There are now 100 supertall skyscrapers in the world

432 Park Avenue's completion marks global milestone

Clockwise from top left: 432 Park Avenue, the Burj Khalifa, the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center, Shanghai Tower, One57 (Credit: Evan Joseph) and the International Commerce Centre
Clockwise from top left: 432 Park Avenue, the Burj Khalifa, the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center, Shanghai Tower, One57 (Credit: Evan Joseph) and the International Commerce Centre

Mankind can rejoice today, because in a triumph of human ingenuity and engineering, there are now officially 100 supertall skyscrapers in the world following the completion of 432 Park Avenue.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat officially confirmed 432 Park Avenue’s completion on Dec. 23, when the 1,396-foot-tall condo tower met the body’s “partially occupiable” criteria for completion and the building’s first condo owners closed on their unit.

Credit: The Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

Credit: The Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

As the world’s tallest all-residential building, 432 Park Avenue is also the 14th-tallest building on the planet overall, according to CTBUH, which cited “advances in lateral resistance technology” – which prevents the building from swaying too much – for the structure’s notable slenderness.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

The organization categorizes “supertall” buildings as exceeding 300 meters (or 984 feet) in height, and noted that the construction of such skyscrapers “has increased at an astounding rate in recent years.” Whereas the first 50 supertalls in the world took 80 years to complete, that number has doubled in a matter of five years, it said.

While of the new supertall buildings in the world built over the past several few located in Asia and the Middle East, New York “has remained an active center for supertall construction in the Americas,” CTBUH added.

With 432 Park Avenue becoming the city’s seventh supertall skyscraper, New York now has the second-highest number of supertalls in the world behind Dubai, which has 18. [CTBUH]Rey Mashayekhi