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Supertalls and Megastructures
As society and technology
continues to advance on an exponential scale, it is no wonder that structures
are being classified into categories extreme as “supertalls” and “megastructures”.
These two categories are reserved for the world’s largest, tallest, and most
grand structures. The terms “Supertall” and “Megastructure” are jargon coined
by skyscraper enthusiasts around the world with generally agreed upon terms.
Supertalls and megastructures are often so celebrated because of the economics
involved in making such structures possible.
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Sears Tower, Chicago
Supertall
Although an official
definition does not exist, a supertall is generally a completed structure that
is at least 300 meters or 1000 feet tall. If a building is being proposed, it
must be at least 1 kilometer tall to be classified as a supertall.
The term supertall may be
applied to any structure, including buildings, free standing towers, guyed
masts, and bridge pillars.
There are about 1,150
supertalls worldwide, most of which are guyed masts in the United States.
Megastructures
Megastructures are usually
only visions or science fiction due to their enormous proportions. A
megastructure should have at least one dimension that is several hundred
kilometers. Popularized in the 1960’s, megastructures also including the
concept of an encased city within a single building, often referred to as a
hyperstructure.
There are only a few
structures built that are considered megastructures:
Roads or railways are not
usually considered megastructures because of their relative simplicity.
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