Petronas Towers: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 02:56, 9 January 2006
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Template:Infobox Skyscraper/Tallest
The Petronas Towers (also known as the Petronas Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (3°9′28.26″N 101°42′41.94″E / 3.1578500°N 101.7116500°E), were once the world's tallest buildings when measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural or architectural top.
It has since been unseated by the Taipei 101 on October 17, 2003. The Petronas Towers are currently the tallest twin towers in the world, and it lays claim to being the world's tallest high rise of the 20th century. Critics point out that this applies to only one of four height categories.
History
The towers, which were designed by architect César Pelli, were completed in 1998. The 88-floor towers constructed of largely reinforced concrete with a steel and glass facade were designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's Muslim heritage. They were built on the site of Kuala Lumpur's race track. Because of the depth of the bedrock the buildings were built on the world's deepest foundation going down some 120 meters and requiring massive amounts of concrete. In an unusual move, a different construction company was hired for each of the towers, and they were made to compete against each other. Eventually the builders of Tower 2, Samsung, won the race, despite starting a month behind Tower 1, built by a Japanese company. Tower 2 ran into problems when they discovered the structure was 25 millimeters off from vertical. Due to a lack of steel and the huge cost of importing steel, the towers were constructed on a cheaper radical design of super high strength reinforced concrete. High-strength concrete is a material familiar to Asian contractors and twice as effective as steel in sway reduction. Supported by 23-by-23-metre concrete cores and an outer ring of widely-spaced super columns, the towers showcase a sophisticated structural system that accommodates its slender profile and provides from 1300 to 2000 square metres of column-free office space per floor.
Below the twin towers is Suria KLCC, a popular shopping mall, and Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.
Comparison with other very tall buildings
Petronas, Malaysia's national oil company, set out to build the world's tallest building. Although other buildings such as the Sears Tower have higher occupied floors, a higher pinnacle, and a higher roof, the Petronas Towers' spires are classified as architectural details and rise to 452 m (1483 feet)--the highest feature classified as an architectural detail on a high rise until Taipei 101. Taking advantage of the quirks of the rules governing building measurements (counting spires but not antennas) has generated a large amount of controversy over the towers' claim to the title.
Other buildings in history have used spires to increase their height but had always been taller overall to the pinnacle when trying to claim the title, not shorter. In the aftermath of the controversy, the main set of rules governing official titles was partially overhauled, and a number of buildings re-classified structural antenna as architectural details to boost their height rating (even though nothing was actually done to the building). Since the rules had allowed a building that looked shorter to say they were taller, newer buildings have had a focus on getting more than one of the height categories and tried to cater to popular perception rather than technicalities.
Tenants of the Petronas Towers
Tower One is fully occupied by the PETRONAS Company and a number of its subsidiaries and associate companies. The office spaces in Tower Two are mostly available for lease to other companies. A number of companies have offices in Tower Two, including Accenture, Bloomberg, Boeing, Exact Software, IBM, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, McKinsey & Co, and Microsoft.
Other facilities
KLCC Park
Outside the building is a park with jogging/walking tracks, a fountain with incorporated light show, wading pools, and a children's playground.
Suria KLCC is one of the biggest shopping malls in Malaysia.
Sky bridge
The towers feature a sky bridge between the two towers on 41st and 42nd floor. It is 170 m high and 58 m long. The same floor is also known as the podium, since visitors desiring to go to higher levels have to change elevators here. The skybridge is open to all visitors, but passes (limited to c. 1400 per day, which usually run out before noon) must be obtained on a first-come, first-served basis. Passes are free. The skybridge is closed on Mondays.
Notable events
- In 1997, French urban climber, Alain "Spiderman" Robert, using only his bare hands and feet and with no safety devices of any kind, scaled the building's exterior glass and steel wall. His bid to reach the top of the building was cut short when police arrested him at the 60th floor, 28 floors away from the "summit".
- The towers were featured in the 1999 film Entrapment (see Skyscrapers in film).
- Three missions in the computer game Hitman 2 take place in Petronas Towers.
- In the cartoon series Totally Spies, the episode Man or Machine saw the spy girls Sam, Clover and Alex going on a mission to rescue world leaders, among others, the Malaysian Prime Minister in the Petronas Towers.
- In Microsoft-Big Huge Games' Rise of Nations (2003), the library research button for the most advanced age, "Information Age", is represented by the Petronas Towers.
- On the evening of Friday, November 4, 2005, a fire broke out in a movie theater complex in the Petronas Towers, triggering panic among patrons who fled screaming and coughing in the thick, acrid smoke. There were no reports of injuries. The buildings were largely empty because of the late hour; the only people affected appeared to be moviegoers and some diners in a few restaurants.
Quote
A quote by the building's main architect:
- "According to Lao Tse, the reality of a hollow object is in the void and not in the walls that define it. He was speaking, of course, of spiritual realities. These are the realities also of the Petronas Towers. The power of the void is increased and made more explicit by the pedestrian bridge that ... with its supporting structure creates a portal to the sky ... a door to the infinite."
- —César Pelli, architect (1995)
- "According to Lao Tse, the reality of a hollow object is in the void and not in the walls that define it. He was speaking, of course, of spiritual realities. These are the realities also of the Petronas Towers. The power of the void is increased and made more explicit by the pedestrian bridge that ... with its supporting structure creates a portal to the sky ... a door to the infinite."
References
- Wong, Dennis (Nov. 6, 2005). "Midnight fire scare at Twin Towers". New Sunday Times, p. 10.