| Architecture |
The Petronas Towers
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On April 15, 1996 the Petronas Twin Towers were declared the tallest buildings in the world. Never before had this prestigious title passed outside the borders of the United States
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 Situated on a prime location in the Malaysian capital, this 420m-high building symbolizes the nation's ambitions for the new millennium. The American architect Cesar Pelli designed this $1.6 billion concrete, glass and steel project which takes its inspiration from traditional Islamic architecture as each of the towers' floor plans forms an eight-pointed star. A flexible bridge connects the two 88-story towers on the 42nd floor, offering a spectacular panoramic view.
Built on a former racetrack the towers contain more than eight million square feet of shopping and entertainment space, 4,500 underground parking spaces, a petroleum museum, a symphony hall, a mosque, and a multimedia conference center.
The building is mainly constructed from three materials: high-strength concrete, steel and glass. Together the towers have more than 32,000 windows and take a month just to clean one tower. Given that glass covers more than 56,000 square meters of the building surface, careful consideration was given to selecting the right type. Malaysian building codes require that the external glazing of high-rise buildings be wired, tempered or laminated. Due to its better overall performance in safety, sound insulation, durability, solar energy control and noise reduction, the choice fell to laminated glass.
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Photos: GoGlobal
Last review: April, 2003 |
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| Other Net Sources |
Skycraper
Petronas Tower information.
PBS
More facts and information on the Petronas Towers
Cesar Pelli
Architect information.
Grand opening
Description of the grand opening atmosphere.
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