Taipei 101 viewed from the ground.

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 - the Taipei International Financial Building (臺北國際金融大樓). It is by most counts the tallest building in the world.

External elevation

Comparison of tallest buildings in the world to Taipei 101.

Taipei 101 has 101 stories above ground (hence the name) and five under ground. There are four official World's Tallest Building records designated by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

Taipei 101 holds the records for

• Ground to structural top - 508 m (1667 ft), formerly held by the Petronas Twin Towers at 452 m (1483ft).
• Ground to roof - 448 m (1470 ft), formerly held by the Sears Tower (431 m = 1430ft)
• Ground to highest occupied floor - 438 m (1437 ft), formerly held by the Sears Tower.

It does not hold the record for

• Ground to pinnacle - held by the Sears Tower 529 m (1703ft).

Note: Toronto's CN Tower (553 m) is excluded from these category records because it is not a "habitable building", which is defined as a frame structure made with floors and walls throughout. The CN remains the world's tallest free-standing structure on land. The KVLY-TV mast near Mayville, ND, is the tallest currently-standing structure, at 629 m (2,063 ft), however, it is not self-supported, relying on ground cables.

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] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3200160.stm) 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

Interior of one of the floors of Taipei 101.

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 450,000 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 an extravagant New Year's celebration, complete with live performances and fireworks.

Construction

Taipei 101 while under construction, July 2003.

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

• List of skyscrapers
• World's tallest structures

External links and references

• http://www.taipei-101.tk/: Popular TAIPEI 101 site with image gallery, technical data, and construction updates.
• Taipei Financial Corp (http://www.tfc101.com.tw): Company information, timeline, shareholders, tenant information and pricing, newsletter
• Official TAIPEI 101 mall website (http://www.taipei101mall.com.tw/)
• CTBUH press release re Taipei 101 as "world's tallest" (http://www.ctbuh.org/htmlfiles/whats_new/whats_new_publications_press-taiwan.html)
• Structurae: Taipei 101 (http://www.structurae.de/en/structures/data/s0004823/index.cfm)
• Fast lifts rise into record books (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4101309.stm)
• World's Tallest Building to Open in Taipei (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4252073): NPR's interview with Taipei 101 structural engineering consultant Dennis Poon of the Thornton-Tomasetti Group.

de:Taipei 101 fi:Taipei 101 fr:Taipei 101 ja:台北国際金融センター nl:Taipei 101 no:Taipei 101 pl:Taipei 101 sv:Taipei 101 ta:தாய்ப்பே 101 zh-tw:台北101