Monday, January 03, 2005
The World's tallest building(s)?
We finally found a city on our list of places to live that ranks below New York - but we had to go half-way around the world to find it. Kuala Lumpur (KL) is a dirty city with no sidewalks, poor public transportation, and a lot of crazy drivers. Crossing the border from Singapore into Malaysia we realized that we were back in the Asia that we know and love (well...at least sometimes love).
Kuala Lumpur's imposing landmarks (and the reason for our visit) are the twin Petronas Towers, the world's tallest buildings until just a few weeks ago. The towers were built in 1998 and assumed the title of world's tallest buildings from the Sears Tower in Chicago which had held the record for 14 years. The Petronas towers - built by KL's Petronas Oil and Gas company - are 1,483 feet tall, and are very distinctive as there is a two-storey bridge that connects the two buildings on the 41st and 42nd floors. The 41st floor serves as an observation deck for the general public and the 42nd floor is for occupants of the towers, for quicker communication and an emergency escape. The title of "tallest building in the world" is apparently quite controversial. Many architects argue that decorative spires, observation decks, and communication antennas are NOT buildings and should not factored in to a building's height. This makes a big difference as the new Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan will surpass the Petronas towers in overall height - albeit by only 184 feet - but will NOT be taller if you only count the distance from the sidewalk to the uppermost OCCUPIED space. However, the generally accepted compromise is to separate structures by their purpose. As a result, there are 2 "tallest" lists: buildings and structures. The CN Tower in Toronto is the tallest structure and Taipei 101 is now the tallest building. (The proposed new World Trade Center in New York will surpass Taipei 101 by 109 feet).
Two interesting tidbits:
1) The 4th largest structure is ALSO in Kuala Lumpur - a communication tower
with a nice observation deck.
2) 6 of the 10 tallest buildings are located in China (not including Taiwan). The
four non-Chinese buildings are: Taipei 101, Petronas Towers, Sears Tower, and
the Empire State Building.
Kuala Lumpur is also home of one of the most amazing Chinatowns we have ever experienced. While the prices were low as expected, the products were awesome. Every name brand you can think of was represented, but not by cheap, underground imitations, but the real thing. Real Nike shoes for $15, genuine North Face equipment for cheap (we bought a backpack for $12), Addidas, Reebok, etc. etc. Many of these companies manufacture their products in Malaysia and we were the beneficiaries of ingenious merchants and a lax enforcement of patents and trademarks.
Kuala Lumpur's imposing landmarks (and the reason for our visit) are the twin Petronas Towers, the world's tallest buildings until just a few weeks ago. The towers were built in 1998 and assumed the title of world's tallest buildings from the Sears Tower in Chicago which had held the record for 14 years. The Petronas towers - built by KL's Petronas Oil and Gas company - are 1,483 feet tall, and are very distinctive as there is a two-storey bridge that connects the two buildings on the 41st and 42nd floors. The 41st floor serves as an observation deck for the general public and the 42nd floor is for occupants of the towers, for quicker communication and an emergency escape. The title of "tallest building in the world" is apparently quite controversial. Many architects argue that decorative spires, observation decks, and communication antennas are NOT buildings and should not factored in to a building's height. This makes a big difference as the new Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan will surpass the Petronas towers in overall height - albeit by only 184 feet - but will NOT be taller if you only count the distance from the sidewalk to the uppermost OCCUPIED space. However, the generally accepted compromise is to separate structures by their purpose. As a result, there are 2 "tallest" lists: buildings and structures. The CN Tower in Toronto is the tallest structure and Taipei 101 is now the tallest building. (The proposed new World Trade Center in New York will surpass Taipei 101 by 109 feet).
Two interesting tidbits:
1) The 4th largest structure is ALSO in Kuala Lumpur - a communication tower
with a nice observation deck.
2) 6 of the 10 tallest buildings are located in China (not including Taiwan). The
four non-Chinese buildings are: Taipei 101, Petronas Towers, Sears Tower, and
the Empire State Building.
Kuala Lumpur is also home of one of the most amazing Chinatowns we have ever experienced. While the prices were low as expected, the products were awesome. Every name brand you can think of was represented, but not by cheap, underground imitations, but the real thing. Real Nike shoes for $15, genuine North Face equipment for cheap (we bought a backpack for $12), Addidas, Reebok, etc. etc. Many of these companies manufacture their products in Malaysia and we were the beneficiaries of ingenious merchants and a lax enforcement of patents and trademarks.
# posted by Doug Spencer : 2:20 AM
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