The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings, including

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

s, and

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes based on geographical location. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, city, ...

. A

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

based at the Monroe Building in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States, the CTBUH announces the title of "The World's Tallest Building" and is widely considered to be an authority on the official height of tall buildings. Its stated mission is to study and report "on all aspects of the planning, design, and construction of tall buildings." The CTBUH was founded at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

in 1969 by

Lynn S. Beedle Dr. Lynn S. Beedle (December 7, 1917 – October 30, 2003) was an American structural engineer, the founder and the director of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, and known for his design and building of skyscrapers.Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

in Chicago.

Ranking tall buildings

The CTBUH ranks the

height Height is measure of vertical distance, either vertical extent (how "tall" something or someone is) or vertical position (how "high" a point is). For an example of vertical extent, "This basketball player is 7 foot 1 inches in height." For an e ...

of buildings using three different methods: #Height to architectural top: This is the main criterion under which the CTBUH ranks the height of buildings. Heights are measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the top of the building, inclusive of spires but excluding items such as flagpoles and antennae. #Highest occupied

floor A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from wikt:hovel, simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the ex ...

: Height to the floor level of the highest floor that is occupied by residents, workers or other building users on a consistent basis. #Height to tip: Height to the highest point of the building, including antennae, flagpoles, and technical equipment. A category measuring to the top of the roof was removed from the ranking criteria in November 2009. This is because flat-topped skyscrapers are not as common in the modern era, as skyscrapers with intricate spire designs and parapet features atop their roofs make it more difficult to define the roof of a building. The CTBUH insist that a building should only be added to the official tallest list when it is (i) topped out structurally and architecturally, (ii) fully clad, and (iii) open for business, or at least partially open. This became the CTBUH official definition of a building's "completion". The CTBUH maintains an extensive database (named The Skyscraper Center) of the tallest buildings in the world, organized by various categories. Buildings under construction are also included, although not ranked until completion. The CTBUH also produces an annual list of the 10 tallest buildings completed in that particular year. Topping the 2008 list was the Shanghai World Financial Center in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, the then tallest building in the world according to the criteria of highest occupied floor, and home to the world's highest observation deck. Second on the 2008 list was the Almas Tower in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, third was the

Minsheng Bank Building The Minsheng Bank Building (also known as Wuhan International Securities Building) is a supertall skyscraper located in Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China, China. It is the tallest building in mainland China entirely steel-structured lac ...

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

which stands at , whilst fourth was The Address Downtown Burj Dubai (). All in all, six of the 10 tallest buildings completed in 2008 are located in Asia, three in the Middle East and one in North America.

Events

The CTBUH also hosts annual conferences and a World Congress every three to five years. The 2012 World Congress was held in

from September 19 to 21 . The next World Congress was held in

between October 28 and November 2, 2019. The CTBUH also bestows Tall Building Awards each year, with four regional awards to the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and Asia and Australasia. Among these four regional awards, one is given the "Best Tall Building Award Overall." There are also two lifetime achievement awards. Starting in 2010, these awards are presented at a symposium and dinner held on the Illinois Institute of Technology's campus. In 2012, the CTBUH added two new awards for Innovation and Performance.

Publications

In addition to the monthly newsletter and daily updated global news archive, the CTBUH publishes a quarterly ''CTBUH Journal''. The Journal includes peer-reviewed technical papers, in-depth project case studies, book reviews, interviews with prominent persons in the tall building industry, and much more. The CTBUH also publishes guidebooks, reference manuals, and monographs related to the tall building industry. In 2006 it published the book ''101 of the World's Tallest Buildings'' in conjunction with author and CTBUH member Georges Binder, a reference to 101 of the world's tallest skyscrapers. It includes photos, plans, details on architects, engineers and stakeholders, and comprehensive technical data on each building. Since 2008 it has published a ''Best Tall Buildings'' book to accompany that year's awards.

Awards

The CTBUH grants several awards every year. Best Tall Building Overall Award *2007: Beetham Tower,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, UK *2008: Opera Grand Tower,

, UAE *2009:

Linked Hybrid Linked Hybrid () is a building complex built in Beijing, China designed by Steven Holl Architects. It is recognized for its environmental design and uses geo-thermal wells for cooling and heating. Linked Hybrid has won several awards such as the ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China *2010: Broadcasting Place,

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, UK *2010: Global Icon award,

Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa (known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration) is a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, or just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding the antenna, but inc ...

is the first recipient of this award announced on 25 October 2010,

, United Arab Emirates *2011:

KfW Westarkade KfW Westarkade is a 60.1-meter (197 ft) office building located in Frankfurt, Germany. The 14-storey building completed in 2010, is located in the Westend (Frankfurt am Main), Westend district in Frankfurt and serves as the headquarters for K ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany *2012: Doha Tower,

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, Qatar *2013: CCTV Headquarters, Beijing, China *2014: One Central Park,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia *2015: Bosco Verticale,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy *2016: Shanghai Tower,

, China *2018: Oasia Hotel Downtown, Singapore *2019:

Salesforce Tower Salesforce Tower, formerly known as Transbay Tower, is a 61-story supertall skyscraper at 415 Mission Street, between First and Fremont Street, in the South of Market, San Francisco, South of Market district of downtown San Francisco. Its main ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, United States *2021: Vancouver House,

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada *2022: David Rubenstein Forum,

, United States *2023: Quay Quarter Tower,

, Australia *2024: Pan Pacific Orchard,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Research

The CTBUH works with institutions of higher-education from around the world in researching projects related to tall building design. Building as used on the CTBUH's www.skyscrapercenter.com

References

External links

*
Australian chapter of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

CTBUH Skyscraper Center Database

CTBUH Technical Papers

CTBUH Global Tall Building News Archive

CTBUH Newsletter Archive

CTBUH Design Research
{{Authority control Urban planning organizations Lehigh University Organizations established in 1969 1969 establishments in Illinois Organizations based in Chicago Skyscrapers