This Day, That Year – December 31

This day in history we feature the Taipei 101. The tallest building in the world was opened on this day in 2004 to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

Trivia – Taipei 101

Taipei 101 formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world’s tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 completion of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE. Upon completion, it became the world’s first skyscraper to exceed a height of half a kilometer. Taipei 101 is the tallest building of Taiwan. The elevators of Taipei 101 that transport passengers from the 5th to the 89th floor in 37 seconds set speed records. In 2011, Taipei 101 was awarded a Platinum certificate rating under the LEED certification system for energy efficiency and environmental design, becoming the tallest and largest green building in the world. The structure regularly appears as an icon of Taipei in international media, and the Taipei 101 fireworks displays are a regular feature of New Year’s Eve broadcasts and celebrations.

Related read – Burj Khalifa is among the most photographed landmarks in the world

Taipei 101’s postmodernist architectural style evokes traditional Asian aesthetics in a modern structure employing industrial materials. Its design incorporates a number of features that enable the structure to withstand the Pacific Ring of Fire’s earthquakes and the region’s tropical storms. The tower houses offices, restaurants, shops, and indoor and outdoor observatories. The tower is adjoined by a multilevel shopping mall that has the world’s largest ruyi symbol as an exterior feature. Planning for Taipei 101 began in July 1997 during Chen Shui-bian’s term as Taipei mayor. Talks between merchants and city government officials initially centered on a proposal for a 66-story tower to serve as an anchor for new development in Taipei’s 101 business district. Planners were considering taking the new structure to a more ambitious height only after an expat suggested it, along with many of the other features used in the design of the building. It was not until the summer of 2001 that the city granted a license for the construction of a 101-story tower on the site. In the meantime, construction proceeded and the first tower column was erected in the summer of 2000. There was New Year’s Eve show in Taipei hosted at the Taipei City Hall, which also provides a full view of Taipei 101 which is lit up with fireworks. Another popular location for crowds to gather to see the fireworks display is the public square of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. For the first three years (2004–2006), the annual fireworks show at Taipei 101 was preceded by the sequential display of numerals in lights on each section on huge panels displays to count down the last eight seconds to midnight. Since 2007 the building has been completely darkened, then fireworks begin to launch sequentially from the lower to upper sections. Overall, Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world for six years, being surpassed by the Burj Khalifa in 2010. For 12 years it also had the fastest elevator, at 38 miles per hour. It also has the largest wind damper in the world, at 18 feet across. Taipei 101 is currently the eleventh-tallest building in the world, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s official rankings.

Source – Wikipedia