Friday, August 24, 2012

Taipei 101 - Architectural Landmark of Taiwan

Taipei 101 is a renowned skyscraper in Taiwan and a famous landmark in Taipei. This skyscraper is considered as an architectural wonder by the people of Taiwan for the architectural skills it has been made using. After its dedication in 2004, this eye-catching tower was for a brief moment the world’s tallest building. It measures 1,474 feet not including its spire, and Taiwanese insist it still ranks as the globe’s loftiest, as Dubai’s Burj Al Arab tower owes its dominant height to its sail-like crown.



Composed of 101 stories above ground and five below, Taipei 101 embodies the King Kong-luring Art Deco glamor of a New York skyscraper. But Taipei 101’s silver-screen looks are further reinforced by an ingenious spherical safety device called a tuned mass damper that corrects for any swaying caused by earthquakes or typhoons.

The main tower features a series of eight segments of eight floors each, an obvious association to abundance, prosperity and good fortune. Its shaped like an Asian pagoda, while numerous motif of the ruyi - an ancient symbol associated with heavenly clouds appear throughout the structure. The structure was engineered to be able to withstand gale winds of 60 mps, and the strongest earthquakes likely to occur in a 2,500 year cycle.

The tower’s summit flaunts a spacious 360º observatory reached by a vertiginous elevator that is in itself like an amusement-park ride. The panorama of bustling Taipei is perhaps at its best at sunset, when rosy clouds dramatically silhouette distant mountains and neon-hued light shows dance across other building facades. Taipei 101 is notable for its striking postmodern architecture, which combines elements of both the pagoda and bamboo plant.

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