The top 10 skyscrapers in the world, completed in 2018 (PHOTOS)

The winners of the annual Emporis Skyscraper Award have been announced, and one of them is in Toronto! 

First place was won by the MGM Cotai in Macau, which was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. This is the second year in a row that Kohn Pedersen Fox has received top honours from Emporis; last year, they won with Lotte World Tower in Seoul. 

The MGM Cotai is a $3.4 billion casino-hotel-resort, featuring a 200,000 square foot casino. The design is inspired by nine Chinese jeweler’s boxes stacked on top of one another, forming two connected towers. The skyscraper also features the “Spectacle,” which is a multifunctional space with the world’s largest free-span, grid-shaped glass roof. 

Standing 495 feet and 35 storeys, the MGM Cotai boasts an eye-catching colour scheme of gold and silver. It looks more like a series of stacked luxury buildings as opposed to a traditional tower. 

“The unusual shape and color scheme of the building immediately catches the eye. The skyscraper does not fall in line with the typical expectations for high-rise architecture in any way,” says Daniel Schuldt, Emporis’ managing director, in a press release.

There were 500 entries this year, all of which met the minimum 100 meter height requirement and were completed in the last calendar year. The jury of experts from around the world selected the 10 winners, and Monde in Toronto took sixth place! 

Monde was designed by Moshe Safdie & Associates and local firm, Quadrangle Architects. We’re happy to see a Toronto building and local firm on the list because the Emporis Skyscraper Award is one of the most prestigious awards in the field. 

Over the years, we’ve watched Monde go from concept to reality, and now that it’s complete, it really stands out on the Toronto skyline. It’s immediately recognizable and kind of serves as a gateway or beacon to people driving into the downtown core from the east. 

Congratulations to Moshe Safdie and Quadrangle! 

Listed below are the top 10 winners of this year’s Emporis Skyscraper Award: 

1) MGM Cotai in Macau, China 
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates; Wong Tung & Partners Limited
KPF

2) La Marseillaise in Marseille, France 
Ateliers Jean Nouvel; Tangram Architects
WEAR ECONTENTS

3) 52 Lime Street in London, UK
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

Hufton Crow, Courtesy KPF

4) Nan Shan Plaza in Taipei, Taiwan
Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei Inc.; Archasia Design Group
Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei

5) 1144 Fifteenth in Denver, USA
Pickard Chilton Architects, Inc.; Kendall/Heaton Associates Inc.

David Sundberg-Esto

6) Monde in Toronto, Canada 
Moshe Safdie & Associates; Quadrangle Architects Ltd.

Edvard Mahnic

7) Vincom Landmark 81 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Atkins China Limited

Toanvungtau CC BY-SA

8) ARO in New York, USA
CetraRuddy, Inc.

Tectonic Photo Royce Douglas

9) China Zun in Beijing, China
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates; TFP Farrells Limited; Beijing Institute of Architectural Design
H.G. Esch, Courtesy of KPF

10) 414 Light Street in Baltimore, USA
Solomon Cordwell Buenz

John Cahill