Ask an Architect

[Clueless Morgan]

I have been enamored with skyscrapers since I was a boy, but have always been bothered by spires counting towards height when ranking; i.e., One WTC being considered taller than the Willis Tower is bullshit in my opinion. In fact if just roof height is considered, 432 Park Avenue is taller than One WTC. Add to this that antennas aren't counted and it all gets confused. To me it's a bit like having your height taken while wearing heals.

Is there any rhyme or reason to this or is it simply subjective maneuvering in order to get your building higher on the list?

No doubt the building owners want the status, but even antennas must be structurally supported. IMO it makes sense to consider the absolute high point. Otherwise, there are many arbitrary points with which to justify the claim, not just roof, but tops of parapets, mechanical penthouses, etc.

I agree. Everyone can agree on the absolute height of a building in terms of the highest man made doohickey on the building; not everyone will agree on a subjective measurement point that falls short of the height of the antenna. As Chad points out, there can be an endless number of arbitrary points to measure to, and not every building will necessarily have the element that is deemed the measurement point, or that element might not be the highest point of every building. If you say you measure to the building parapet, what happens when the mechanical penthouse is higher than the parapet? What happens with buildings like the Chrysler Building that doesn't have parapet walls - or the parapet walls it does have occur on the 70th floor but there are 15 occupied floors above the floor with the parapet walls?

Naw, best just keep it to absolute height of the building.

In the same vein (but the other way) of post #5, why isn't the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge considered to be 946 (m/l) feet tall instead of 746 ??

(the water is 200+ feet deep where they built the south tower, height is height, no?)

Much like Cato's question and Chad's answer, it depends on where you are measuring from. The height above roadway is different than the height above water (which can vary because of tides so they probably take an average) and absolute height of the towers from the base of construction to the tippy top. Most people generally don't think about the structure below the water's surface so it's a reasonable approach to record the height of the towers as the height from the surface most people see/think of: the water level.