SOM’s tallest towers are spotlighted in the Skyscraper Museum’s recently opened exhibition titled “TEN TOPS.” The show focuses on 24 towers around the world that are 100 stories tall or higher, a group of exceptional structures that includes four SOM-designed buildings: Willis Tower and John Hancock Center in Chicago, One World Trade Center in New York City, and the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, located in Dubai.
The exhibition seeks to move beyond the popularity of “Top Ten” lists, which highlight only one feature of these exceptionally complex structures: vertical height. Instead, the museum takes a deeper look into the architectural features these buildings share, as well the engineering and construction challenges each overcame. In doing so, the exhibition endeavors to paint a richer portrait of each groundbreaking tower.
TEN TOPS
The Skyscraper Museum
39 Battery Place
New York, New York