Taipei 101 is the largest engineering project ever attempted by Taiwan’s construction companies. The 508-meter-tall building, which rises 101 stories above ground level and descends five stories below, was the world’s tallest occupied structure from 2004 to 2010.
Taipei 101’s recent accolades include landing a spot among the world’s top 10 destinations in which to ring in 2013 by television broadcaster CNN, which noted that the building would be transformed “into a fireworks frenzy with a 188-second show” on New Year’s Eve. In 2011, Taipei 101 had the honor of receiving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum certification from the United States Green Building Council, cementing the landmark’s status as the world’s tallest and largest green structure.
The building’s striking design is based on the number 8, a numeral long associated with good fortune in traditional Chinese culture. The main tower, for example, consists of eight structural segments, each of which contains eight floors. As the exterior of each of the eight segments inclines outward 7 degrees from base to top, the individual segments increase in size as they get higher.
(Photo by Cheng Yuan-ching)
The streamlined elevators of Taipei 101 are among the fastest in the world, rising at 1,010 meters per minute, and it takes a mere 37 seconds to travel the 382.2 meters from the fifth floor to the observatory on the 89th floor.
Write to Cindy Chang at bwjiang01@mofa.gov.tw