These are the 25 tallest skyscrapers in the world

The second in the trio of Shanghai’s financial beacons, this 494.38-metre building also houses shops, dining, and a five-star hotel, one of the highest in the world. The centrepiece of the 101-floor office building, completed in 2008, is the portal at the top, which looks like a giant open window; this opening gave the building its nickname, “the bottle opener” (visitors can buy actual bottle openers shaped like the building in the gift shop). Observation decks are located on floors 94, 97, and 100, where you can walk down a long viewing gallery above the portal. Tickets to go all the way up cost around $26.

This rather plain 484.02-metre building on Hong Kong’s Kowloon peninsula comes alive at night with a spectacular light and music show over Victoria Harbour. With Two IFC across the water, the skyscraper duo makes an imposing entrance to the harbour. Completed in 2010 and mainly used as an office building, the ICC is also home to the highest hotel in the world, the luxury Ritz Carlton, on the top floors of the building. Take in the view of Hong Kong Island from the observation deck, Sky100, on the 100th floor for about $20 if you purchase online. The hotel’s sky bar, Ozone, is even higher, at floor 118.

The tallest building in Southeast Asia is Vincom Landmark 81 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Completed in 2018 on the Saigon River’s western bank, the 469.39-metre, 81-floor skyscraper is mainly residential, with shopping and even an ice rink on the lower floors, and a hotel at the top. It’s part of a new urban development project that includes housing and the green spaces of Vincom Central Park. The observation deck just opened in spring 2019 on floors 79 to 81; the brave can attempt SkyTouch, an outdoor area where harnessed visitors can actually lean out over the edge. Tickets start at about $35.

Another recent addition to the list, this skyscraper in the Furong District of Changsha, the capital of China’s Hunan province, was completed in 2018. Along with the much shorter Tower 2, the buildings offer office space as they rise up from the Changsha IFS Complex, a retail and entertainment mall. The 452-metre, 94-floor building also houses a hotel at the top.

These gorgeous identical skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, tie for spots 14 and 15 on our list. The buildings, at 452 metres and 88 floors, caused quite a fuss when they came on the scene in 1998 and snatched the title of world’s tallest building from Chicago’s Sears Tower (now known as Willis Tower), which had held the honour since 1974. Because so much of the Petronas’ extra height came from their spires, Chicagoans were none too happy. Was this cheating? The CTBUH convened and decided that the spires should count towards the buildings’ height, so the towers retained the top spot until Taipei 101 took over in 2004.

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As for the two towers themselves, the highest twins in the world, they were created as evidence of Malaysia’s growing economy and quickly became the dominating landmark of the capital city’s skyline. Linked by a sky bridge on the 41st floor that allows people to more easily share the two buildings’ amenities, the towers mainly contain offices, with a shopping mall at the bottom. Surrounding the buildings is the urban green space of KLCC Park. Visitors can head to the sky bridge and to the observation deck on floor 86 of Tower 2 for about $20.

Ancient meets modern in the lovely eastern Chinese city of Nanjing. Inside the old city walls, Zifeng Tower signals this sleepy city as an up-and-coming commercial and cultural hub. Designed in a triangular shape to maximize views and mix into both the old and new architecture, the 449.88-metre, 66-floor building looks over the mountains and lake nearby. Completed in 2010, Zifeng Tower houses a hotel, shops, restaurants, offices, and an observation deck at the top.

Still commonly called the Sears Tower, insurance company Willis Group Holdings bought the naming rights to the Chicago landmark in 2009. The tower became the world’s tallest building upon its completion in 1974, taking the top honour from the World Trade Center in New York (which was briefly the tallest from its completion in 1971, when it took over from 40-year title holder Empire State Building). The then-Sears Tower held onto the title for over 20 years until the aforementioned scuffle with Petronas Towers in 1998. Mainly an office building, the tower is undergoing a renovation, scheduled to be completed in 2020, to create retail and dining space, among other new amenities. Visitors can go up to the Skydeck at the top of the 442.26-metre, 108-floor icon for $25.

China continues its dominance of the tall buildings list with its second entry from the fast-growing city of Shenzhen, the 441.65-metre, 100-floor KK100, completed in 2011. Mainly an office building with a hotel at the top, KK100 was part of a plan for the financial district’s development, which also included additional residential buildings and shops in the podium at the base of the building. The top floors of the building comprise the St. Regis hotel and its 96th-floor Sky Lobby, an observation deck-like area completely enclosed in glass to make visitors feel like they’re floating in the sky. At the very top, the 100th floor houses the hotel’s Decanter Bar.

With its companion, CTF Finance Center, the two skyscrapers flank an open plaza in the Zhujiang New Town area of Guangzhou, a central hub for cultural and commercial development. Completed in 2010, the 438.60-metre, 103-floor building contains offices and a Four Seasons hotel on the upper floors. The hotel‘s massive atrium that rises from the 70th floor lets visitors look all the way up to the skylight of the building. A Sky Bar and restaurant take the top floors – and there’s even a helipad on the roof, the highest in the world.