As with any area of life, it’s fascinating to see the extremes of what’s possible. In the case of wildly huge and tall buildings, the name of the game is, of course, how high can you go. In a new video, YouTuber MetaBallStudios (MBS) shows us the current winners of that game. As well as a handful from the future that will ultimately dwarf what’s in existence today. Here’s how the world’s tallest buildings compare.
The YouTuber—a.k.a. Alvaro Gracia Montoya, an animator—recently posted the above size comparison. MBS notes in the video’s description that the world’s tallest buildings are represented to scale against New York City. However, there are no giant antennas, telecommunications towers, or monuments on the list.
The video includes 10 of the world’s tallest buildings currently standing as well as numerous “visionary” projects. It begins with the Leonardo in Johannesburg, which stands at 768 feet tall.
From there, MBS shows about two dozen of the world’s tallest buildings from the present and future. The usual skyscraping subjects such as the Burj Khalifa and One World Trade Center appear about midway into the list. Although at 2,719 feet and 1,774 feet tall respectively, neither comes close to the giant structures at the taller end.
Speaking of which, the tallest buildings MBS features are truly beyond anything we have on Earth right now. Aeropolis 2001—a proposed 500-story high-rise building over Tokyo Bay in Japan—for example, measures in at 6,565 feet tall. It handily beats the Burj Khalifa’s height and then some. Dubai City Tower, however, another planned “megatall” skyscraper, quickly comes in to top that height at 7,900 feet tall.
As for the tallest building from the future (hopefully)? That nonexistent title goes to the Tokyo Tower of Babel. The Tower, which many call the tallest ever conceived, would be more than six miles high. Or approximately 33,000 feet tall. The proposed building would be able to house a population of 30 million people. It would take about 100 years to build. Maybe if somebody starts now, our grandchildren will be able to make it to the top floor.
