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Taipei 101 and the Tower of Babel

1 september 2005, 20:50 | US Markets Redactie | leestijd: 2 minuten | moeilijkheid: 4 / 12 | (0)

The con­struc­tion of enor­mous build­ings is boom­ing. Let’s hope it won’t end like the leg­endary Tow­er of Babel…But when you were as a kid play­ing with your box of bricks, you also tried to pile up the bricks as high as pos­si­ble, did­n’t you? 

Taipei 101 and the Tow­er of Babel

At this moment (Sep­tem­ber 2005) the world’s tallest build­ing is locat­ed in Tai­wan. Its name, Taipei, refers to the cap­i­tal of that coun­try. And 101 is sim­ply the num­ber of floors.
Taipei 101 Tow­er Taipei 
Taipei 101, also known as Taipei Finan­cial Cen­ter, has a height of 509 metres/1,670 feet. 
Its con­struc­tion was fin­ished in 2004 and it is in full use now. 
On the 89th floor is placed a steel sphere to com­pen­sate the sway­ing of the giant build­ing. The sphere, which has a diam­e­ter of 5.5 metres (18 feet) and a weight of 660 tons can be vis­it­ed, as well as the obser­va­to­ry, locat­ed at the floors 89 to 91.
Petronas 
Taipei 101 out­class­es the Petronas Twin Tow­ers (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). Till 2004 they were the absolute cham­pi­ons with their 452 metres/1,483 feet. In 1998 they dethroned the Sears Tow­er (Chica­go, USA), mea­sur­ing ​‘only’ 442 metres/1,450 feet. 
Sears Jin Mao Two International
In the table below you can find some details of the world’s top‑5 buildings. 
Most prob­a­bly, Taipei 101 will not be the world cham­pi­on for a long time. In Dubai (UAE, Unit­ed Arab Emi­rates) prepa­ra­tions are going for a tow­er which will be 705 metres/2,313 feet high. Its name is already cho­sen: Burj Dubai. We wrote ​‘most prob­a­bly’, because no one knows what can hap­pen dur­ing the con­struc­tion of such a high building. 
Burj Dubai (artist’s impression)
The con­struc­tion of Burj Dubai is an inter­na­tion­al coop­er­a­tion of three build­ing com­pa­nies: Arabtec (UAE), Sam­sung (Korea) and Besix (Bel­gium). In about 4 years you will be able to take an ele­va­tor that brings you to the top floor. There you can enjoy the scenery, if you are not too dizzy.
Which will be the next tow­er to out­do the oth­er ones? Maybe all this is chal­leng­ing, but all these con­struc­tors should be aware that there are lim­i­ta­tions. First of all, the should remind the sto­ry of that bib­li­cal tower.
Jan Van Besauw
US Markets
Tow­er of Babel 
Paint­ing by Pieter Breugel (1525−1569)

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