Taipei 101 – A Landmark Skyscraper

Taipei 101

First Published Date: Sep 5, 2009


In a world obsessed with extremes, and where publicity is king, it is quite something to be able to say that you are at the further extreme of anything. To be the tallest person in the world, although it may have its inconvenient points, is certainly a claim that will entitle you to publicity. Being the world’s richest person will encourage other people to do business with you, ensuring that you simply get richer. Although it is not always universally positive to be able to claim that you are or have the best, the tallest, the richest or the most famous of anything, it does entitle you to certain perks of which recognition is arguably the most powerful. On a worldwide level, having the tallest building in the world certainly puts you front and center in any architectural for um.

As things stand, then, the Taipei 101 tower is a building with a lot to envy. At present – and until at least the 2nd of December this year – the tower remains the tallest building in the world. Standing at 509.2 meters above ground to its highest point, and 139.2 meters to its top floor, the Taipei 101 tower is taller than any other currently habitable building in the world. One tower currently outstrips it in terms of height – the Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates – and at present it is not habitable, and will not be until its opening date, currently slated as being in three months’ time. Since its completion in 2004, Taipei 101 has held this title, one which has grown in importance as the world of publicity has gained strength.

It is all the more impressive for the fact that Taipei is found in one of the areas of the world with the highest incidence of typhoon winds and earthquake tremors. The building simply could not have been built were it unable to withstand such conditions, and therefore great care was taken to ensure that this was included in its building plans. As a result, it is capable of withstanding winds of over 130 miles per hour and the strongest earthquakes that the tectonic plates are ever likely to throw at it. innovative engineering was required both for this level of stability and its enormous height – and for any combination of the two.

A lot of the publicity which surrounds the Taipei 101 tower is not to do with its tenants but with its fascinating idiosyncrasies which make for fascinating facts. For example, the name of the tower refers not only to the 101 floors above the ground, but also to the fact that it was built in the first year of a new Chinese century (100+1). Another reason behind this name is that 100 is viewed worldwide as a number of perfection (anything deemed to be 100% is seen as perfect) – the idea being that Taipei 101 goes one better than that. The number eight is seen as a renewal of time, as each week has seven days (the eighth marking a new week). In connection with this and the association of eight as a “lucky number”, the outside tower is made up of eight segments of eight floors. Also interesting is the external design, which features touches of specifically Chinese architecture like the traditional pagodas and ruyi figures.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Sep 5, 2009.