We have written about the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest building in the world, at 828 meters high. The newest skyscrapers in progress in the current construction cycle of tall buildings, while not as tall as the Burj, are still substantial and will change the skylines of the cities where they are being built.
There are some interesting buildings going up, but few of them in the United States. It seems that the Middle East and Asia are currently vying to create new, different and taller buildings. Ever since the earliest discussions of Frank Lloyd Wright who projected multiuse buildings a mile into the sky, designers have been speculating on how to build their designs. Only recently have the engineering, financing and especially the construction techniques caught up with the designer’s visions. Shanghai Tower, currently under construction in Shanghai, though not as tall as the Burj, is still about half of the height that Wright proposed in the mid 1900s.
We like the SkyscraperPage.com website which provides users with the ability to click through for more information about the buildings such as designer and engineer so that we can stay in touch as these buildings stretch even higher into the sky. We would suggest to the folks who add to the database that they include the contractors who lead the construction on each of them. Another idea: this site would be a great one for school kids to give them a better understanding of what is going on in the world and to get them asking questions about “How do they build those buildings so high?” and “What is it like to be the builder on a building like that one?”
Photo of Shanghai Tower courtesy Wikipedia
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