TAIPEI 101


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TAIPEI 101
509 metres / 1,671 feet,
101 stories
Completed: 2004
Tallest building in the world 2003 – 2008
(it will lose this title when Dubai's Burj Dubai is topped-out in 2008)

Some Taipei 101 facts & figures:
- Designed by C.Y. Lee and Partners;
- the building can be found in the Xin-Yi district of (east) Taipei.
This is a relatively new part of Taipei, with a lot of buildings that were built in the
past few years. The Xin-Yi district is the new city centre of Taipei and is
an area with a lot of shopping malls, cinema's and other leisurement enjoyment;
- the building has the two fastest elevators (Toshiba) in the world.
They travel at a top speed of 1,010 metres per minute or 16,8 metres per second
(just over 60 km/h). A trip up in these elevators will take 43 seconds;
down will go in just over 52 seconds;
- it has an indoor (89th floor; 382m) and an outdoor (91st floor; 391m) observation deck;
- at the 87th floor a golden coloured 660 metric tons tuned mass damper is held (5.5. metres in diameter),
stabilizing the tower against possible earthquakes, typhoons, and strong winds.
The building is designed to withstand earthquakes above 7 on the Richter scale,
and winds forces of more than 60 metres per second;
- connected to the building is a 6-story shopping mall (five above and one under ground), called Taipei 101 mall.
This mall was opened in November of 2003. It is for the most part home to very exclusive and very expensive shops;
- work on the tower began in 1999 and until the completion, the construction was hit by a few tragedies.
Among them was a 6.8 earthquake that hit Taipei at the end of March 2002.
In the earthquake a construction crane fell from the 56th floor, killing five people;
- the design of the building resembles a bamboo shoot rising, steadily but strong,
from the ground, reaching the top one step at a time;
- the whole complex is constructed on a site with a total of 30,278 square metres.
The total floor area of the building is 357,721 square metres;
- the building is divided into six zones. Each zones has four double-deck elevators
with a capacity of 20 persons each. In total the building has 61 elevators;
- building costs were approximately $ 1,7 billion;
- early plans for this tower called for a 60-story tower with a pair of 20-story blocks.
Then an 88-story tower was proposed, but the architects convinced the owner to go even taller;
- the foundation of the tower, fortified by 380 piles, goes as deep as 80 metres/262 feet;
- over 10,000 people work in the tower each working day;
- the spire on top is over 60 metres (197 feet) tall;
- after completion, Taipei 101 held the titles of the world tallest skyscraper in three categories:
ground level to structural top (509m/1,671f), ground level to roof (448m/1,470f),
and ground level to highest occupied floor (438m/1,417f).
The only record that was missing is the one measuring from ground level to pinnacle
(including masts and spires that are NOT part of the architectural design of the building).
In this category Chicago's Sears Tower is still the tallest building in the world: 529m/1,736f.
Sears Tower is 443 metres (1,454 tall) and ranked #4 in the list of tallest buildings (2007).
All these titles will be lost to Dubai's Burj Dubai when this tower is topped-out in 2008.
The Burj Dubai will be over 800 metres tall!


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