This list of the tallest buildings in South America ranks

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

s in order by height. South America has historically seen a relatively modest demand for skyscrapers. Most of the continent's high-rises are in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, and Venezuela, and the tallest buildings are located in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in th ...

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern co ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Balneário Camboríu,

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-largest ...

and

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

, all of which (except Balneário Camboríu) are one of the biggest financial centers of these countries. Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela are the countries with the most skyscrapers.

is the South American city with most skyscrapers, and the 4thList of cities with the most high-rise buildings in the world in high-rise buildings. The majority of the continent's tallest buildings are residential. Office buildings have not historically been built taller than residential buildings in the region, though this scenario may well change in the next decades, as South America has been experiencing substantial economic growth.

Ranking criteria and buildings

The first skyscrapers of at least height in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

were built in the 1920s, and included the

Martinelli Building The Martinelli Building (in Portuguese: ''Edifício Martinelli''), with 28 floors, is the first skyscraper built in Brazil. Located in São Paulo, it is 105 meters tall. The building was planned in 1922 by the Italian-born entrepreneur, Giusep ...

Palacio Barolo Palacio Barolo is a landmark office building, located at 1370 Avenida de Mayo, in the neighborhood of Montserrat, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It stood as Buenos Aires' tallest building for more than a decade until the construction of the Kavanagh Buil ...

, and the

Palacio Salvo Palacio Salvo ( en, Salvo Palace) is a building at the intersection of 18 de Julio Avenue and Plaza Independencia in Montevideo, Uruguay. It was designed by the architect Mario Palanti, an Italian immigrant living in Buenos Aires, who used a simi ...

. Martinelli was not only the first, but the tallest skyscraper of South America until being surpassed by the

Altino Arantes Building The Altino Arantes Building ( pt, Edifício Altino Arantes), also known as the Banespa Building (in Portuguese: ''Edifício do Banespa''), and most popularly by Banespão (big Banespa) is an important Art deco skyscraper located in São Paulo, Br ...

, also in São Paulo, in 1947. Many of the tallest buildings in South America are located in

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

s that emerged as early as the 19th century, or in

office park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...

s developed during the second half of the 20th century. Some of the most notable include

;

Catalinas Norte Catalinas Norte is an important business complex composed of nineteen commercial office buildings and occupied by many leading Argentine companies, foreign subsidiaries, diplomatic offices, and a hotel. It is located in the Retiro and San Nicol ...

and the

Buenos Aires Central Business District The Buenos Aires Central Business District is the main commercial centre of Buenos Aires, Argentina, though not an official city ward. While the '' barrios'' of Puerto Madero and Retiro house important business complexes and modern high-rise arc ...

;

Parque Central Complex The Parque Central Complex is a housing, commercial and cultural development, implemented by Centro Simón Bolívar and located in the area known as El Conde in the center of the city of Caracas, Venezuela adjacent to Paseo Vargas. Within th ...

(

); along

Avenida Rio Branco Rio Branco Avenue (), formerly Avenida Central, is a major road in downtown Rio de Janeiro. It was built as the leading brand of the urban reform carried out by the mayor Pereira Passos in early 20th century. It is one of the main thoroughfares o ...

(

); the CentrInfinity o Empresarial Nações Unidas and the

Central Zone of São Paulo The Central Zone ( Portuguese: Zona Central de São Paulo) is an administrative zone of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. One of the largest commercial and business districts in South America, the region is administered by the subprefecture of S� ...

; and

Sanhattan Sanhattan, a portmanteau of ''Santiago'' and ''Manhattan'', is the popular ironic sobriquet given to Chile's capital Santiago's high-end financial district. It is located to the northeast of the capital, in the western end of the Las Condes commun ...

and the

Costanera Center The Costanera Center is a business and commercial complex that includes a six-floor shopping mall, the Gran Torre Santiago and three other skyscrapers – two high-end hotels and an office building. The complex is located in the commune of Provid ...

(

Tallest skyscrapers by architectural height

Sources

Emporis CorporationSkyscraper PageEl Espectador

References

External links

Skyscrapers.com
{{Supertall skyscrapers Tallest buildings

Ranking criteria and buildings

Tallest skyscrapers by architectural height

See also

Sources

References

External links