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Taipei 101 - The World's Tallest
Taipei 101 - The world's tallest building is now in Taiwan. With a height of 508 meters--and 101 stories above ground and five stories below--the Taipei 101 building has surpassed the 462-meter Sears
Tower in Chicago and the 451-meter Petronas Twin Tower in Malaysia to acquire the title "world's tallest building."
Designed by world-renowned architect C.Y. Lee, the exterior of the building
resembles bamboo segments, with eight stories to each segment because the number "8" signifies prosperous growth. Each segment is shaped like a scepter, with ancient coins on the exterior of the 26th floor
to give this modern building a Chinese style.
Taipei 101 also has the world's fastest elevators. These can transport passengers to the 89th-floor observatory in a mere 39 seconds. Each one of these
1000-meter-per-minute elevators cost more than NT$68 million
To prevent the building from swaying during typhoons or earthquakes, an 800-ton, US$4 million, ball-shaped damper is used to dissipate lateral
vibration to a spring system underneath. For the first time in architectural history, the damping system is is not hidden, but part of the building's design. This world's largest damper ball has a diameter of 5.5
meters and is visible from the 88th and 89th floors.
Taipei 101 has 101 stories above ground and five under ground. It holds three out of the four official World's Tallest Building titles designated by the
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). The four
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