"This is The Illinois, gentlemen!" With this exclamation, master architect Frank Lloyd Wright presented one of the most visionary projects in the history of modern architecture: a skyscraper one mile (or more than 1.6 km) high. As extravagant and utopian as the American architect's idea was at the time – it was 1956 and Wright was almost ninety years old – today we can say that this feat is not impossible. Indeed, if any contemporary architect were to take up the master's challenge, no one would be surprised. For the moment we are only halfway there: the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world's tallest skyscraper, is "only" 828 metres high, but among the towers under construction around the world there is already one, the Jeddah Tower, which will reach 1,000 metres.
The most impressive future tallest buildings
A survey of the tallest, most spectacular and technologically advanced towers now under construction and to be completed in the next few years.
Courtesy Hayes Davidson
Courtesy Hayes Davidson
Courtesy Calatrava
Courtesy Calatrava
Courtesy Sergey Skuratov Architects
Courtesy Sergey Skuratov Architects
Courtesy Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei Inc
Courtesy Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei Inc
View Article details
- Salvatore Peluso
- 04 February 2021
“In 50 years the Tower has accumulated the meanings of: catalyst of consciousness, symbol of technological progress, marker of pleasure zone, subversive short-circuiter of convention and finally self-contained universe”, wrote Rem Koolhaas in his famous book Delirious New York, which is Manhattan's retroactive manifesto. Koolhaas himself, with his OMA studio, completed the CCTV in Beijing in 2013, a building whose ring-shaped form has revolutionised the concept of the skyscraper. In recent years it seems that height is not the only element characterising towers: uniqueness of form and typological experimentation are now determining factors. It is also interesting to see how the race for the sky fits into various urban and cultural contexts. In our list of skyscrapers under construction around the world we will try to span as many countries as possible and highlight various types of architectural experimentation.
Expected to be completed in 2021, the 111 West 57th Street residential skyscraper is also known as Steinway Tower
Located in the heart of Manhattan and with a breathtaking view of Central Park, the luxurious tower will house only 60 residential units. The building will be 435m high and will be the thinnest skyscraper in the world, thanks to its floor plan of just 24x18 metres and a base to height ratio of 1:24
Designed by Santiago Calatrava, the Dubai Creek Tower is about to overtake the Burj Khalifa, which is only a few kilometres away. Some estimates speak of a height of 928m
The inauguration was scheduled for 20 October 2020, but has been postponed by a year, and will coincide with the official opening of the World Expo in the United Arab Emirates
Merdeka PNB 118, formerly called KL118, will soon become the tallest skyscraper in Malaysia. It owes its name to its 118-storey height, which corresponds to 644 metres. The main characteristic of the building is its faceted silhouette
The building aspires to become a new benchmark for tower sustainability, achieving the highest standards for three of the main energy efficiency certifications, LEED, the Green Building Index and the GreenRE system
Under construction in Moscow, the residential tower will be over 440 metres high when it is completed in 2024. However, planners have asked for some changes to make it 265 metres taller, making it the tallest skyscraper in Russia and Europe
Its trapezoidal geometries (in plan and section) make it a unique skyscraper
The skyscraper presented by Sou Fujimoto Architects is expected in 2028 and promises to change the way this type of building is designed all over the world. According to the Japanese architect, it will be "a place to live in, not an architectural object"
The characteristic space of what will become Japan's tallest building (390 m high) is the large park inside, with trees and hills, from which people will be able to look down on Tokyo
The Wuhan Greenland Center is the second tallest building under construction after the Jeddah Tower. According to The Skyscraper Center database, China leads the way with seven construction projects among the top ten tallest buildings under construction in the world
Due to airspace regulations, the building had to be redesigned so that it would not exceed a height of 500m above sea level: the final height will be 476m (compared to the initial 636m). Its completion is planned for 2022
The 200-storey Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia will be 1,008 metres high, the first building ever to exceed one kilometre in height
Numerous political and economic problems have delayed the work. Construction is currently blocked and it is not clear when it will be completed