Taipei 101 is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper located in Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. Designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed by KTRT Joint Venture, it is currently the tallest building in the world by three of the four standards designated by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

Its original name was Taipei Financial Centre, based on its official Chinese name: the Taipei International Financial Center. The building is the 2004 recipient of the Emporis Skyscraper Award. Taipei 101 was named "Taipei 101" because the building is in Taipei and contains 101 floors.

External elevation

Taipei 101 has 101 stories above ground (hence the name) and five underground.

The building holds the records for:

* Ground to structural top: 509 m (1,671 ft), a record formerly held by the Petronas Twin Towers at 452 m (1,483 ft)
* Ground to roof: 449 m (1,474 ft). Formerly held by the Sears Tower 442 m (1,451 ft)
* Ground to highest occupied floor: 439 m (1,441 ft). Formerly held by the Sears Tower
* Fastest Ascending Elevator speed: 16.83 m/s (37.5 miles/hour or 60.4 km/h)
* Largest Count-Down Clock on New Year's Eve.

It does not hold the record for:

* Ground to pinnacle, which is still held by the Sears Tower 527 m (1,729 ft).

Taipei 101's roof was completed 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 57 meters (188 feet).

Various sources, including the building's owners, list the height as 508.0 m (1,667 ft). This lower figure is measured from the top of a 1.2 meter platform at the base. However, according to CTBUH standards, the height of this platform should be included in the building height because it is part of the man-made structure and is above the level of the surrounding pavement.

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 gigabit per second. Toshiba has supplied the world's two fastest doubledecker elevators which run at a top speed of 16.83 meters per second (63 km/h or 37.5 mph) and are able to take visitors from the main floor to the observatory on the 89th floor in under 39 seconds. Visitors can also walk up the staircase to an outdoor observatory located at the 91st floor. A 660-metric-ton (730 tons) tuned mass damper is held at the 88th floor, stabilizing the tower against earthquakes, typhoons, and wind The damper can reduce up to 40% of the tower's movements.

The entire tower was opened on December 31, 2004, amidst an extravagant New Year's celebration, complete with live performances and fireworks. Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng cut the ribbon.

The tower includes a six-floor retail mall with shops, restaurants, and other attractions, such as night clubs. The architecture of the retail mall includes both retro gothic-style pinnacles and modern industrial structures. The interior layout of Taipei 101 was entirely designed by a feng shui master.

Observation decks

The indoor observation deck is located on the 89th floor. The outdoor observation deck, located on the 91st floor, was made open to public on September 16, 2006.

The general admission entrance to the observation decks is located on the 5th floor, where the access to the observation deck elevators is also located. There are also souvenir shops and free coin lockers (NT$10, approximately US$0.30, deposit is required). The price for one general admission is NT$350 (approximately US$10); the concession ticket is NT$320. Group reservation (for 20 people or more) can be made 5 days prior; group discount admission is NT$300 each. A separate ticket, priced at NT$100 each, is needed for visiting the world's highest outdoor observation deck at 91st floor; the tickets are available at the west side on the 5th floor after the purchase of the 89th floor admission (mandatory). Visitors can choose to have their hands stamped for return visits in the same day. The observation decks operate daily from 10:00 to 22:00. The ticket booths close at 21:15. Admission of the 89th floor is free for children under 100 cm (130 cm for 91st floor).

Pre-recorded tour guide systems are available over the counter on the 89th floor; every visitor needs to present the guide voucher (comes with the ticket) and NT$1000 (or a valid passport) for deposit. The total length of the tour guide is approximately 40 minutes; currently, there are seven languages available, namely: English, Japanese, German, Korean, Chinese (Mandarin), Cantonese and Taiwanese. The poles on the deck are marked with different numbers, and the visitors will need to enter the number and press the green button on the machine in order to listen to the scene information. The guide system must be returned before the visitor can leave the 89th floor (to either the ground or the 91st floor).

Exterior symbolism

The exterior of the building is fraught with symbolism of financial success. The distinctive sections that create the impression of a bamboo stalk in the minds of many people are actually representative of gold ingots, used in ancient China as currency by royalty. There are 8 of them, each with 8 floors, with the number 8 sounding like "earn fortune" in Chinese culture and the language. There are also 4 circles on each side of the building near the base, to represent coins.

