WORLD NEWS
October 20, 2003
World’s Tallest Building Complete
A new 1,676-foot-tall building towers over Taiwan
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The world’s tallest building has a new address: Taipei, Taiwan. Officials in Taiwan celebrated the completion of the giant skyscraper on Friday. The building towers over Taiwan’s capital city of Taipei at a whopping 1,676 feet!
Taipei 101
The building is called Taipei 101, a name inspired by its 101-story height. It has the fastest elevators in the world, traveling at 37 miles per hour. The elevators can carry passengers to the 90th floor in less than 39 seconds!
Taipei 101 will house a shopping mall, offices for 12,000 people, and the Taiwan Stock Exchange. It opens for business next year.
Chinese Influences
When planning the building, designers used feng shui. Designers divided the building into eight sections, a lucky number to the Chinese. The building faces south, a lucky direction in Chinese culture.
Tall and Strong
One of the biggest challenges in designing the building was making it strong enough to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. The building is made of steel, concrete and glass. Appropriately, it looks like a bamboo stalk, a plant known for its strength.
Towering Above the Rest
Until now, the tallest building in the world was the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Taipei structure is about 165 feet taller than the Malaysian towers.
It won’t be able to claim the world’s tallest title for long, though. China’s Shanghai World Financial Center will be even taller when it's completed in 2007.
Taiwan hopes its new landmark will encourage foreign companies to invest in the city of Taipei. "Taipei 101 not only represents the height of a building Taiwan can create but also Taiwan's identity and world-class quality," said Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou.
Just like the fastest elevators in the world, leaders in Taiwan hope the new $1.7 billion building will help its economy soar to new heights.
