SUPERSTRUCTURES

Today these Goliaths are often seen as symbols of national and civic pride, as well as being a key solution to urban overcrowding. Yet the skyscraper as we know it only came into being in the late-19th century, not through the ambition of architects but through a combination of contemporary engineering techniques and materials that finally triumphed over the builder’s age-old enemy: gravity.

For most of history the tallest human-made structure on Earth was the Great Pyramid of Giza at 147 metres – a height that would barely qualify