The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center threw the safety of skyscrapers into the spotlight, but since then they have become taller and more ambitious. As part of our 9/11 anniversary series, we look at how skyscraper design has changed over the past 20 years.
Following the attack on the Twin Towers on 11 September 2001, which caused the pair of 110-storey skyscrapers in lower Manhattan to collapse, many people questioned the future of tall buildings.
"We thought [9/11] would put an end to the ambitions to build tall for a long time," said James von Klemperer, president of Kohn Pedersen Fox, which is responsible for designing four of the world's 10 tallest skyscrapers.
However, instead, there has been a surge of skyscraper buildings in the past 20 years. "It's not a question of opinion, the fact is it hasn't stopped us from building tall," Von Klemperer told Dezeen. "Since then, more tall buildings have been built than existed before."
"So you could say it's kind of a renaissance of tall building design and development that happened after September 11."
"Idea of skyscrapers as a symbol of progress has really never gone away"
Alongside a surge in the number of tall buildings over the past 20 years, the height of skyscrapers being built has also dramatically increased.
According to Ken Lewis, partner at architecture studio SOM, which designed the world's tallest building, "one of the most significant changes" ...