• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2023

The last 30 years have seen a rapid growth in the number of supertall buildings across the world, with newly completed buildings continuing to rank among the tallest 100 every year. Chinese projects notably play a pivotal role in these constant updates. It is caused by the interweaving of population and urbanization, economic considerations, and further, a series of accompanying urban problems. This paper focuses on the world's 100 tallest buildings in the last 30 years, and compares this collection of projects across five years via the dimensions of height, distribution, function and structural material. The intention is to discuss and interpret the influence factors and developing trends, some of which have been apparent over a dozen years, while others are just beginning to take shape, thus to provide an opportunity to preview the types of supertall buildings in the future.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.11-32
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• 2024

In recent years, urban landscapes across the globe have undergone a remarkable transformation marked by a substantial surge in skyscraper development. This paper offers a comprehensive overview of the contemporary evolution of tall buildings, with a particular emphasis on the Middle East. It surveys tall building development in the ten "tallest cities" across the Middle East, including Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Riyadh, Manama, Tel Aviv, Kuwait, Mecca, and Jeddah, while listing the tallest ten buildings in each city. The focus sharpens on Dubai, UAE, serving as a compelling case study that vividly illustrates the city's swift metamorphosis from a low-rise to a high-rise urban center. Through meticulous examination, the study aims to unveil the key drivers propelling the construction of the world's tallest buildings, asserting that globalization factors play a pivotal role in fostering this transformative shift. The impetus behind this surge is rooted in the aspiration to project a modern and progressive image on the global stage. With Dubai at the forefront, cities in the Middle East strategically endeavor to reshape their international image and reclaim historical grandeur through ambitious skyscraper projects.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.197-214
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• 2018

Tall buildings which began from about 40 m tall office towers in the late $19^{th}$ century have evolved into mixed-use megatall towers over 800 m. It is expected that even mile-high towers will soon no longer be a dream. Structural systems have always been one of the most fundamental technologies for the dramatic developments of tall buildings. This paper presents structural systems employed for the world's tallest buildings of different periods since the emergence of supertall buildings in the early 1930s. Further, structural systems used for today's extremely tall buildings over 500 m, such as core-outrigger, braced mega-tube, mixed, and buttressed core systems, are reviewed and their performances are studied. Finally, this paper investigates the potential of superframed conjoined towers as a viable structural and architectural solution for mile-high and even taller towers in the future.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.33-56
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• 2024

This paper examines China's rapid shift from low-rise to high-rise urban development, focusing on Shanghai as a case study. It provides a detailed analysis of the rapid vertical developments over the past five decades, highlighting gradual and sudden tall building changes. The study also surveys tall building development in the ten "tallest cities" across China, including Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chongqing, Chengdu, Shenyang, Hangzhou, and Nanning, while listing the tallest ten buildings in each city. The focus is on the drivers behind these towering structures: globalization, an economic powerhouse, and finance center, urbanization and population density, architectural innovation and ambition, competition and prestige, land availability and utilization, government support and planning, and tourism. The paper critically examines the sustainability of this trend in light of new Chinese policies restricting the construction of high-rise buildings exceeding 500m and 250m in smaller cities due to safety and security concerns. This prompts a reflection on the long-term viability and implications of the predominantly high-rise trajectory in urban development.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.177-186
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• 2024

HoHo Wien in Vienna, the 84-meter mixed-use building, is the tallest timber structure in Austria. This article presents HoHo Wien designed by Rüdiger Lainer + Partner in detail as a case study. It was originally part of the book titled "Mass Timber for High Rise Buildings" written by the authors and published by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.199-207
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• 2015

Abeno Harukas is the tallest building in Japan and is located in Abeno, which is one of the three main railway transport nodes in Osaka. This building has a height of 300 meters, and its lowest levels are 30 meters below ground. It contains a department store, museum, offices, a hotel, and an observatory. In this urban renewal project, a section of the department store that encloses the station was dismantled and replaced by a supertall building complex, while infrastructure was simultaneously constructed, including: upgrades to the station and the existing department store, improved connections to the subway and pedestrian bridges, and a new pedestrian walkway over the road. In this paper, the ingenious erection processes, newly developed technologies, and precise construction management techniques are introduced for Japan's tallest building.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.283-300
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• 2020

The Lakhta Center is a Multifunction Complex Development (MFCD) consisting of 1) an 86 story office tower rising 462 m above the ground to provide high-end offices for Gazprom Neft and Gazprom Group affiliates 2) a Multi-Function Building (MFB) that includes, a scientific/educational center, a sport center, a children's technopark, a planetarium, a multi-transformable hall, an exhibition center, shops, restaurants, and other public facilities 3) a Stylobate 4) "The Arch, which forms the main entrance to the tower, restaurants, and cafes 5) underground parking and 6) a wide range of large public plazas. While each of the MFCD buildings is technically challenging in its own right, the focus of the paper is to present the development and integration of the structural and foundation systems of the bowed, tapered, and twisted shape of the tower into the fabric of the tallest Tower in Europe.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.195-204
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• 2024

HAUT, a residential tower, is a prototype for building innovative and environmentally-friendly high-rise timber structures. The team - Arup, Team V Architecture, Lingotto and JP van Eesteren - designed and built an ambitious sustainable building: a timber skyscraper, with 21 floors one of the tallest timber hybrid towers in the world. Never before has this highest sustainability rating - BREEAM Outstanding - been awarded to a residential building in the Netherlands. As a result of the new techniques for a timber hybrid tower of 73 meters high, there is interest from all over the world for this combination of sustainability and urban densification.

• Architectural research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.49-56
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• 2015

For more than 100 years, American skyscrapers got along with the change of Modern architecture. However, high-rise building can not be regarded anymore as a monopoly of America. The purpose of this study is to clarify the aesthetic characteristics of Asian high-rise buildings. Basic concepts on the aesthetic and artistic expression of high-rise building have been discussed, emphasizing the importance of artistic characteristic. A brief introduction on the rise of Asian high-rise buildings also summarized in terms of changing trends for decades from 1970s. Among the 75 buildings in Asian countries out of 100 tallest buildings in the world, 10 buildings are selected to clarify the artistic characteristics which can be presented as an Asian trend in 21st century. The results can be summarized as follows; It was from 1990s that the Asian high-rise buildings began to express a specific regional aesthetics as a trend of post-modernism. Conventional ideas, traditional objects, and regional shapes and patterns are good instruments to successfully represent their national prides. Religions in Chinese and Islamic culture are popular motifs in Asian countries as well as feng shui and conventional idea of five primary elements. Traditional objects like pagoda and minaret are good precedents that can provide friendly recognized vertical objects. Many other interesting cases can be found referring to the traditional shapes and patterns like Chinese character, geometric pattern, Islamic sign, etc.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.261-271
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• 2020

The 2020 National Building Code of Canada (NBC) and the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) both include Tall Wood Buildings (TWB) and are hailed as documents responsible for the proliferation of Mass Timber construction. Mass Timber construction is critical to reducing the carbon footprint of the construction industry; a sector acknowledged as being one of the greatest contributors of global annual CO₂ emissions. Origine, a 13-storey multi-residential building erected in 2017 in a previously unsuitable site, is currently the tallest all-wood building in North America. This article describes the challenges overcome by the designers and client as they engaged with code officials, building authorities, and fire-service representatives to demonstrate the life-safety performance of this innovative building. It also traces the development of the "Guide for Mass Timber Buildings of up to 12 Storeys" published in Quebec and how it has enabled other significant Tall Wood projects across North America.