Taipei 101 : The Tallest Building in the World

As a supplement to my previous blog; "The View from the Top: have a glimpse of the things to consider for a modern day office!", I would like to introduce to you the current tallest building in the world Taipei 101.

Incidentally, it is an office building.

It surpassed the height of Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur in August 2003.

The building is a landmark in Taipei, Taiwan and it has 101 stories above ground; thus the name Taipei 101.

It is the most technologically advanced skycraper constructed to date.

Some of its Notable Features are:

i. Fiber optic and satellite internet connections allowing speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second.

ii. The world’s 2 fastest double decker elevators which run at a top speed of 63 km/h.  You can also visualize that it only takes 39 seconds from the main floor to the observatory on the 89th floor.  It comfortably descends at 36.6 km/h.

iii. A 730-ton steel pendulum called a tuned mass damper held at the 88th floor.  It can reduce the tower’s movement by up to 40%. It stabilizes the tower against earthquakes, typhoons and wind.  It is designed to endure earthquakes above seven in the Richter scale and super typhoons.

Amenities includes:

• six-floor retail mall
• restaurants
• night clubs

It is also interesting to know that most aspects of the design, layout and planning were reviewed and approved by a Feng Shui master.  The exterior of the building is filled with symbols of financial success.

1. The distinctive sections that create the impression of a bamboo stalk, represents gold ingots used as currency by the royalty in Ancient China.
2. There are 8 of these distinctive sections each with 8 floors.  The number 8 is considered to be lucky in the Chinese culture because it sounds like "earn fortune" in the Chinese language.
3. The four circles in the base of the building represents coins.

 If you are interested to use feng shui in your own office, read my previous blog "Nine Quick Feng Shui Tips for the Office".

One of the most popular tenants of Taipei 101 is the Taiwan Stock Exchange occupying 7 floors in the building.

Reference: Wikipedia

Source of Photo: Wikimedia Commons