How Long Will Skyscrapers Last?

2 questions that I really wished to hear their answers in this video: 1) How the heck can you replace the skeletal beams of a skyscraper? 2) How long will they last without maintenance?

"How many buildings over 300 years old do you know that are still being occupied?" Me living in New England: A LOT of them. And Granted that's nothing compared to Europe/Asia

"How many 200 or 300yo buildings do you know that are still being occupied" an Italian- "my garden shed dates back to 200ad"

In England & Europe you can't throw a stone without hitting a 100+year old building

Most of Europe has plenty of building exceeding 200 years old that are still being occupied. I live in one here in the Netherlands, built around 1720, still in great condition.

I feel like on of the most important considerations is the financial aspect. The pyramids have lasted millenia but they haven't needed refurbishment every 100 years, like the steel beams in skyscrapers will need according to this video. While it's possible, if its not profitable or affordable, then skyscrapers won't last very long

There's building in my local city approaching 1,000 years old, the house I grew up in was built is almost 400 years old. For a list that's "not that long", I can think of countless examples of older buildings still standing

“How many two hundred or three hundred year old buildings do you know”—I'm puzzled. Aren't centuries old churches, for example, entirely normal? I can't count how many I've been in. And there are plenty of old (and still active) administrative and residential buildings, in England and in continental Europe; with stone construction it largely seems to be a question of whether the roof is maintained. And whether there's a pogrom.

The Antwerp Tower (in Antwerpen) is a former office tower from 1974, located next to the Flemish Opera in the heart of the city. The existing tower building has been stripped and transformed into a residential tower with 200+ apartments and commercial functions and offices in the base of the building.

My house is 325 years old and a pleasure to live in. Building fabric is cob (adobe), rubble, wood. Roof is stone tile and lead on semi squared wood structure. All systems have been updated through its life. Maintenance is light but vital. Currently warmed in winter by Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP). It works great because of the basic qualities of the structure. Naturally warm in winter and cool in summer. Longevity is about a quality, reparable structure that can accept new technologies as they happen. I bet this house will last another 325 years (our local cathedral is older than 650). Location is Exeter, England.

For those who are curious how long skyscrapers (especially in the United States) would last WITHOUT maintenance, there is a History Channel TV show called "Life After People" from around 2008-2010 which looks at exactly this subject. The show doesn't posit some kind of disaster scenario, it just examines what would happen to the built remnants of human civilization over the centuries if every human on earth suddenly vanished. You can find parts of it on YouTube, since I don't think they play it on History anymore.

The Ship of Theseus thought experiment comes to mind! At what point does a skyscraper ceases to be the original itself, as most of its constituent parts are replaced with newer modern materials 😁

I had this question for so long, thanks for clarifying Tomorrow's Build

Most of Edinburghs Old Town is centuries old, still used, occupied today and are grade listed heritage buildings. So unless there’s a major disaster, the Old Town of Edinburgh will look the same for the next 500 years as it has for the last 500 years ! Who needs skyscrapers !

The concrete of the Parthenon is quite different from modern concrete. We use steel reinforced concrete, which is stronger but because the steel inside it corrodes it's not as long lasting.

The impressive thing about the pyramids and the 2 thousand year old buildings in Rome is that they have made it through millennia without even having proper maintainance or preservation efforts for most of their history. I really wonder how long would skyscrapers last if we just left them there, without fixing or modifying anything.

My current office building was built in 1630. It's almost 400 years old. Still stands, and the climate inside the building is much better than any modern building I've worked in, that had automatic climate control BS. :D

The Great Pyramid didn’t get shorter due to “erosion”, at least not primarily. The outer casing stones were removed and recycled to build other things over the millennia. That’s also why so many other pyramids haven’t survived, because they had cores made up of rubble, and when the casing stones were taken they crumbled.

The first skyscrapers were built on solid granite foundations but more recent ones are built on less solid foundations that rely on displacement to prevent subsidence. These foundations must have a limited lifespan which will affect the lifespan of the building.

While I enjoyed the video and the information that it was trying to present, I can't help but think the answer was slightly misleading. The answer to the question was basically, "Skyscrapers will last indefinitely if we refurbish them a couple of times every century and spend copious amounts of money on maintaining them". When you look at some of the old buildings in Europe that have stood for centuries, and they've probably had very little maintenance in that time- I'm sure St Paul's Cathedral or the Pantheon haven't needed to be completely pulled apart piece by piece, and then reassembled every century.