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In every city in the world there is a viewing platform where you can gaze down upon the place from on-high. But why do we like to build tall and be high – what is it about standing tall and defying gravity that matters so much? Are Skyscrapers simply about vanity or are there practical and even spiritual reasons why we want to build so high?

Mike Williams ventures up the Shard, the tallest building in London, with its architect Renzo Piano. He talks to Blair Kamin, architecture critic at the Chicago Tribune – the city that brought us the skyscraper, as well as experts Daniel Safarik, from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat and Dr Phillip Oldfield, from the University of Nottingham.

(Photo: The Sears Tower rises above the skyline in Chicago, Illinois. Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)