(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Humans have been obsessed with building tall structures since civilization began.

Compelled by the need to make an impression, or flaunt their prosperity and power.

Defying gravity, skyscrapers rise as high as our cultural aspirations.

Complimenting, and indeed defining the time of our lives.

Whether we see them as contentious or pretentious or the ultimate and architectural design skyscrapers, the world over are undeniably on the rise.

(soft music) Historically tall buildings were the preserve of great rulers and religions.

They were often placed on outcrops or hills to create the illusion of height, or built to emulate and re-imagine the age old form of the pyramid.

The pyramid shape was architecturally popular in several ancient cultures.

A symbolic expression of humanity's attempt to reach the realm of the gods.

The Mesopotamians had their Ziggurats.

The Mayans, their ceremonial towers.

And of course the legendary pharaohs of Egypt had their monumental tombs.

(soft music) As an architectural form, the pyramid reached its pinnacle around four and a half 1000 years ago with the construction of this, the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The oldest and largest of the Giza complex, the Great Pyramid was built to honour the Pharaoh Khufu.

An expression of Khufu's divinity, the pyramid is 147 metres high.

About the height of a 33-storey Manhattan skyscraper and points towards the heavens and Khufu's destination, the afterlife.

Few of Khufu's treasures survive, but the remains of other pharaohs treasures like those on display at the Cairo museum, give us an idea of the items Khufu would have taken to the so-called Field of Reeds, a mirror image of the real world he was leaving behind.

Such a monumental structure, required a monumental effort to build.

It's believed that between 536,000 labourers took 20 years to complete the Great Pyramid, which meant they were laying one stone, every two or three minutes.

No mean feat, given that each of the pyramid stones weighs between 2.5 and 15 tonnes each.

Even more remarkable, the stones were laid to align with the points of the compass and are accurate to within 1/15 of one degree, a triumph of precision and perspiration As prototype skyscrapers go, the Great Pyramid was a soaring success and for the next 3,800 years, it held the title of world's tallest building.

But as old skyscrapers must be, the Great Pyramid was eventually overtaken by buildings with much loftier ambitions.

(soft music) Before the era of the modern skyscraper, the skylines of the world were dominated by the cathedral.

An enduring icon of Christianity since the middle ages, the cathedral was designed to invoke the holy spirit, fill the faithful with awe and bring the believer closer to God.

Quite literally, in the case of one particular cathedral.

(upbeat music) 11th century Lincoln Cathedral in England, east Midlands is so tall, it's visible from 40 kilometres away.

It's Central Tower at just over 82 metres is still 1000 years later, the second tallest in England.

With a maximum height of 160 metres, the cathedral is 13 metres taller than the Great Pyramid at Giza.

Making this Mediaeval Marvel, the tallest building in the world when construction was completed in the early 14th century.

Built mainly from local limestone, the real miracle of this building is that it's here at all.

In 1124, 50 years after construction began, the cathedral was destroyed by fire.

In 1185, it was reputedly damaged by a massive earthquake and in 1548, the cathedral's elegant spire collapsed in a storm.

Lincoln's record as the world's tallest building lasted for 238 years but it had little chance of retaining that record because by the 19th century, a new age with new ambitions was reaching for the skies.

Washington DC, capital of the United States and heart of one of the world's great nations, harnessing the artistic and architectural styles of ancient Greece and Rome.

Washington DC project power through its buildings.

And nothing says power quite like a tall building.

(soft music) Opened in 1886 as a Memorial to George Washington, the Washington Monument is an obelisk, a shape adopted to evoke the timeless grand juror of ancient Egypt, where the obelisk originated.

Continuing the Egyptian theme, the monument tapers to a pyramidion, which is fitted with small observation windows that look out over the National Mall.

Remarkably, no mortar was used in the construction of the monument.

It's held together simply by gravity and friction in its own right, a towering feat of engineering.

The Washington Monument has its imperfections though.

The lower part is a different shade to the upper part.

The reason being that construction stopped in 1856, when money ran out.

And when construction resumed 20 years later, stones from a different quarry were used, which weathered over time to a slightly darker colour.

The monument's real significance though lies in its height.

At 169 metres, the Washington Monument is seven metres taller than the original Lincoln Cathedral making it the tallest building in the world when it opened.

With those additional seven metres, America was announcing to the world that it had arrived.

The Washington Monument's time at the top would be short-lived however.

Within a year of its opening, Europe hit back with a Marvel that overshadowed, all that had gone before it.

For the majority of its life, Paris kept an architectural low profile.

It's residential and business buildings rose no more than a few storeys.

It's monuments though beautiful, we're modest in height.

Then in 1889, this Chic, but vertically challenged city underwent a revolutionary renovation.

Hailed as an engineering triumph, the Eiffel Tower was built in the heart of Paris to wow the crowds at the world fair.

Conceived, and constructed by Gustav Eiffel the tower coincided with the industrial revolution in France.

And Eiffel's signature structure, was an ode to iron, a paradox towering more than 300 metres above low lying Paris.

Dwarfing anything that had gone before it, the Eiffel Tower took two years, two months and five days to complete.

Each prefabricated piece of the tower was designed individually to ensure its accuracy to within a 10th of a millimetre.

There were 18,038 pieces in total, made in Eiffel's factory but connected on site using 2 and a half million hot rivets, which contracted as they cooled to ensure a super-tight fit.

1,665 steps lead from the Esplanade to the top of the tower, complimented by one of several elevators.

A technical triumph when they were first installed, two of the original lifts are still in service today.

An ingenious cross between an elevator and a cable car every year, the lifts travel more than 103,000 kilometres, the equivalent of circling the globe two and a half times.

Remarkably for such an iconic structure, the Eiffel Tower was meant to be temporary.

But it remained establishing itself as a crucial part of Paris's cityscape and featuring in some of the city's most critical events.

In the early years, it was a radio tower and famously intercepted German messages at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

- The blitzkrieg had broken.

Inadequately supplied poilus engulfed.

In a matter of days civilian France was at the mercy of a power crazed madman.

- When the Germans captured Paris during World War Two, the French cut the lift cables inside the tower, forcing Hitler's soldiers to climb the steps in order to secure their flag to the mast.

A symbolic gesture of Paris' defiance.

(upbeat music) A powerful and distinctive metaphor for French industrial genius.

It is almost impossible to imagine Paris or the modern world without this icon.

Technically ambitious, culturally audacious, the Eiffel Tower announced the 20th century as the age of the skyscraper.

(soft music) Manhattan, New York.

Boasting almost 300 buildings over 150 metres in height, no other city on earth is so synonymous with the skyscraper.

Thanks to ambition, wealth and the industrial revolution.

New York has risen in just over a century to become one of the most breathtaking cityscapes in human history.

The way was paved for New York skyscrapers with advances in the mass production of structural steel in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In fact, the pace of steel development was so rapid that between 1908 and 1969, New York was home to almost all of the world's tallest habitable buildings, including two of its most iconic.

On the intersection of 42nd street and Lexington avenue is one of New York's most recognisable skyscrapers, the Chrysler Building.

At 77 storeys high, this streamlined art deco masterpiece still speaks to New York's vision, energy and modernity.

Six kilometres south in Manhattan's financial district is the less sleek, but no less memorable, neo-gothic splendour of 40 Wall Street.

Both buildings are the product of pioneering advances in steel frame engineering, but what gave birth to them was the wealth and vanity of two Titans of American business.

In the late 1920s, Walter Chrysler, the automobile manufacturer and banking giant, the Manhattan company went toe to toe and wallet to wallet in a race to build the world's tallest building.

Chrysler got off the mark first, in late 1928.

Using 20,000 tonnes of steel, 4 million bricks and a workforce of over 3000, the Chrysler building rose at a staggering four floors per week.

Not to be outdone the Manhattan company revised their plans upwards going from an initial height of 47 floors to 63 and finally to 71.

In May, 1930, 40 Wall Street was finished at 238 metres.

It was 14.8 metres higher than the projected height of the Chrysler.

Although smaller in real terms than the 300 metre Eiffel Tower, 40 Wall Street was now the tallest habitable building on earth.

The Manhattan company had one, but Chrysler wasn't going to settle for second best.

In Cahoots with his architects and builders, Chrysler erected, a secretly built spire on top of his dome.

At 55 metres, the spire took the Chrysler to a massive 319 metres, 38 metres taller than 40 Wall Street and 19 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower.

Walter Chrysler had nabbed the title of the tallest building in the world.

Chrysler unashamedly referred to his building as a Monument To Me.

Inside the lavish three-storey high lobby is a tribute to the breadth of Chrysler's vision and the depth of his pockets.

The ceiling, boasts a specially commissioned fresco and the walls and floors combined Moroccan and blue marble, Onyx and steel.

On the outside hubcap like friezes and stainless steel gargoyles, reminiscent of the detailing on Chrysler's automobiles, further personalise the building.

The Chrysler is still a pulse quickening building to this day, but its status as the tallest building in the world would inevitably be short-lived.

Within a year, the Empire State Building would overshadow the Chrysler by 62 metres becoming the defining New York icon for decades to come.

Today, the Empire State Building is only one amongst 240 skyscrapers in New York, but nevertheless, the city continues to outdo itself.

(soft music) When it opened in 2014, One World Trade Centre was the tallest building in New York, the United States and the entire Western Hemisphere.

But what makes this tapering glass-clad prism so special, is not that it's tall, but that it's exactly 417 metres tall.

At its parapet, One World Trade Centre is exactly the same height as a building that once stood here.

On September 11th, 2001, a callous act of terrorism caused the original World Trade Centre to collapse.

Once the damage flows on the upper levels of each building began to cave in.

The progressive crumbling of each tower was inevitable.

343 firefighters, 71 law enforcement offices, and 2,339 innocent civilians were killed and a New York icon was reduced to rubble.

In defiance, New York responded as only New York could by building another extraordinary skyscraper in its place.

Daring yet dignified, One World Trade Centre stands on the Northwest corner of the World Trade Centre site.

A hybrid of concrete and steel, it took eight years to build at a cost of $4 billion.

And once completed the Spire brought the total height of the building to 1,776 feet, a reference to 1776, the year in which the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Born of catastrophe, this quintessential New York structure is a moving memorial to the dead and a luminous icon of this city's resilience and renewal.

Tall buildings have changed dramatically through the ages from pyramids to cathedrals, to vertiginous skyscrapers.

They are constantly evolving, forever re-imagining their form and function.

And today some of the tallest buildings on earth are towers.

In fact, between 1954 and 1991, all of the world's tallest buildings were towers.

Principally used for telecommunications, towers have become increasingly multi-purpose over the years.

Incorporating observation platforms, revolving restaurants and sky-high playgrounds for adventures.

Sidney Tower at 309 metres is the tallest habitable tower in Australia, marginally smaller than the 328 metre Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand.

But both pale in comparison to the CN Tower in Canada.

At 553.33 metres, the CN Tower in Toronto held the title of the world's tallest freestanding structure for 32 years.

Originally built to give Toronto residents a better television signal, the CN Tower has views to rival any in the world.

They say on a clear day, visitors can see Niagara falls from the sky pod, which at 447 metres is the highest observation deck on the tower.

And when they're done with looking out, there's also a view down from inside the glass floor level at 342 metres.

Six centimetre thick glass flooring will apparently hold the weight of 35 moose, which is good to know if ever the locals decided to wrangle such a sizable herd into one of the towers, six glass-fronted elevators.

Travelling at a speed of 22 kilometres per hour, this is surely one of the best elevator rides in the world, rocketing guests to the top of the structure in 58 seconds flat.

- Alright, it's cool up here today.

Like we're above the clouds, but we can still see so, so much.

- The latest addition to the visitor experience is the edgewalk, which since 2011 enables the brave an opportunity to complete the highest hands-free full circle walk on the planet complete with obligatory lean.

Whilst the CN Tower will always be an awe-inspiring structure, architects and engineers have set their sights even higher with a new breed of tall building.

As construction methods continue to improve and engineers become more assured, occupied skyscrapers grow bolder and higher.

With a defining height of 300 to 600 metres, these so-called supertalls are in a class of their own.

Once a rarity, they now punctuate the skylines of cities around the world.

There are currently 170 supertall skyscrapers on the planet, up from 26 at the turn of the 21st century, While most supertalls are singular structures piercing the infinite blue, others rise in spectacular fashion as a pair.

In Malaysia's capital city of Kuala Lumpur stands the world's tallest twins, the Petronas Towers.

At 451.9 metres in height, the Petronas Towers are a symbol of Malaysia's economic and global aspirations.

And the design of the building also reflects Malaysia's rich cultural and spiritual heritage.

The 600,000 tonne towers are anchored to the ground by concrete piles that extend a record breaking 120 metres into the earth.

Holding the towers together is a two-storey skybridge, 170 metres above street level.

Weighing 750 tonnes, the 58.4 metre long bridge is not fully joined to either building allowing for some flexing during high winds.

The views from the bridge are outstanding bested only by those from the observation deck on the 86th floor of the second tower, which looks directly across at its twin.

Embracing the exterior is 83,500 square metres of stainless-steel cladding and 55,000 square metres of laminated glass Inside the Petronas Towers is downright futuristic.

Both towers are intelligence structures with integrated telecommunications, environmental, fire and smoke control, power supply, and building security.

The entire project cost a whopping $1.6 billion.

But it has completely transformed the skyline of Kuala Lumpur and with that, the profile of the nation.

The Petronas Towers held the record for the tallest building in the world until 2004.

And whilst it's still the world's tallest twin tower structure, the overall tall tower record was nabbed by Malaysia's neighbour to the north.

(soft music) Home to an estimated 2.6 million people, Taipei is the political, economic and cultural capital of Taiwan.

At the turn of the century, Taipei was busily reinventing itself as a modern metropolis and it emphatically and symbolically did so with the rise of this, the Taipei 101.

The first occupied skyscraper on the planet to break through the 500 metre barrier, Taipei 101 is quite literally a cloud-piecer.

With one of the fastest elevators in the world, reaching a top speed of 16.8 metres per second, it takes guests 37 seconds to reach the 89th floor where one of the highest observation decks in the world, affords those with a little patience, a glimpse of life on the streets far below.

This colossal 508 metres skyscraper, was designed to look like a giant bamboo stalk, a plant the Chinese consider both strong and resilient.

It's glass curtain walls are reminiscent of the colour of Jade, a stone prize by the Chinese since antiquity for its purity and vitality.

Taipei 101 is metaphorically green as well.

It has its own rainwater and thermal energy capture and storage systems.

Inevitably Taipei 101 was surpassed by a new breed of building set to soar above 600 metres.

(soft music) If every skyscraper represents one small step for man, then this is the building industries giant leap for mankind, the Burj Khalifa.

At 828 metres, the 163 floor Burj Khalifa is so high, it casts a shadow on top of the clouds that very occasionally ensnare it.

Everything about this building inspires wonder.

It truly is the great pyramid of our time.

Named after Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed, the President of the United Arab Emirates, the Burj Khalifa rises impossibly from the desert sands of downtown Dubai, the financial and recreational centre of the middle east.

Financed by oil revenue, Dubai grew quickly from a cluster of small settlements in the 1960s to a gleaming seaside metropolis and on its completion in 2009, the Burj Khalifa sent a signal to the world that Dubai had well and truly arrived.

The Burj Khalifa's construction demanded a complete rethink of the tall building process.

The first challenge was excavation, digging through sand and highly corrosive brackish water to reach a layer of bedrock.

The solution, 192 steel support piles driven to a depth of 50 metres and 45,000 square metres of salt-resistant concrete.

Over 40 wind tunnel tests were performed to inform the design of the Burj and to ensure it could withstand Dubai's punishing climate.

The building was so high, engineers had to confront different climates at different levels.

So changes in temperature and pressure were accounted for and very cleverly harnessed.

The cooler, less humid air circulating at altitude was drawn through the top of the building and used for ventilation, throughout, significantly improving the energy efficiency of the structure.

The buildings engineers were also inspired to construct a massive water recovery system, which collects around 57 million litres of air conditioning condensation every year.

More than enough to keep the gardens onsite well-watered or perhaps the Dubai fountain in full flight.

And when the buildings vitals statistics were tallied, they broke every record in the book.

The amount of concrete used was the equivalent of laying a sidewalk from one side of America to the other.

And more than enough reinforced steel was used to lay a track a quarter of the way around the world.

The telescoping spire that crowns the building also houses its communications equipment, bringing the Burj to 828 metres, a height that means the building can be seen from up to 95 kilometres away.

For many discerning skyscraper buffs, size isn't the be-all and end-all.

It's the overall shape of the building, not its height that sends a rush of blood to the head.

So whilst most tall buildings tend to stick to a tried and true formula, others do their best to break free of the mould and have nicknames to match.

The Elephant in Bangkok, Big Pants in Beijing, the Death Star in New York city.

But for all their singular wonder, it's hard to best the collection of skyscrapers that vie for attention in latter-day London.

