Sunday, September 30, 2007

TAIPEI 101




This morning after breakfast we ventured over to Taipei 101, which happens to be the world's tallest building at 508 meters or about 1,500 feet and 101 stories!! Some other interesting facts about Taipei 101 are:




  • the world's biggest passive wind damper, with a diameter of 5.5 meters and weighing 660 metric tons, was made at a cost of NT$ 132 million.(this is what keeps the building steady)


  • the foundation is fortified by 380 piles driven 80 meters into the ground adn 30 meters into the bedrock.


  • the building's glass curtain walls can sustain impacts of 8 tons.


  • the building's structure has been designed to withstand the biggest earthquakes in a 2,500 year cycle.


  • Taipei 101 can withstand gale winds of 60 meters per second.


Needless to say, it was pretty cool and the views were spectacular. The bottom several floors are a shopping mall and there are also several restaurants so I'm sure we'll be making our way back this week. Here are some pictures.



No comments: