Once the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101 vies with Taiwan’s incredible religious sites as one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions(McEneaney). More information on Taipei 101, formerly known as the Taipei Financial Center, an office building in Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China). The skyscraper has 101 stories and a height of 1,667 feet, including the spire, designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners, a local architectural firm (508 metres). Taipei 101's construction began in 1999. The structure was finished in 2004 after it was topped out in 2003. The largest section of the building, between the base and the spire, is made up of eight modules, or groupings of eight stories each (eight being an auspicious number in Chinese numerology). The building also expresses its distinctively Chinese character in its resemblance to a stalk of bamboo or an elongated pagoda. (Lewis)
How did an earthquake-prone island manage to construct one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers? Taiwan is hit by countless earthquakes and typhoons each year, leading any reasonable person to believe that it is not the best location for a skyscraper. The designers of Taipei 101, C. Y. Lee & Partners, had other ideas and created an architectural masterpiece that is both flexible and structurally resistant. A 660 tonne damper suspended from the 92nd to 87th floors counteracts the effects of strong winds, while the solid concrete foundations add to the building’s resistance. This adaptability and resistance enables 101 to withstand gale force winds and the region’s strongest earthquakes.
Work cited
Lewis, Robert. “Taipei 101 | Building, Taipei, Taiwan.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Dec. 2016, www.britannica.com/place/Taipei-101.
McEneaney, Ciaran. “A Brief History of Taiwan’s Taipei 101.” Culture Trip, 25 Sept. 2019, /asia/taiwan/articles/a-brief-history-of-taiwans-taipei-101.