BURJ DUBAI

Burj Dubai, originalmente cargada por antonflo.

Burj Dubai in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is currently the world's tallest man-made structure. This image was taken from a helicopter while flying over some of the developments in Dubai.

If any one requires some arial shots I am your man, I am a pilot and love taking pictures from the air. Please contact me.

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While determining the world's tallest structure has generally been straightforward, the definition of the world's tallest building or the world's tallest tower is less clear. The disputes generally centre on what should be counted as a building or a tower, and what is being measured.

In terms of absolute height, the tallest structure is currently the Burj Dubai, although it does not currently hold the official title of "Tallest Building in the World" until the building is officially opened. The current official holder of the "Tallest Building in the World" is held by Taipei 101. In addition, there are dozens of radio and television broadcasting towers which measure over 600 metres (about 2,000 feet) in height. There is, however, some debate about:

whether structures under construction should be included in the list
whether structures rising out of water should have their below-water height included.

For towers, there is debate over:

whether guy-wire-supported structures should be counted

For buildings, there is debate over:

whether communication towers with observation galleries should be considered habitable buildings.
whether only habitable height is considered.
whether roof-top antennas should be considered towards height of buildings; with particular interest in whether components that look like spires can be either classified as antennas or architectural detail.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the organization that determines the title of the "World’s Tallest Building," recognizes a building only if at least fifty percent of its height is made up of floor plates containing habitable floor area. Structures that do not meet this criterion, such as the CN Tower, are defined as "towers."

The tallest man-made structure is Burj Dubai, a skyscraper under construction in Dubai that reached 818 m (2,684 ft) in height on 17 January 2009.By 7 April 2008 it had been built higher than the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota, USA, which is still the tallest completed structure at 628.8 m (2,063 ft). In September it officially surpassed Poland's 646.38 m (2,121 ft) Warsaw radio mast, which stood from 1974 to 1991, to become the tallest structure ever built. Guyed lattice towers such as these masts had held the world height record since 1954.

The CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, standing at 553.3 m (1,815 ft), is the world's tallest completed freestanding structure on land. Opened in 1976, it was surpassed in height by the rising Burj Dubai on September 12, 2007. It has the world's second highest public observation deck at 446.5 m (1,465 ft).

The Petronius Platform stands 610 m (2,001 ft) off the sea floor leading some, including Guinness World Records 2007, to claim it as the tallest freestanding structure in the world. However, it is debated whether underwater height should be discounted in the same manner as height below grade is ignored on buildings. The Troll A platform is 472 m (1,549 ft), without any part of that height being supported by wires. The tension-leg type of oil platform has even greater below-water heights with several examples more than 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) deep. However, these platforms are not considered constant structures as the vast majority of their height is made up of the length of the tendons attaching the floating platforms to the sea floor.

Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan is currently the world's tallest inhabited building in only one of the four main categories that are commonly measured: at 509.2 m (1,671 ft) as measured to its architectural height (spire). Its roof height 449.2 m (1,474 ft) and highest occupied floor 439.2 m (1,441 ft) have recently been overtaken by the Shanghai World Financial Center (roof height 487 m (1,598 ft); highest occupied floor 474 m (1,555 ft)). The Sears Toweris highest in the final category: the greatest height to top of antenna of any building in the world at 527.3 m (1,730 ft).

On its completion, projected for late 2009, Burj Dubai will break the height record in all four categories for completed buildings by a wide margin. TheShanghai World Financial Center has the world's highest roof, highest occupied floor, and the world's highest public observation deck at 474.2 m (1,556 ft). It will retain the latter record after the completion of Burj Dubai, as Burj Dubai's observation deck will be at 442 m (1,450 ft).

Comparison of top skyscrapers with measurements to top of antenna along to the oldest modern one, the Eiffel Tower from 1889

Current skyscrapers compared with notable under construction skyscrapers