Building Facts

• The word skyscraper originally referred to a type of sail on a sailing ship.
  
  
• A skyscraper is held together by a steel skeleton of vertical columns, horizontal girder beams and often diagonal beams for extra support. This structure distributes the immense weight in a way that ensures the integrity and safety of the building.
  
  
• Restoration work in 1990 and 2001 shifted the Leaning Tower of Pisa back to an angle of 4 degrees after it was previously leaning at an angle of 5.5 degrees.
  
  
• The roofs of the Sydney Opera House are covered in a total of 1056006 tiles.
  
  
• The Colosseum in Rome, Italy, is an elliptical amphitheatre that was completed in 80 AD. It held around 50000 spectators and was used for a variety of events including gladiator contests, animal hunts and mythology based dramas.
  
  
• Around 20000 workers helped build the Taj Mahal, a famous mausoleum and landmark in Agra, India, that attracts millions of visitors every year.
  
  
• The world’s largest office building by floor size is the Pentagon in Virginia, USA, with over half of its 6500000 square foot (604000 square metre) floor area used as offices.
  
  
• The Empire State Building in New York was the first building to have over 100 floors and was the tallest building in the world from 1931 until 1972.
  
  
• The Chrysler Building in New York was built at a time when there was a strong desire to build the world’s tallest skyscraper, before being overtaken by the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building was the world’s tallest for around 11 months. During the construction, floors were being completed at a staggering four per week. Despite the rush, no workers died during its construction.
  
  
• The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, are the world’s tallest twin buildings, standing at a height of 452 metres (1483 feet).
  
  
• The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE, is the tallest building in the world. It reaches an amazing 828 metres (2717 feet) in height. Check out our top ten list of the tallest buildings in the world.
  
  
• Tall buildings need fast elevators, recent developments have led to elevators that can travel up to, and sometimes over, 1000 metres a minute (3280 feet a minute).