Construction

The tower is designed to endure earthquakes above seven on the Richter scale, and once-a-century super typhoons. Prior to construction, some worried that the building would be vulnerable to the earthquakes common in Taiwan. On March 31, 2002, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake caused a construction crane to fall from the 56th floor of the building, which was at the time the highest floor, killing five people and starting some small fires. The building's designers noted that the building itself reacted as expected and construction resumed later.

It is suspected that the Taipei 101 is so large that at 700,000 tonnes, its sheer weight may have reopened an ancient earthquake fault that may cause future earthquakes.

To survive high winds, skyscrapers need stiffness; to survive earthquakes, they must sway. Faced with that conundrum, Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers and Evergreen Consulting Engineering devised a package of innovations that serve the $1.7-billion building’s versatile needs. For starters, they hung a 730-ton steel pendulum, called a tuned mass damper, from the 92nd floor. The movements of the damper offset strong gusts and shakes. Meanwhile, the building’s frame makes it flexible enough to absorb earthquake energy. Two dozen giant vertical columns provide support; a steel web wraps around the exterior, adding ductility; and every eight floors, outrigger trusses connect the columns in the building’s core to those on the exterior, further distributing the structural load.

Popular culture

* Taipei 101 was mentioned in Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony. Artemis Fowl plants the idea of coming to Taipei 101 in criminal Billy Kong's head by saying, "I'll be wearing a burgundy tie. Pay attention to that. There are a hundred and one ways this could go wrong. If it does, the police could tie one of us up for a long time." Or what Kong's subconscious read: Taipei 101, Taiwan.

Facts

* Taipei 101 is the world's tallest building, surpassing the height of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur in late August 2003.
* Taipei 101 holds the world record in three of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat's height categories: tallest to the structural top, tallest to the roof, and highest occupied floor.
* The outdoor observation deck is the highest in the world. It is expected to be surpassed by the outdoor deck in the Shanghai World Financial Center.
* This was the first world's tallest building completed in the 21st century. The next will most likely be Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
* The 89th floor holds an indoor observation area, and an outdoor observation deck is located on the 91st floor.
* Taipei 101 is the first and currently only building in the world to break the half-kilometer mark in height.
* The highest section of the spire was installed on 9 October 2003. At the official ceremony on 17 October, Taipei's mayor Ma Ying-Jeou fastened a golden bolt to signify the official topping-out.
* Before the spire was installed there was a separate topping-out ceremony on July 1st, 2003 for completion to the roof level. The president of Taiwan and the mayor of Taipei participated in the event.
* An 800-ton tuned mass damper helps stabilize the tower in high winds and earthquakes. This damper is an enormous ball of welded steel plates hanging inside the top of the building, and is visible from the restaurant and bar which encircles the space around the ball.
* The design is inspired by traditional Chinese architecture, with a shape resembling a pagoda. The sectioned tower is also inspired by the bamboo plant, which is a model of strength, resilience, and elegance.
* The tower's design specifications are based on the number "8", a lucky number in traditional Chinese culture; it features 8 upward-flaring sections, and is supported by 8 supercolumns. The Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai also employs this numerology in its design.
* Most aspects of the design, layout and planning were reviewed and approved by a Feng Shui master.
* The elevators are the fastest in the world, rising at 1008 meters per minute (60.48 km/hour) and descending at 610 m/min (36.6 km/hour). The top speeds are 34 percent faster than the previous world's fastest elevators in Yokohama Landmark Tower.
* This is one of the few buildings in the world equipped with double-deck elevators.
* Each elevator is designed with an aerodynamic body, pressurization and emergency braking systems, and the world's first triple-stage anti-overshooting system. The cost for each elevator is over $US 2 million.
* Exterior construction elevators and the construction elevator shaft were fully disassembled in late February of 2004.
* The Taiwan Stock Exchange rents 7 floors in the building.
* Inside the base of the tower is the large Taipei 101 Mall, which opened before the tower on November 13th, 2003.

Notes

1. Toronto's CN Tower (553 m) is excluded from these records, because it is not a "habitable building", which is defined as a frame structure made with floors and walls throughout. The CN Tower remains the world's tallest free-standing structure on land. The KVLY-TV mast near Blanchard, North Dakota, is taller still at 629 m (2,063 ft), but is supported by cables.