Will there ever be a mile-high skyscraper? - Stefan Al

Would a mile-high skyscraper ever be possible? Explore the physics behind some of the tallest buildings and megastructures in the world.

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In 1956, architect Frank Lloyd Wright proposed a mile-high skyscraper, a building five times as high as the Eiffel Tower. While this massive tower was never built, today bigger and bigger buildings are going up around the world. How did these impossible ideas turn into architectural opportunities? Stefan Al explains how these megastructures became fixtures of our city skylines.

Lesson by Stefan Al, directed by TED-Ed.

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[lateforfate]

"17 pounds of force per square meter" Ah, the right balance between the imperial and metric system. Now nobody understands. Perfect!

[ziggy]

You know there’ll be a bar on the top floor called “The Mile-High Club.”

[Uiru]

The african elephant is the Youtube standard unit (YSU) for mass.

[novelnouvel]

Throwing a paper plane from that high sure will be fun.

[fqidz]

inspirational dude: the sky's the limit

skyscraper engineer: we'll see about that

[Dent]

"pounds per square meter"
That's a new one

[davidguthary]

2:43
You can't just mix imperial and metric units like that!

[Nikita_Turbo]

Ah, the african elephants, the universal unit of mass!

[nafisahmad]

netflix and chill?
nah, ted-ed and chill

[hahanamegobrrr]

Ah, the mile-high tower

or as engineers call it,

the 1.6 kilometer-high tower

[galgar]

Oh America, you and your unknown system of measurement! What the hell is a mile?

[samarendra]

Finally a building where all the followers of TedEd can reside. 😊

[TheTexas]

That’s a 1.609 km tall skyscraper for those of you smart enough to stick with the metric system

[xcodfishx]

I guess that's one way to join the mile-high club.

[adnanilyas]

The speed of elevators isn’t limited by how fast we can move a heavy metal box anymore. It’s limited by the people who have to ride the thing. If you make elevators faster, the people inside will start to get sick and disoriented.

[splash]

"17 pounds of force per square meter on a building"
Oh wow so understandable -_-

[kp]

"Why isnt there a mile high tower?"
Cause 192/193 countries on earth dont believe in a mile.

[khadijafatma]

I won't use elevator to get to the top of that skyscrapper. I would just fold paper 30 times ;)

[rayhanmansoor]

I live in Dubai and can see the tallest building in the world everyday when I go to school

[yanwato]

2:45 17lb... per meter?
Umm... Either use metric or imperial. Don't mix the two!