|
|
| |
Taipei
building to be world's
tallest
TAIPEI - The
"Taipei 101" building, a 101-story, 508-meter
skyscraper now under construction, will be the world's
tallest building upon completion next year.
President Chen Shui-bian and Taipei Mayor Ma
Ying-jeou jointly presided over a ceremony on Tuesday
marking the installation of the last steel beam of the
building, paving the way for final engineering and
finishing work on the skyscraper scheduled to be
inaugurated in November 2004.
Taipei 101, to be
mainly used as the Taipei financial center, will house a
giant shopping mall occupying the basement one floor to
the fourth floor, with the ninth to 84th floors to be
given over for office space and the remaining floors to
be used for health clubs, galleries, conference centers,
business clubs, restaurants and an observatory.
Addressing the ceremony, Chen said
he authorized a build-operate-transfer (BOT) project
for the construction of the highrise soon after he
assumed the Taipei mayoralty in 1995. He vowed to officiate
at the skyscraper's inauguration in his capacity as the
president next year to unveil the new landmark of
Taiwan.
Mayor Ma said the Taipei 101
building will not only be a new Taiwan landmark, it will
also be a new world landmark. Acccording to the Council
on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the Taipei 101
building will be the world's tallest building in various
categories used to define the height of skyscrapers.
According to skyscrapers.com, eight of
the world's top 10 skyscrapers are in Asia. In 1998,
Kuala Lumpur's 452-meter Petronas Twin Towers replaced
the 442-meter Sears Tower in Chicago as the world's
tallest building, ending the Sears Tower's reign of
nearly 20 years.
When completed, Taipei 101 will
take top spot and be followed in order by the Petronas
Twin Towers, the Sears Tower, the Jin Mao Building in
Shanghai and the International Finance Center in Hong
Kong.
(Asia Pulse/CNA)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
