25 Great Skyscrapers: Icons of Construction
25 Great Skyscrapers: Icons of Construction
These aren’t the tallest buildings in the world, they aren’t the prettiest buildings in the world, they aren’t even the most successful — the inclusion of North Korea’s disastrous Ryugyong Hotel attests to that.
But they are among the most iconic, representing their designers and their cities as memorably as anything else.
Empire State Building, New York
Height: 437 meters
Cost to build: $41 million
Completion date: May 1, 1931
Fast fact: The Empire State Building took only one year and 45 days to build, or 7 million man hours — a record to this day for a skyscraper of its height.
China Central Television Headquarters, Beijing
Height: 234 meters
Cost to build: $600 million
Completion date: 2012
Fast fact: A building in the CCTV complex was badly damaged during a fire ignited by fireworks.
Hotel & Casino Grand Lisboa, Macau
Height: 261 meters
Cost to build: $385 million
Completion date: 2008
Fast fact: Designed by Hong Kong architects Dennis Lau and Ng Chun Man, the golden structure combines the visual effects of crystals, fireworks and the long plumes of a Brazilian headdress — all symbols of prosperity to guide the money home.
Burj al Arab, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Height: 321 meters
Cost to build: $650 million
Completion date: December 1999
Fast fact: The hotel isn’t, nor does it claim to be, a seven-star hotel.
One World Trade Center, New York
Cost to build: $3.9 billion
Completion date: May 2013
Fast fact: The height of 1,776 feet is a symbolic reference to the year in which the United States’ Declaration of Independence was signed.
Height: 194 meters
Cost to build: $6.3 billion
Opening date: April 2010
Fast fact: Marina Bay Sands is one of the world’s most expensive standalone casino properties, with total costs estimated at more than $6 billion.
For more images: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/06/travel/25-great-skyscrapers/index.html