Top 10 sky­scrapers facts

In summer. The tower stands 320 meters (1,050 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. Because of thermal expansion, the height varies by 15 cm (5.9 in) due to temperature.

Samsung (Korea). Samsung C&T Corporation (Construction and Trade), established in 1938, is the origin of Samsung Group. Samsung C&T was the primary contractor of 3 worlds tallest skyscrapers: Burj Khalifa, Petronas Twin Towers and Taipei 101.

Empire State Building has held the title for 42 years since 1931. It was surpassed by the North Tower of the World Trade Center in 1972. An early-1970s proposal to dismantle the spire and replace it with an additional 11 floors, which would have made it once again the world's tallest at the time, was considered but ultimately rejected.

It was built quickly and under budget. The Empire State Building took only one year and 45 days to build, or 7 million man-hours. To this day, this is a record for a skyscraper of its height. Due to reduced costs during the Depression, the final costs totalled only $24.7 million instead of the estimated $43 million.

7. As no traditional organization or formal body awards or recognizes any rating over five-star deluxe, such claims are meaningless and predominantly used for advertising purposes. The Burj Al Arab hotel says the label originates from journalists and that they neither encourage its use, nor do they use it in their advertising.

It is a lift. The Santa Justa Lift connects the lower streets of the Baixa with the higher Carmo Square. Since its construction, the Lift has become a tourist attraction in Lisbon. Among the urban lifts in the city, Santa Justa is the only remaining vertical one.

Chicago school. The distinguishing features of the Chicago School are the use of steel-frame buildings with masonry cladding, large plate-glass window areas and limiting the amount of exterior ornamentation. Many Chicago School skyscrapers contain the three parts of a classical column.

Insurance company. Although the tower no longer serves as the Transamerica Corporation headquarters, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo. In 1999, Transamerica was acquired by Dutch insurance company Aegon. When the non-insurance operations of Transamerica were later sold to GE Capital, Aegon retained the building as an investment

Tokyo Skytree (pictured) reached its full height of 634.0 meters (2,080 ft) in March 2011, making it the tallest tower in the world, displacing the Canton Tower, and the second tallest structure in the world.

Moscow. In 2012, seven of the fifteen tallest skyscrapers in Europe were located in Moscow. There are also several high-rise buildings under construction there.