As I was passing through the seventh largest city of United States, I was quite taken away by the city's unique blend of modern and antique architecture. And after paying a visit to the old landmarks such as Alamo, one definitely is amazed by the workers who are busy with coatings and sandblasting of the newly constructed and under construction skyscrapers of the city. Mesmerized by this one city, one wonders about how many skyscrapers this country has in total.
United States has the honor of being the country with world's first skyscraper, the Home Insurance building in Chicago. This building was built in 1884, and was only 10 floors high, tallest of its time. Since than, US has always held multiple positions in the list of world's tallest buildings. There is literally no defined rule as to how high a skyscraper must be but almost all the top skyscrapers of the world are above 700 feet with the tallest one, Burj Khalifa, reaching 2,176 feet high. Let us take a look at some of the United States most iconic skyscrapers so far.
• Willis Tower Chicago: If the name does not ring a bell, then let me remind you that it was formerly known as the Sears Tower. Built in 1973, it was the tallest building of the world and currently is fifth tallest of the world. But in United States, this enormous 108 story high building stands at 1451 feet and is the country's tallest so far.
• Trump International Hotel and Tower: And if you guessed it right, the building is actually named after Donald Trump. The building is a 92 story high condo hotel reaching 1389 feet. This building is currently world's eleventh tallest structure. One interesting fact about this building is that it was supposed to be built as the tallest building of US, but after the terrorist attacks on world Trade Center, the plan was dropped and scaled down.
• Empire State building: and if you are wondering why isn't there anyone who hasn't heard of this building than let us remind you that this building has held the title of world tallest building from 1931 to 1972. An unbelievable 40 years record. The building has a unique and classic architecture and is now the tallest building in New York after the 9/11 crash. 1250 feet tall building is America's third tallest building and world's fifteenth on the list.
• The Bank of America Tower: Besides being the second tallest building in the New York City, it is also the World's most eco friendly building. The eco friendly system includes a complete floor to ceiling insulating glass and the grey water system, which preserves and reuses the rainwater. The tower also incorporates a daylight dimmer system.
• Stratosphere Las Vegas: the tallest structure in Las Vegas is essentially the fifth tallest in United States but there are some arguments as to include it in the list of building or not. This structure is basically an observation tower which is not fully inhabitable up to top floor. The rest of the building serves as a hotel and casino.
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