Sorrento, Hong Kong

Sorrento is a residential complex on the reclamation in west of Jordan, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The complex contains five buildings named Sorrento 1 through to Sorrento 6. In common with many developments in Hong Kong, tower 4 is omitted because the Cantonese number "4" is a homophone for the Cantonese word "death". The tallest tower, Sorrento 1, is 256 metres (841 feet) tall with 75 floors, it is the tallest residential building of Hong Kong, and fifth-tallest residential building in the world. All five buildings of the complex were completed in 2003.Located at Kowloon Station of the MTR, Sorrento comprises five towers with ascending height. Completed in 2003, it was built by the Wharf Estate Development Ltd. and MTR Corporation.All five towers were designed by Wong & Ouyang (HK) Ltd and follow the same design however reduced in height consecutively with the tallest being Sorrento 1 and the shortest being Sorrento 6. There is a gap between Sorrento 2 and Sorrento 3, where a foot bridge connects the Sorrento residential complex to Kowloon Station and the Elements Mall.There are only two duplexes in the entire complex: Unit 81C and 81D of Sorrento 1.

Rinku Gate Tower Building

The Rinku Gate Tower Building is a 256 metre (840 foot) tall skyscraper located in Rinku Town, Izumisano, Osaka, Japan. The 56 storey building was completed in August 1996 following the design of Nikken Sekkei and Yasui Architects & Engineers.The tower is split into three levels: the first level contains an international conference hall, the second level contains business offices, and the third and slimmer level is the ANA Gate Tower Hotel. The hotel is in a convenient location for travellers, as it anchors the Sky Gate Bridge leading to the Kansai International Airport and is connected to the JR Hanwa Line and Nankai Main Line Rinku Town Station. The 26th floor serves as an observation level which gives views of the ocean, Sky Gate Bridge, and the Ferris wheel of Rinku Town.The building has two underground floors which are used as a 365 space car park.There were a number of proposals for designs to be built on the site; however, the second one was the approved version.The building is the 88th tallest existing building in the world when measured up to the highest architectural point and is the second tallest building in Japan. It shares the same height as the Osaka World Trade Center Building.

U.S. Steel Tower

U.S. Steel Tower is the tallest skyscraper in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the 35th tallest in the United States. Completed in 1970, the tower stretches 64 floors to 841 ft (256 m) and has 2,300,000 square feet (214,000 m²) of leasable space. Its original name was the U.S. Steel Building for many years before it was changed to USX Tower in 1988. The name was finally changed back to the U.S. Steel Tower in January 2002 to reflect U.S. Steel's new corporate identity (USX was the 1990s combined oil/energy/steel conglomerate). Although no longer the owner of the building, U.S. Steel is the largest tenant, occupying more than a half million square feet (46,452 m²) of office space. The building is located at 600 Grant Street, zip code 15219.

Hyperion Tower

The Hyperion Tower, also known as the Mok-dong Hyperion Towers, is a group of three buildings located in Seoul, South Korea, completed in 2003. The tallest building, Tower A, is 69 stories and 256 meters (840 feet) high and is the world's 105th tallest building. The towers are used as residential housing. Below the building is the Hyundai Department store, a chain of high end department stores in South Korea.

Chicago Water Tower

The Chicago Water Tower is a contributing property in the Old Chicago Water Tower District landmark district. It is located at 806 North Michigan Avenue along the Magnificent Mile shopping district in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois. Located adjacent to Loyola University Chicago's downtown campus, the Water Tower serves as the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau Visitor's Welcome Center. Contrary to popular belief the Chicago Water Tower is not the oldest water tower in the world, but is second to the Louisville Water Tower in Louisville, Kentucky.The tower, built in 1869 by architect William W. Boyington from yellowing Joliet limestone, is 154 feet (47 m) tall. Inside was a 138 foot (42 m) high standpipe to hold water. In addition to being used for firefighting, the pressure in the pipe could be regulated to control water surges in the area.The tower gained prominence after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. While some incorrectly believe that the tower was the only building to survive the fire, a few other buildings in the burned district survived along with the tower. But the water tower was the only public building in the burned zone to survive, and is the only one of the surviving structures still standing. In the years since the fire, the tower has become a symbol of old Chicago and of the city's recovery from the fire.Oscar Wilde stated the Water Tower looked like "a castellated monstrosity with pepper boxes stuck all over it."In 1918, when Pine Street was widened, the plans were altered in order to give the Water Tower a featured location. The Tower was named an American Water Landmark in 1969.In 2004, the tower was featured in the finale of The Amazing Race 6.

