Spiraling Controversy

Today's the day that Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava presents final designs for the twisting, 2,000-foot Chicago Spire. He'll unveil his latest ideas at the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents (SOAR), an influential neighborhood group. The Chicago Plan Commission is scheduled to review the plans April 19.

If accepted and constructed, the Chicago Spire will be the nation's tallest building, topping the under construction Freedom Tower in lower Manhattan by 224 feet and Sears Tower, currently the nation's tallest, by 550 feet. Whether it's the tallest in the world will have to wait to be decided.

According to Wikipedia:

Up until 1998 the tallest building status was essentially uncontested. Counting buildings as structures with floors throughout, and with antennas excluded, the Sears Tower in Chicago was considered the tallest. When the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were built, controversy arose since the spire extended nine meters higher than the roof of the Sears Tower. Excluding the spire, the Petronas Towers are not taller than the Sears Tower. At their convention in Chicago, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) reduced the Sears Tower from world's tallest and pronounced it not second tallest, but third, and pronounced Petronas as world's tallest. This action caused a considerable amount of controversy, so CTBUH defined four categories in which the world's tallest building can be measured:
Height to the structural or architectural top (including spires and pinnacles, but not antennas, masts or flagpoles)
Height to the highest occupied floorHeight to the top of the roofHeight to the top of antennaThe height is measured from the pavement level of the main entrance. In all of these categories, Sears Tower had held the second and third category. Petronas held the first and the original World Trade Towers held the fourth. Within months, however, a new antenna was placed on the Sears Tower, giving it hold of the fourth category. On April 20, 2004, the Taipei 101 in Taipei, was completed. Its completion gave it the world record for the first three categories -- 1,671 ft, 1,441 ft, 1,474 ft.

Who knew the world of gynormous architecture was so riddled with controversy? Are mega-building architects the show mom's of the industry?