Since the time of the first American explorations of vertical architecture, made possible by the introduction of steel replacing traditional reinforced concrete construction systems, the skyscraper typology has become an undisputed icon of the modern and contemporary city. If, at the beginning, the upward tension in construction was motivated by the need to guarantee maximum settlement density in increasingly intensely built-up urban areas, over time, thanks to structural and technological development, necessity has become a virtue, giving design creativity carte blanche to be expressed even in the most bizarre forms, and fuelling that aspiration to transcend one's limits (in this case, in height) that has driven mankind since the time of Icarus. An impulse to self-affirmation that often overflows into the race for altitude supremacy, encouraged by a fiercely competitive global age which intends successful performance (and its immediate media resonance) as irrefutable proof of a “status”, if not also of a “worthy” existence.
What will the world’s tallest building be in 2030?
From Saudi Arabia to Brazil, we explore eight architectures over 500 metres high (minus one) in plan or under construction, which dissolve the boundaries of technology (and human nature) through vertigo.
Render from Wikipedia
Render Adrian Smith + Gill Gordon Architecture
Render Matteson Capital and AO from Wikipedia
Render Matteson Capital and AO
Render Courtesy of Michael Green Architecture
Render Courtesy of Michael Green Architecture
View Article details
- Chiara Testoni
- 26 April 2025
We investigated among the pages of the web and the current narrative the tallest buildings, in progress and in the planning stage, which should be completed by 2030 and which stand out (volumetrically, technically and mediatically) for their exorbitant height (over five hundred metres, with the exception of one). Main stage are the Arab countries (Emirates and Saudi Arabia), following a territorial marketing strategy that has been investing for decades on the “wow effect” and architectural vertigo, but also the United States and Latin America, where technical solutions are being explored (from the tallest mass timber tower in the world to the skyscraper designed with innovative technologies to reduce wind-induced vibrations) that aim to unleash, in the not too distant future, the hyper tall as a compendium of the possibilities of human ingenuity (and of its hybris).
Foster + Partners, North Pole Rise Tower
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2.000 m
Destined to be the first tower in the world to reach the incredible height of 2 kilometres, the Rise Tower is located within North Pole,the new multifunctional and eco-sustainable district being planned in Riyadh. Foster + Partners has designed the winning concept: some images have already leaked from YouTube, but the firm is not yet releasing any material about this revolutionary work yet.
AE7, Burj Azizi
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2025-2028
725 m
The building on Sheikh Zayed Road, second only to the Burj Khalifa, will house 113 residences, wellness centres, swimming pools, cinemas, gyms, supermarkets, restaurants and shopping centres spread over 132 floors. Construction is scheduled to start in 2025 and be completed by 2028. The skyscraper, which will house the tallest hotel lobby, the tallest nightclub, the tallest rooftop terrace, the tallest restaurant and the tallest hotel room, is designed more as a “record” than as a building.
Silver Stone Engineering Consultants, Burj Binghatti Jacob & Co Residences
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2024-2026
595 m
Burj Binghatti Jacob & Co Residences is the result of a partnership between Binghatti, Dubai's leading real estate developer, and the famous luxury jewellery and watch brand Jacob & Co. The skyscraper, destined to become the world's tallest residential tower, culminates at the top in a set of spires resembling a crown of diamonds, if one ever forgets who financed it.
Woods Bagot, Six Senses Residence
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2024-2028
517 m
With a projected height of 517 metres, the Six Senses Residences Dubai Marina tower is poised to claim the title of the world's tallest residential tower when completed in 2028, if Burj Binghatti Jacob & Co Residences does not reach the summit first. At 122 storeys, 251 residences of various types are planned, in a triumph of luxury, eco-sustainability and feng-shui.
Lalalli Senna, Senna Tower
Balneário Camboriú, Brazil
509 m
Senna Tower, named in honour of the formula 1 driver, will house only residences (228 residential units, including 18 “mansions”, 204 flats, 4 duplex penthouses and 2 triplex “mega penthouse”’), aiming for LEED Platinum certification. The building is designed to reduce vibration and wind sway due to its height, thanks to the Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) system, used for the first time in Latin America. The slight and aerodynamic shapes are reminiscent of the thrill of speed evoked by a racing car.
After more than a decade since the start of construction, among setbacks for corruption and resumptions that lasted five years, works to build the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia re-started in 2023 thanks to a new contractor. The building, which is currently only one-third complete, with a height of 1,000 metres is expected to become the tallest in the world, surpassing the 828-metre high Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The building will feature a glass-clad structure with a triangular layout tapering upwards and will house a hotel, residences, offices and the world's highest observation platform on a built structure.
The Oklahoma City Council has recently approved the urban development programme for the Boardwalk at Bricktown area, of which Legends Tower will be the flagship element. The building, which at 581 m will become the tallest skyscraper in the United States and one of the tallest in the world, will house hotel, residential and commercial functions and, on the top floors, a restaurant and a rooftop terrace. “The height is not a necessary thing”, says one of the planners, revealing that the exponential growth in height of the building was not planned at the beginning but occurred during the conceptual process, following the reactions of investors, the market and the city to the project.
In Milwaukee, the potentially tallest mass timber tower in the world (55 storeys) is planned within the multifunctional Marcus Performing Arts Centre complex, which will include residences, shops, hotels and extensive public spaces. The building will be a manifesto of the technological efficiency of wood as a building material, also in the structural field.