Top 10 Skyscrapers
| || Top 10 Skyscrapers |
| || 5. World Trade Center, NYC, 1362/1368 feet (1973)|
Editor's Note: This list was compiled in November 2000, before the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001.
Mention the World Trade Center and most will describe its signature twin towers that tower over the Empire State Building by 100 feet. The original design called for 85 story buildings, but the amount was increased to make them the world's tallest buildings. The project began in 1966 and wound up costing over $1.5 billion. When completed in 1973, the towers rose to 1,368 and 1,362 feet, and 110 stories each, ranking as the world's tallest and largest buildings until some retailer had other ambitions.
| || 4. Sears Tower, Chicago, 1454 feet (1974) |
With close to $9 billion in sales, Sears, Roebuck and Company followed Business Tip #1 and decided to consolidate its administrative operations (and 13,000 employees) under one roof in downtown Chicago. Sears wanted to brag about building a tower as tall as the FAA would allow, remaining to this day the tallest skyscraper in North America. Something that the current tallest building in the world cannot brag about: you can see four states from the top on a nice day.
| || 3. Woolworth Building, NYC, 792 feet (1913) |
You thought your piggy bank was heavy? Frank W. Woolworth financed this baby with cash -- enough said. The Venator Group (formerly Woolworth Corporation) sold the tower in June 1998 to the Witkoff Group for $155 million. The building's opening ceremony included President Wilson, who pressed a button in the White House that lit up every interior floor and the exterior floodlights. Not bad for 1913. In any case, this is the one building that mesmerized me every time I visited the city.
| || 2. Petronas Tower, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1483 feet (1998)|
On April 15, 1996 (my mom's birthday, mind you), the Council on Tall Buildings passed the baton to Asia -- and Malaysia in particular -- as home of the tallest building in Kuala Lumpur. The Petronas Towers was symbolic of Asian aspirations to rank amongst the financial superpowers. So what if Asian excess, crony capitalism and loose lending imploded the market in 1997? A turnaround would follow, and no one would take away the physical infrastructure. A 41st-story bridge that was part of the movie Entrapment links the identical towers.
| || 1. Empire State Building, NYC, 1250 feet (1931)|
When this masterpiece was completed in post-recession 1931, it hailed as the tallest building in the world, topping the Chrysler Building by 200 feet. What makes this wonder more impressive is that it took a mere twenty months to go from concept to reality. The symbol of the "Empire State," this building single-handedly represents New York's ascension as the capital of the world.