21st Century
Burj Khalifa, the Beijing Olympic stadium, the Shard, Apple Park. The age of supertall, parametric, and computationally designed buildings.
Part of Architectural Wonders
10 moments in this segment.
- — The Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe). Norman Foster's diagrid tower in the City of London. 41 floors of double-skin glass, naturally ventilated through atria. Made the City of London's skyline contemporary; opened the door for the Shard, Cheesegrater, and Walkie Talkie.
- — Taipei 101. C.Y. Lee. 508m, the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010. Famous for its 660-ton tuned mass damper — the bronze ball you can visit on a tour. Survived a major typhoon in 2015 with the ball swinging a record 100cm.
- — Beijing National Stadium (Bird's Nest). Herzog & de Meuron + Ai Weiwei. The interlocking steel beams. The opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics — the international debut of contemporary China.
- — Burj Khalifa. Adrian Smith / SOM. 828m — the tallest building in the world by every common metric. Bankrupted Dubai mid-construction; the UAE renamed it from Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa after Abu Dhabi bailed Dubai out.
- — CCTV Headquarters. OMA / Rem Koolhaas. A loop of two leaning towers joined at the top and bottom — engineered to defy normal skyscraper logic. Nicknamed "Big Pants" in Chinese internet slang.
- — The Shard. Renzo Piano. 310m, the tallest building in the EU when completed. Mixed-use: offices, hotel, apartments, viewing gallery. Funded largely by Qatari sovereign wealth — the new globalised model for European supertall.
- — One World Trade Center. David Childs (SOM). 541m to the spire tip (1,776 feet — the year of US independence). Built on the WTC site; symbolic reconstruction. Sixth-tallest building in the world.
- — Apple Park. Foster + Partners + Steve Jobs (who pitched it in 2011, before he died). The "spaceship" ring — 461m diameter, all curved glass. The single largest building Apple owns; cost ~$5 billion.
- — Merdeka 118. KL's second supertall — 678m, the second-tallest building in the world after Burj Khalifa. Completed 2023, fully opened 2024. Faceted glass crystal form.
- — Sagrada Família — Tower of Jesus Christ. The central tower's spire under construction in 2024 — when finished (2026 target), it will make Sagrada Família the tallest church building in the world at 172.5m. Still 142 years after Gaudí.
