Sky's the Limit: 12 Amazing Fun Facts About Skyscrapers You Never Knew

1. Empire State Blimp Dream

In an alternate universe where King Kong commutes to work on a blimp, the Empire State Building was meant to be his sky-high docking station: The architectural marvel originally had plans to function as a mooring mast for airships, but due to safety concerns and technological advancements in aviation, that dream deflated and the iconic tower instead embraced its destiny as a broadcasting antenna.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

2. Earthquake Boogie Skyscrapers

Who needs a dance partner when you've got an earthquake? Japanese skyscrapers have got the groove down: Equipped with rubber shock absorbers called bearings, these buildings are designed to sway and jive with the vibrations caused by earthquakes, enhancing their resilience and ensuring the minimum requirement is met – no human casualties during the seismic boogie.
Source => bbc.com

Did you know that the original elevator dates back to ancient Greece, where a system of pulleys and hoisting ropes were used to lift and lower passengers? Discover more about this fascinating invention!

=> Fun Facts about Architecture

3. Burj Khalifa, the Giant Beanstalk

If Jack and the Beanstalk needed an inspiration for their story, they'd look to this contemporary giant's feats: The Burj Khalifa holds the record for the tallest building in the world, including achievements for the highest outdoor observation deck and the elevator with the longest travel distance, surpassing the once-goliath CN Tower in Toronto as the tallest free-standing structure.
Source => burjkhalifa.ae

4. Chicago's Real Steel-deal

Before the Burj Khalifa and the Empire State Building could steal the show, an 1880s icon in Chicago was the real steel-deal, setting a towering example for its successors: The Home Insurance Building, completed in 1885, was the world's first skyscraper, initially boasting 10 stories but later receiving a 'height extension' to 12 stories in 1891. Not just a height marvel, it introduced a fireproof structural steel frame for support, effectively laying the groundwork for future sky-kissing architectural wonders.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

5. Clark Kent's Elevator FOMO

"Sorry, Clark Kent, there's no need to save the day: The Shanghai Tower boasts not one, but three Guinness World Record titles. It claims the tallest elevator in a building, the fastest double-deck elevator, and the elevator with the highest travel distance! But don't let that fool you, it's not the fastest elevator in the world. It speeds along at 20.5 meters per second, while the world's swiftest is calculated to travel at a whopping 24 meters per second, and was all designed by Mitsubishi Electric back in 2016!"
Source => cnn.com

6. Taipei 101's Space-like Elevators

Hold on to your hats, and maybe your stomachs: Taipei 101's elevators practically give you a taste of space travel, shooting you from the 5th to the 89th floor in a whopping 37 seconds and breaking speed records with their 60.6 km/h (37.7 mph) top speed.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

7. The Spine of Petronas Towers

Ever felt your spine twist and turn as you attempt to witness the grandiose heights of skyscrapers? Turns out, they have impressive vertebrae too! Behold the tube-in-tube architecture: A prime example can be found in the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, where a central core and an outer ring of supercolumns, masterfully interconnected with ring beams, create a rigid moment frame – a spine, if you will. High-strength concrete forms its backbone, ensuring the structure can withstand its own weight as well as external forces such as wind or seismic activity.
Source => sciencedirect.com

8. High-rise Vertical Mansions

Living the high life — quite literally! In the land of skyscrapers and luxurious living, the residents of some of New York City's mixed-use buildings are bringing "having everything at your doorstep" to new heights: These vertical mansions often include enviable amenities such as fitness centers, spas, and dining establishments — all without stepping a foot outside the building.
Source => cityrealty.com

9. NYC's Skyscraper Secret

New York City, widely considered the concrete jungle where dreams are made of, a towering oasis of skyscrapers galore, actually has a little secret it's hiding behind those gleaming glass curtain walls: it's not the supreme skyscraper sovereign you thought! Brace yourselves: despite housing 274 buildings soaring above 150m, New York only has 33 skyscrapers, and this only makes up a fraction of its 6,000 high-rise structures.
Source => carto.com

10. Empire State's Sunlight Disinfectant

Whoever said "sunlight is the best disinfectant" must have had the Empire State Building in mind: Its unique setbacks were designed to allow more sunlight to reach the streets below while creating a beautiful cascade of light on the upper floors, debunking the myth that it takes up a tiny plot of land.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

11. Jenga of Giants: Jeddah Tower

When giants play Jenga and reach for the sky: The Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, set to stand at a jaw-dropping 1 kilometer (3,281 feet) tall upon completion, is poised to snatch the tallest building title from the current champ, Burj Khalifa, leaving it in the metaphorical dust by over 180 meters.
Source => squareyards.ae

12. Eco-friendly Skyward Tango

In a skyward tango of environmental flair, the Pearl River Tower waltzes its way to sustainability stardom, achieving what some might call "sky-high" levels of eco-friendliness: This dancing queen of a building in Guangzhou, China, not only flaunts wind turbines, photovoltaic cells, and radiant cooling, but its slick moves toward being a zero-energy structure include low discharge and demand-based ventilation, high-performance glazing, a radiant double-skin facade, and some seriously groovy automated blinds.
Source => en.wikipedia.org