Jongno Tower

Seoul, Korea

Jongno Tower is a 33-story office building that is located near Jonggak Station. Built in 1999, it is owned, like so many skyscrapers in Seoul, by the Samsung group, and like many tall buildings across the world it is topped by a popular observation restaurant.

The building's height is 132 meters (433 ft). It is missing the 23d - 30th floors, which gives good feng shui if that is what the architects had in mind. In any case, innovative buildings like this are ample justification for Seoul's prestigious World Design Capital 2010 award from the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design.