Messeturm

MesseTurm is a skyscraper located in Frankfurt, Germany. Its name translates as "Fair Tower" in German. It is the second tallest building in Germany and the European Union. Messeturm's ground floor area is just 41 x 41 meters (135 x 135 feet). MesseTurm is directly located in the Frankfurt Trade Fair grounds. Design architect was Helmut Jahn.The MesseTurm was the tallest building in Europe from its completion in 1990 until 1997, when it was eclipsed by the Commerzbank Tower also in Frankfurt, then in 2003 by the Triumph-Palace in Moscow. Used as an office building, it is 257 meters (843 feet) tall and has 63 floors.The construction of the building's foundation set a world record for the longest continuous concrete pour. Ninety trucks poured concrete for 78 hours into the 6 meters (20 feet) deep foundation.The pyramid on the very top of the MesseTurm is what makes it most remarkable among other usual skyscrapers. It is 36.3 meters (119.1 ft) high.Its design is similar to the Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta, Georgia. Frankfurters often call it "The Pencil" due to its shape.The tower uses numerous geometric shapes in its design such as the square footprint which is the main shape used throughout the tower. It then rises to a cylindrical shape which finally completes in a pyramid.It is the only building in Germany with its own postal code (60308). There are 900 parking places in a public parking garage and a direct connection to the subway. The building also appears in the European tileset for the game SimCity 4.

Transamerica Pyramid

The Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest and most recognizable skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline .Built on the location of the historic Montgomery Block, it has a structural height of 260 meters (853 feet) and contains 48 floors of retail and office space. Construction began in 1969 and finished in 1972. It is currently ranked as the 98^th tallest building in the world. Transamerica moved their headquarters to the new building from across the street, where they used to be based in another pyramid-shaped building now occupied by the Church of Scientology of San Francisco.Its unique shape is the result of the desire by Transamerica to have a building whose top would be looked up to by the executives on the highest floor of the 555 California Street, which is not only tall but also sits upon a substantially higher elevation. The land use and zoning restrictions for the parcel limited the number of square feet of office that could be built upon the lot, which sits at the northern boundary of the financial district. The pyramid is an innovative solution to this design challenge, and when viewed from the East Bay forms a prominent and unique skyline projection, forming an important element of San Francisco's "signature skyline". Although it no longer houses the headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo. The building is evocative of San Francisco and has become one of the many symbols of the city. Designed by architect William Pereira, it faced considerable opposition during its planning and construction, and was sometimes referred to by detractors in derogatory slang.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.The building is a tall, four-sided pyramid with two "wings" on opposite sides of the building. The wing to the east of the building contains an elevator shaft, while the wing to the west contains a stairwell and a smoke tower. The top 64.6 meters (212 feet) of the building is the spire. There are four cameras pointed in the four cardinal directions at the top of this spire forming a virtual observation deck. Four monitors in the lobby, whose direction and zoom can be controlled by visitors, display the cameras' views 24 hours a day. An observation deck on the 27th floor was closed after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and replaced by the virtual observation deck. The top of the Transamerica Pyramid is covered with aluminum panels. During the holiday season, Thanksgiving, and 4th of July, a bright, white light is lit on top of the pyramid.The Transamerica Pyramid was the tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi from 1972-1974 (surpassing the nearby 555 California Street), at which point it was surpassed by the Aon Center in Los Angeles, which was designed by Pereira's former business partner Charles Luckman.The building is considered to have been the intended target of a foiled terrorist attack, involving the hijacking of airplanes as part of Oplan Bojinka, which was foiled in 1995.