Taipei 101
Taipei 101 (臺北 101) is a 106-floor skyscraper in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. Its original name was Taipei Financial Center, based on its official Chinese name, Taipei International Financial Building (臺北國際金融大樓). It is by most accounts the tallest building in the world.
External elevation
Taipei 101 has 101 stories above ground (hence the name) and five under ground. It holds three out of the four official World's Tallest Building titles designated by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). The four categories are:
- Ground to pinnacle - currently held by the Sears Tower (529 m = 1736ft)
- Ground to structural top - formerly held by the Petronas Twin Towers (452 m = 1483ft)
- Ground to roof - formerly held by the Sears Tower (431 m = 1430ft)
- Ground to highest occupied floor - formerly held by the Sears Tower
Taipei 101's measures, respectively, are 508 m = 1667 ft (pinnacle & structural top); 448 m = 1470 ft (roof); and 438 m = 1437 ft (highest floor).
The tower topped out to the roof, at 448 meters, on July 1, 2003. In a ceremony presided over by Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, the pinnacle was fitted on October 17 2003, allowing it to surpass the Petronas Towers by 50 meters (165 feet). [1] It may not hold the record for very long, as several other buildings in construction, all planned for completion before 2009, would surpass Taipei 101, such as Union Square Phase 7 in Hong Kong, Shanghai World Financial Center, Freedom Tower in New York City or Burj Dubai.
Taipei 101 interior
In many aspects, the new building is the most technologically advanced skyscraper constructed to date. The building features fiber-optic and satellite Internet connections allowing speeds up to 1 gigabyte per second. Toshiba has supplied the world's two fastest elevators which run at a top speed of 1008 meters per minute (63 km/h or 39 mph) and are able to take visitors from the main floor to the observatory on the 89th floor in under 39 seconds. An 800 ton tuned mass damper is held at the 88th floor, stabilizing the tower against earthquakes, typhoons, and winds.
Total buildable area will be 420,000 sq. meters with 214,000 sq. meters of office space, 77,500 sq. meters of retail space and 73,000 sq meters of parking space.
The interior of the tower includes a six-floor retail mall with shopping, interest attractions, and dining. The architecture of the retail mall includes both retro gothic style pinnacles and modern industrial structures.
There are several floors already used for business offices and non-commercial dwellings.
The entire tower was opened on December 31, 2004, amidst a extravagant New Year's celebration, complete with live performances and fireworks.
Construction
Prior to construction some worried that the building would be vulnerable to the earthquakes common in Taiwan. On March 31, 2002, an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale caused a construction crane to fall from the 56th floor of the building (at the time, the highest floor), killing five. The building's designers have noted, however, that during the earthquake the building itself reacted as expected, and that the highrise tower is designed to endure earthquakes above seven on the Richter scale, and once-in-a-century super typhoons.
The tower was officially opened on December 31, 2004 with President Chen Shui-bian, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng cutting the ribbon.
See also
External links and references
- http://www.taipei-101.tk/: Popular TAIPEI 101 site with image gallery, technical data, and construction updates.
- Taipei Financial Corp: Company information, timeline, shareholders, tenant information and pricing, newsletter
- Official TAIPEI 101 mall website
- CTBUH press release re Taipei 101 as "world's tallest"
- Structurae: Taipei 101
- Fast lifts rise into record books
- World's Tallest Building to Open in Taipei: NPR's interview with Taipei 101 structural engineering consultant Dennis Poon of the Thornton-Tomasetti Group.