Why Europe Has So Few Skyscrapers

The soil where the skyscraper is built isn’t ideal. So, beneath the 110,000-ton concrete foundation of this massive construction, there are 192 piles, driven to a depth of more than 160 ft. Thanks to the friction between concrete and soil, these piles don’t move at all, creating a solid foundation.

But most skyscrapers are still built on bedrock because it barely shifts. Their frames are made of steel. If you looked at a skyscraper without its external structure (whew!), all you’d see would be a bunch of steel beams.