Each year, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) conducts a review of tall building trends. The influential body offers some fascinating insights in its 2018 Year in Review, including the continued importance of China as the world leader in tall building commissions.
2018 saw a total of 143 buildings measuring at least 200 m (656 ft) completed, which is just slightly down from a record breaking 147 last year. This brings the total in the world to 1,478. Most of these, 864, have been completed since 2010 (CTBUH only acknowledges larger-than-200 m buildings because of better record keeping, so smaller buildings are ignored).
If you stacked all 2018's tall buildings atop each other, they'd reach a height of 35,246 m (115,636 ft), which, like in 2017, would reach the Earth's stratosphere. They would also exceed the length of Manhattan Island if laid end-to-end.
China remains far out in front of the rest of the world when it comes to tall building construction, with a total of 88 built in the country. Indeed, Shenzhen alone had more tall buildings completed – a total of 14 – than the entire USA, which came second behind China in the country rankings with 13. It underlines the incredible tall building growth in the far-east.
The tallest building to be completed in 2018 was the 528 m (1,732 ft)-tall Citic Tower in Beijing, shown above. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), it's yet another masterful project from the American skyscraper expert.
The skyscraper's design is inspired by a traditional Chinese ritualistic wine vessel named Zun and takes the form of a square with rounded corners. Its width alternates significantly at different points: from its 78 m (255 ft) base to its 54 m (177 ft) mid-point and 69 m (226 ft) top.
The Citic Tower is now officially the 8th-tallest building in the world, which has resulted in a shakeup of the top 10 rankings. The 484 m (1588 ft)-tall International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong, also by KPF, has dropped down from 10th place to become the 11th-tallest building in the world. KPF is still responsible for half of the world's top 10 tallest skyscrapers though.
Looking to the future, the CTBUH expects around 120 to 150 tall buildings to be completed in 2019. Head to the gallery to see a small selection of some of 2018's tallest skyscrapers, including two more by KPF.
Source: CTBUH
