The International Highrise Award is offered every two years by the City of Frankfurt, Germany, and it is jointly curated by the Deutsched Architekturmuseum DAM and Dekabank. Based on six fundamental criteria including pioneering design, integration into the urban setting and sustainability, 27 high-rises from 16 countries were nominated for the 2010 award.

From the five finalists, the international Jury will select the winner which is accompanied by EUR 50,000 prize money. The announcement of the winner will be made on November 5, 2010.

The five finalists are:

Aqua Tower. Chicago. Studio Gang Architects.

Burj Khalifa. Dubai. Skidmore Owings and Merrill

Shanghai World Financial Centre. Shanghai. Kohn Pederson Fox Associates

Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower. Tokyo. Tange Associates.

The Met. Bangkok. WOHA Architects in association with Tandem Architects.