Special

The 20 Tallest Skyscrapers in the World

by Chris Newens  |  Published February 28, 2017

Tallest in Africa. Carlton Centre, South Africa

Beauty or beast, you decide (Photo: Rob via Flickr / CC By 2.0)

A skyscraper from another age: the 70s. The Carlton Centre would surely, for a long time have easily won the prize for ugliest building on this list. Times have changed though, and now there’s a novel beauty to its concrete brutalism, so different from the glass and chrome so ubiquitous elsewhere in the world of the mega-tall.

For such a landmark building, the Carlton Centre has had a rocky history, with a great deal of its office space having lain empty for decades, and urban decay leading to its 5-star branch of the Carlton Hotel having to shut its doors in 1998.

However, there have been improvements in recent years: the building’s office space now has 93 percent occupancy, and its retail areas 65 percent. Also worth mentioning is that it has retained its regional crown for longer than any of the other buildings on our list.