Taipei World Financial Center

By Kang-Hsin Fan


Taipei 101, the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Taipei, Taiwan. The building is a Neo-Regionalist Modern style design. The building type is made up of a commercial office tower, skyscraper, and shopping center. According to the Skyscraper Poster (2003), Taipei 101, ground to highest architectural spire- 1,671 ft. It became the world’s tallest building in October, 2003, when the final section of the spire was put into place. The world's finest resource for skyscraper and urbanism enthusiasts, Taipei 101 was the first building in the world to break the half-kilometer mark in height and the first record-setting skyscraper constructed in the new millennium. The building was the world's tallest skyscraper, until it was surpassed in height by the Burj Khalifa on July 21, 2007. According to Taipei Financial Center Corporation (2009), “Taipei 101, designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed primarily by KTRT Joint Venture and numerous subcontractors including Samsung C&T received the 2004 Emporis Skyscraper Award and was hailed as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World (Newsweek magazine, 2006) and Seven Wonders of Engineering (Discovery Channel, 2005). Architect C. Y. Lee was born in 1938 in Guangdong, China and arrived in Taiwan with his parents in 1949”. Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground and 5 floors underground. Binder (2008) explained that the name of the tower reflects its floor count and carries symbolic meanings alluding to technology and Asian tradition (p.23). “It is postmodernist approach to style incorporates traditional design elements and gives them modern treatments” (p.35). The tower is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes in the Asia-pacific areas. They suspended a tuned mass damper from the 92nd to 88th floor. Binder (2008) also noted a Tuned mass damper, also known as an active mass damper (AMD) or harmonic absorber, is a device mounted in structures to prevent discomfort and damage (p.45). There is also a multi-level shopping mall adjoining the tower houses with hundreds of fashionable stores, restaurants and clubs.


References:
Binder G. (2008), Taipei 101,The Images Publishing Group Pty Ltd.
Benson M. (2009), The Building of the Taipei 101 Skyscraper, Retrieved April, 05, 2010 from http://www.propertycommunity.com/emerging-property-markets/230-the-building-of-the-taipei-101-skyscraper.html