11 new highs for tall buildings: CTBUH recaps the year's top moments in skyscraper construction

This was a year for rapid skyscraper development and new highs in the tall buildings industry. To chronicle the achievements of industry professionals, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) cherrypicked the top moments from 2014, including a record concrete pour, a cautionary note about high-rise development, and two men's daring feat.

Here are CTBUH's top skyscraper moments from 2014:

1. 31-Story Vertical Garden Sprouts in Sydney
Patrick Blanc's One Central Park in Sydney contains his largest vertical gardens yet. It won the 2014 CTBUH Best Tall Building in Asia and Australasia, and the Best Tall Building Worldwide.

2. Record-Breaking Pour At Wilshire Grand
When construction crews poured the Wilshire Grand Tower's 30-meter foundation all at once on February 15, 2014, they set a record for the largest continuous concrete pour ever conducted.

3. Study: 236 Skyscrapers Will Rise in London
New London Architecture performed a study showing that 236 tall building projects had been approved or were already under way in 2014. This prompted the creation of the Architect's Journal and Observer newspapers' Skyline Campaign.

4. World’s Tallest Building Hosts Daring Duo's Leap
Two men jumped from the top of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, gaining the Guinness Book of World Records' "Highest Base Jump from the Tallest Building” title.

5. Cape Town Gets First New High-Rise in 21 Years
Portside, a 142-meter tower and Cape Town's first in over two decades, was completed this year.

6. World’s 100th Supertall Tops Out in Nanchang
China's Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Central Plaza, made up of two towers, became the world's 99th and 100th supertall buildings.

7. “Tower of David” Squatters Evicted in Caracas
Venezuelan authorities began moving people out of the world's tallest slum, a 45-story skyscraper in Caracas.

8. Melbourne Approves Australia 108
Australia 108, at 319 meters, will become the tallest building in the southern hemisphere.

9. Bosco Verticale Opens Its Doors in Milan
Five years after construction began, Bosco Verticale has allowed residents to move in. The towers support over 1,000 species of trees, shrubs, and plants.

10. One World Trade Center: World’s Third Tallest
At 541 meters (1,776 feet), the One World Trade Center became North America's tallest building and the world's third tallest.

11. ThyssenKrupp’s MULTI: Up, Down, and Sideways
MULTI elevator technology would use magnetic linear induction, allowing multiple cars to move in the shaft at once, as well as horizontally. Tests will begin in 2016.

Read CTBUH's "2014's Top 12 Tall Happenings" report.

Before you get your shorts in a knot, I have nothing against science, technology, engineering, or even mathematics; to the contrary, I love all four “STEM” disciplines (I’m lying about the math). But I question whether we need to be building K-12 schools that overly emphasize or are totally devoted to STEM.

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Engineering and construction CEOs are cautiously optimistic about the global economy, says PwC

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