Completed in 1931, the Empire State Building in New York City, standing 102 stories (1,250 feet) high, was the tallest building
in the world for about 40 years until the completion of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1970, followed by the Sears Tower in Chicago in 1973. Recently, however, with the availability of more advanced technologies and building materials, skyscrapers are testing new limits. In 1998 the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, both standing 1,483 feet tall, became the world’s tallest buildings. Then came Taipei 101 in Taiwan, rising over 1,650 feet. Today the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, at 2,717 feet, is the world’s tallest building. If our wish is to someday live with our heads in the clouds, each new skyscraper takes us a little closer to that goal.
