Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
| File:CTBUHLogo.jpg | |
| Abbreviation | CTBUH |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1969 |
| Type | NPO |
| Purpose | Studies and reports on all aspects of tall buildings and urban design |
| Headquarters | Chicago, USA |
Region served | International |
| Website | www.ctbuh.org |
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), is the leading international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design. A not-for-profit organization based at the Illinois Institute of Technology in the city of Chicago – the birthplace of the skyscraper – the CTBUH is the official body that determines the title of ‘The World’s Tallest Building’ and is the authority on the height of tall buildings in general. Founded in 1969, the Council has a number of primary missions[1]:
- To distribute best practice information on high-rise buildings and sustainable urban environments
- To facilitate business exchange amongst the global tall building community
- To make the latest tall building information available to professionals in an effective and useful manner
History
Prior to 1976, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat was known as the "Joint Committee on Tall Buildings," a group originally formed by the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineers and American Society of Civil Engineers in 1969. In 1973, as a result of the increased emphasis on planning and environmental criteria, other prominent organizations have become Sponsoring Societies of the Council. In 1974 the Council was admitted as a consulting non-governmental organization to the United Nations' UNESCO under Category C. In 1979 it was admitted to Category B. CTBUH was located at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA, from its inception to 2003, at which time the Executive Committee voted to move CTBUH to the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois, USA where it is currently headquartered.
Ranking of Tall Buildings
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat is the internationally recognized arbiter for tall building height, and thus the title of the World’s (or Region's, Country’s, Cities, etc.) tallest building. The CTBUH currently recognizes Taipei 101 as the World’s Tallest Building. The Council utilizes four different criteria for measuring the height of a building; however, “Height to Architectural Top” is the most widely utilized and is used to define the ranking of the 100 Tallest Buildings in the World.
Criteria
The CTBUH acknowledges tall building height in the following four categories [2]
1. Height to Architectural Top Height is measured from the pavement level of the main entrance of the building to its architectural top, including spires, but not including antennae, signage or flag poles. This measurement is the most widely utilized and is used to define the rankings of the 100 Tallest Buildings in the World.
2. Highest Occupied Floor Height is measured from sidewalk level of the main entrance to the highest continually-occupied floor within the building (i.e. not including maintenance areas).
3. Height to Top of Roof Height is measured from sidewalk level of the main entrance to the highest point of the building’s main roof level, not including spires or antennas.
4. Height to Tip Height is measured from sidewalk level of the main entrance to the highest point of the building, irrespective of material or function of highest element (thus including antennae, flagpoles and signage).
Tallest Database
The CTBUH maintains an extensive database of the tallest buildings in the world. This database is organized into lists by various categories and includes: the tallest buildings in the world, the tallest buildings by region (continent, country and city), the historical and predicted future tallest buildings in the world, the tallest buildings by structural material and function, etc. The database includes buildings that are currently under construction, although they are not given an official height ranking until the building is officially completed - that is, when it is topped out structurally and architecturally, fully clad, and open for business, or at least partially occupied. The CTBUH has used this database to generate a list of the predicted tallest 20 buildings in the world by the year 2020. This “Tallest 20 in 2020” list only includes buildings that are either built, under construction or considered real proposals. A real proposal can be considered such if it has a developer and full professional design team who are currently progressing the design beyond the conceptual stage[3].
The CTBUH also produces an annual list of the 10 tallest buildings completed in that particular year. Topping the 2007 list was the 333m tall Rose Tower in Dubai, which is also the world's tallest single-function hotel [4] Second on the 2007 list was the New York Times Building (319m), third was the China International Center Tower B in Guangzhou (269m), whilst fourth was the Naberezhnaya Tower C in Moscow (268m). All in all, four of the ten tallest buildings completed in 2007 are located in the Middle East, four in Asia, one in North America, and one in Europe.
Events
Congresses and Conferences
The CTBUH holds tall building conferences annually, and every three to five years a World Congress. The latest World Congress "Tall and Green: Typology for a Sustainable Urban Future", was held in Dubai on March 3-5, 2008. This was a record event for the Council, with 954 delegates attending, representing 43 separate countries. The Congress hosted presentations, seminars and workshops covering virtually every aspect of tall building development, with a particular emphasis on sustainability [5]. Among the speakers were HE Hussain Nasser Lootah (Dubai Municipality), Sadhu Johnston (The City of Chicago), Peter Wynne Rees (The City of London Corporation), HE Mohamed Ali Alabbar (Emaar), Adrian Smith (AS + GG Architecture), Bill Baker (SOM), Ole Scheeren (OMA), Leslie Robertson (LERA), Ken Yeang (Llewelyn Davies Yeang), David Fisher (Dynamic Architecture Group) and many others. All 101 technical papers, along with photos and videos of the conference, are available for download from the CTBUH website.
Awards
The CTBUH issues seven Tall Building Awards every year – four of these recognizing excellence in design and construction in the following geographical regions: 1. Americas, 2.Europe, 3. Africa and the Middle East, 4. Asia & Australasia. The fifth award, 'Best Tall Building Award Overall', is awarded from one of the four regional winners on the evening of the CTBUH Annual Awards Dinner. The two other awards are established lifetime achievement awards - the Lynn S. Beedle Award and the Fazlur Rahman Khan Medal. Winners of the 6th annual CTBUH awards in 2007 were the Beetham Hilton Tower in Manchester, UK (Best Tall Building Award) and the Hearst Tower, New York (Best Sustainable Tall Building). Lord Norman Foster was awarded the Lynn S. Beedle Award, and Dr. Farzad Naeim took home the Fazlur Rahman Kahn Medal Award.
Publications
In addition to the monthly newsletter and daily updated global news archive, the CTBUH helps to keep industry professionals informed of current practices in the field through the publication of its tri-annual CTBUH Journal. The Journal includes peer-reviewed technical papers, in-depth project case studies, book reviews, interviews with prominent persons in the tall building industry, and much more. The Journal is available to download for free from the CTBUH website. The CTBUH also publishes guidebooks, reference manuals, and monographs related to the tall building industry. In 2006 it published the book “101 of the World’s Tallest Buildings” in conjunction with author and CTBUH member Georges Binder, a reference to 101 of the world’s tallest skyscrapers. It includes photos, plans, details on architects, engineers and stakeholders, and comprehensive technical data on each building.
Tall Building Design Research
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat is involved in many tall building design research projects in conjunction with higher-education institutions and academics around the world, including the University of Nottingham, Illinois Institute of Technology, and the Technical University of Munich. These projects seek alternative design approaches to tall buildings; with an emphasis on the tall building’s relationship with place (site and location) and environment (climate and sustainability) the design projects include not only innovative high-rise forms, but also high-rise functions; vertical farms to help alleviate environmental problems of imported agriculture (and consequential food miles); vertical “aquifers” that maximize rainwater capture and recycling to help address the growing global decline of water resources; tall buildings encompassing wind and solar farms, and much more.