What a remarkably different skyline, this ancient city has crafted.

Thanks to the architectural optimism of the 21st century.

Rubbing shoulders with Mediaeval Marvels, like the tower of London are such oddities as the Gherkin, the Walkie Talkie, the Cheese Grater and the Shard.

They've all eclipsed some Paul's Cathedral as the dominant landmark in the city, a not so subtle indication of where the power of London now lies, smack bang in the centre of the financial district.

Oddly-shaped skyscrapers are often accused of trying too hard and as such rarely escape ridicule, but in Dubai, one such skyscraper has proven to be the exception.

(soft music) Inspired by the shape of a sailboat, the Burj Al Arab is a symbol of the future, Dubai is sailing towards.

Rising from its own purpose-built island, the dramatic shape of the building was achieved using a steel skeleton braced with trusses, while double layers of fibreglass and a coated fabric complete its unique facade.

Designed to diffuse lightened heat, it's every bit the modern-take on an Arabian tent.

When the 321 metres skyscraper opened in 1999, it was the world's first seven star luxury hotel.

An unapologetic excess of excess, indicative of Dubai's new prosperity, the interior boasts the best money can buy.

Chandeliers from the UK and 30 types of marble from Italy, including the same kind of Michelangelo used to create his masterpiece, David.

The 182 metre high atrium, the tallest in the world for some time oozes affluence, with the type of columns encircling it covered in 24 carat gold leaf.

Skyview restaurant is supported on girders that radiate out from the skyscrapers spine and the helipad is tied back to the central core by a 40 meter-long steel truss.

A dazzling design melded without standing engineering.

The Burj Al Arab is a triumph of ingenuity, imagination and daring and perhaps goes to prove that the very odd-looking can fit in very nicely indeed.

(upbeat music) It's no easy task to nominate a single tall building that stands out in today's rather spectacular crowd.

So it's somewhat fortuitous that the title of world's greatest skyscraper falls to not one but three magnificent towers.

(soft music) The city state of Singapore and Southeast Asia is tiny.

At 720 square kilometres Singapore's total area is the equivalent of only 45 football fields.

And with roughly 7,900 people per square kilometre, it's no surprise that 85% of Singapore's 5.8 million citizens live in high-rise buildings.

So it seems fitting that Singapore should be home to one of the most breathtaking skyscrapers on the planet.

This triad of towers is the Marina Bay Sands Resort.

Completed in 2010, it's not the tallest building in Singapore, but it is without a shadow of a doubt, the most ingenious.

The entire complex sits on 500,000 cubic metres of reclaimed land, sand infill, on soft Marine clay.

From a distance, the towers appear to be straight up columns, but they actually slope 26 degrees.

An auspicious number, according to the principles of Feng Shui, since two plus six equals eight, a number that indicates prosperity.

Each of the 55-storey towers narrow as they rise and connect at the top by a 38 metre wide 340 metre long Skypark.

The Skypark resembles the hull of a boat with its prow cantilevering 67 metres out from tower one.

The Skypark boasts a number of Chic restaurants and bars, a running track for fitness fanatics and a 150 metre long infinity pool, an architectural Marvel in its own right.

Ocean freighters, ship the pool from the United States in 14 prefabricated sections, which were then assembled on top of the towers.

Holding a tonne of water, engineers had to instal 500 jacks beneath the structure to counter any movement due to wind and subsidence ensuring the pool maintains its infinity edge well into the future.

The resort complex includes a 2,561 room hotel, a convention centre that can hold at least 45,000 people, the world's largest atrium casino, a theatre and art science museum, and a massive shopping mall complete with its own Las-Vegas style, Venetian Canal.

Built at a cost of $5.7 billion, Marina Bay Sands affords a remarkable view over the city but more importantly, perhaps it presents a window to the future for us all.

A way to accommodate without compromise the human population as it continues to grow.

From the wonder of Egypt ancient pyramids, to Singapore's own stunning triad, iconic skyscrapers have always had the power to connect and transform.

It's difficult to visualise what cities will look like 100 from now.

It's hard enough to imagine the form they might take in the next decade or so.

With a million people a day, now moving into cities all around the globe, supertall buildings are on their way to becoming the rule rather than the exception.

So it's safe to assume our race for the sky is far from over.

And will inspire a whole new generation of designers and architects to outdream their visionary predecessors.

(soft music)