Toronto, Canada Architecture, CN Tower

Defining the Toronto skyline at 553.33m (1,815ft5in) the CN Tower is Canada’s most recognizable and celebrated icon. The CN Tower is an internationally renowned architectural triumph, an engineering Wonder of the Modern World, world-class entertainment and dining destination and a must-see for anyone visiting Toronto. Spectacular views include floor-to-ceiling panoramic Window Walls, world-famous Glass Floor, SkyPod and glass-fronted elevators with glass floor panels. Dining options include the award-winning 360 Restaurant (elevation complimentary with prix fixe). Plus EdgeWalk, the world’s highest ‘hands-free’ external walk, 356m/1168ft (116 stories) above the ground.

"World's Tallest Tower" title.
Guinness World Records has called the CN Tower "the world's tallest self-supporting tower" and "the world's tallest free-standing tower". Although Guinness did list this description of the CN Tower under the heading "tallest building" at least once, it has also listed it under "tallest tower", omitting it from its list of "tallest buildings." In 1996, Guinness changed the tower's classification to "World's Tallest Building and Freestanding Structure". Emporis and the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat both listed the CN Tower as the world's tallest free-standing structure on land, and specifically state that the CN Tower is not a true building, thereby awarding the title of world's tallest building to Taipei 101, which is 44 meters (144 ft) shorter than the CN Tower. The issue of what was tallest became moot when Burj Khalifa, then under construction, exceeded the height of the CN Tower in 2007.

Although the CN Tower contains a restaurant, a gift shop and multiple observation levels, it does not have floors continuously from the ground, and therefore it is not considered a building by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) or Emporis. CTBUH defines a building as "a structure that is designed for residential, business, or manufacturing purposes. An essential characteristic of a building is that it has floors." The CN Tower and other similar structures—such as the Ostankino Tower in Moscow, Russia; the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, China; the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France—are categorized as "towers", which are free-standing structures that may have observation decks and a few other habitable levels, but do not have floors from the ground up. The CN Tower was the tallest tower by this definition until 2010.