of New York City's downtown financial district, contained 13.4 million square feet (1.24 million m²) of office space, almost four percent of Manhattan's entire office inventory at that time.

Best known for its iconic 110-story twin towers, the World Trade Center was beset by a fire on February 13, 1975 and a bombing on February 26, 1993. Despite the first two disasters, the World Trade Center was a part of New York City's identity and was recognized all over the world as an icon for the United States of America.

All of the original buildings in the complex were destroyed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists. One World Trade Center (1 WTC) and Two World Trade Center (2 WTC)—the North Tower and South Tower, respectively, collapsed, as did 7 World Trade Center (7 WTC).

The Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC) was crushed by the collapses of 1 WTC and 2 WTC. 4 World Trade Center (4 WTC), 5 World Trade Center (5 WTC), and 6 World Trade Center (6 WTC) were damaged beyond repair and later demolished. In addition, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (not part of the complex) was destroyed by the collapse of 2 WTC; the Deutsche Bank Building was damaged beyond repair and is currently being deconstructed.

Petronas Twin Towers

The Petronas Twin Towers (also known as the Petronas Towers or Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are the world's tallest twin buildings. They were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 if measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural top, the original height reference used by the US-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat from 1969 (three additional height categories were introduced as the tower neared completion in 1996).
The Petronas Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in the world until Taipei 101, as measured to the top of their structural components (spires, but not antennas), took over the record. Spires are considered integral parts of the architectural design of buildings, to which changes would substantially change the appearance and design of the building, whereas antennas may be added or removed without such consequences. The Petronas Twin Towers remain the tallest twin buildings in the world.

The Sears Tower and the World Trade Center towers were each constructed with 110 occupied floors – 22 more than the Petronas Twin Towers’ 88 floors. The Sears Tower and the World Trade Center’s roofs and highest occupied floors substantially exceed the height of the roof and highest floors of the Petronas Twin Towers. The Sears Tower’s tallest antenna is about 250 feet (76 meter) taller than the Petronas Twin Towers’ spires. However, in accordance to CTBUH regulations and guidelines, the antennas of the Sears Tower were not counted as part of its architectural features. Hence, surpassing the roof of the Sears Tower by 10m.

Taipei 101

Taipei 101 is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper located in Taipei, Taiwan. The building, designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed by KTRT Joint Venture, is the world's tallest completed skyscraper. Taipei 101 received the Emporis Skyscraper Award in 2004. It has been hailed as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World (Newsweek magazine, 2006) and Seven Wonders of Engineering (Discovery Channel, 2005). The building serves as an icon of Taipei and Taiwan as a whole. Fireworks launched from the tower feature prominently in international New Year's Eve broadcasts, and the landmark appears frequently in films, television shows, print publications, anime media, games, and other elements of popular culture. Taipei 101 is managed by the International division of Urban Retail Properties Corporation based in Chicago USA.[1]

The name of the building reflects its location in Taipei's 101 business district along with its floor count. (See also Symbolism below.) The number is pronounced in English simply as One Oh One. The original name planned for the building, Taipei World Financial Center, derived from that of its owner, Taipei Financial Center Corporation and the formal name of the structure in Chinese: literally, Taipei International Financial Center.

On 2007-07-21 Taipei 101 was overtaken in height by the Burj Dubai in Dubai, UAE, upon the completion of that building's 141st floor.[2] Taipei 101 retains its title until the Burj Dubai is completed, though, as international architectural standards define a "building" as a structure that can be occupied.

Burj Dubai

Burj Dubai is a supertall skyscraper currently under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is currently the tallest free standing structure in the world according to its developers, surpassing the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada which previously held the record for 32 years. When it is completed in late 2008, it is predicted to be the tallest man-made structure in the world, as well as the tallest building by any measure. Scheduled for occupancy in September 2009, the building is part of a 2 km² (0.8 sq mi) development called 'Downtown Burj Dubai' and is located at the "First Interchange" (aka "Defence Roundabout") along Sheikh Zayed Road at Doha Street.

The building is being built by a joint venture of the South Korean company Samsung, the Belgian company Besix and the UAE company Arabtec. It was designed by American Adrian Smith before he left Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM) of Chicago to start his own independent practice, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture in October 2006. However, SOM continues to lead the architectural, structural engineering and mechanical engineering of Burj Dubai. The total budget for the Burj Dubai project is about $4.1 billion US and for the entire new 'Downtown Burj Dubai', $20 billion US.

Sears Tower

The Sears Tower is a skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. It has been the tallest building in the United States since 1973, surpassing the World Trade Center, which itself had surpassed the Empire State Building only a year earlier. Commissioned by Sears, Roebuck and Company, it was designed by chief architect Bruce Graham and structural engineers Srinivasa and Fazlur Khan of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.

Construction commenced in August 1970 and the building reached its originally anticipated maximum height on May 3, 1973. When completed, the Sears Tower had overtaken the roof of the World Trade Center in New York City as the world's tallest building. The tower has 108 stories as counted by standard methods, though the building owners count the main roof as 109 and the mechanical penthouse roof as 110. The distance to the roof is 442.3 metres (1,451 ft), measured from the east entrance.

In February 1982, two television antennas were added to the structure, increasing its total height to 520 m (1,705 ft). The western antenna was later extended to 527.3 metres (1,730 ft) on June 5, 2000 to improve reception of local NBC station WMAQ-TV.

Black bands appear on the tower around the 29th–32nd, 64th–65th, 88th–89th, and 104th–109th floors. These are louvers which allow ventilation for service equipment and obscure the structure's belt trusses which Sears Roebuck did not want to be visible as on the John Hancock Center. The Sears Tower has the second most total floor space of any building in the United States, only behind The Pentagon.

The building's official address is 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606.

On August 12, 2007, the Burj Dubai in Dubai, United Arab Emirates was reported by its developers to have surpassed the Sears Tower in all height categories. It overtook the Sears Tower antenna (527.3 m) and the building now currently stands at least 37.6 metres taller (564.9m).