What once seemed impossible is now not only possible, but also imminent. Around the world, building projects of enormous size and dizzying heights are transforming urban landscapes into the stuff of science fiction.
Sprawling complexes with undulating curves and bubble domes, gleaming spires that jut and twist their way toward the heavens, and minicities where people work, live and play under a single gigantic roof — these are, or soon will be, the norm in the world's largest and wealthiest cities.
Upon its scheduled completion in 2019, the 3,280-foot Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, will hold the distinction of being the world's first kilometer-tall building. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), "Prior to the completion of the Burj Khalifa [Dubai, in 2010], this building type did not exist. And yet, by 2020, we can expect at least eight such buildings to exist internationally."
Currently, the world's tallest man-made structure, at 2,722 feet, Burj Khalifa broke the height barrier for skyscrapers. The term "supertall" used to be applied to buildings over 300 meters (984 feet), but CTBUH has dubbed these new taller-than-supertall buildings "megatall" to describe those exceeding 600 meters (just under 2,000 feet).
Wikipedia
An computer rendering of Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Tower, which will stand 3,280 feet tall once completed in 2019.
To get some idea of the dimensions we are talking about, the Kingdom Tower could hold two Empire State Buildings stacked one on top of the other. That's quite a climb even for King Kong! It will be nearly six stories higher than Burj Khalifa and encompass 5.7 million square feet.
The Empire State Building held the title of the world's tallest building for 40 years, until it was exceeded by the World Trade Center in 1970. And just 10 years from now more than a half-dozen megatalls will meet or exceed the height of Burj Khalifa. Among the countries/regions leading this trend are China (with 10 projects planned), South Korea (with three), Indonesia, the Middle East (with five) and the United States.
Along with the urge to build ever higher, developers and architects also are designing "supersize" projects that encompass vast areas. The March 2014 issue of Architectural Record magazine reports on a dozen such projects.
The list includes the new Apple headquarters, which will enclose nearly 3 million square feet, several projects that exceed 5 million square feet and the recently-completed Beijing airport that covers a mind-boggling 14 million square feet under a single roof. Each of these projects presents unique structural and engineering challenges.
As the CTBUH points out, "With every increase in height, there are energy implications in the construction, maintenance and occupation of a building. Additionally, with added height comes less space efficiency, as structural members and service cores increase to service the increased height of the building. At what point are the significant benefits of increased density provided by building tall overtaken by the energy repercussions of height?"
Other issues such as sustainability, security, privacy and crowding also come into play. But so far designers and builders seem up to the task, using their ingenuity and innovative thinking to tame the behemoths and make them suitable for the people who occupy them.
