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

Height: 541 meters

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.

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

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