highrise

A high-rise is a tall building designed for occupancy by people, typically consisting of many stacked floors. In common practice, high-rises have about 12 to 20 or more stories and often exceed roughly 75 meters in height, though definitions vary by country and region. They are built for office use, residential use, or mixed-use programs, and their construction and appearance can shape city skylines and land-use patterns.

High-rise construction relies on a vertical structural frame, usually steel or reinforced concrete, sometimes with composite materials. Elevators are essential for practical access, and façade designs range from traditional masonry to glass curtain walls. Modern high-rises incorporate wind and seismic design, fire safety systems, and evacuation planning, with sustainability considerations such as energy-efficient envelopes, shading, and smart building technologies.

Typically there are office towers, residential towers, hotel towers, and mixed-use towers. Office high-rises emphasize flexible floor plates and professional amenity spaces; residential towers prioritize livability and privacy; mixed-use towers combine these functions with retail and public space. High-rises tend to cluster in dense urban cores and are often connected to transit networks, contributing to urban density and skyline identity.

Historically, tall buildings emerged in the late 19th century with advances in steel-frame construction and the invention of the safety elevator, enabling multi-story buildings in Chicago and New York. The skyline later expanded worldwide, with landmarks such as Taipei 101, Burj Khalifa, and many other towers illustrating regional styles and engineering capabilities.