Tuesday, 14 July 2009

The Petronas Towers

The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur are one of the world’s tallest buildings. From 1998 to 2004 they remained as the tallest building ever built, however in 2004 Taipei 101 in Taiwan took the title which stands nearly 200 foot taller. But even if Taipei 101 is taller than the Petronas Towers, the Petronas Towers still stand today as the world’s tallest twin towers.

The Petronas Twin Towers were designed by the architect Casar Pelli, and was fully accomplished in the year 1998. The towers are based upon a Muslim symbol which is throughout the design of the building . The Petronas Twin Towers boasts the worlds deepest foundations at 120m. The immense scale of Petronas is impressive. You’ll only really gonna appreciate the detail of it’s Islamic design once you see it in person. Not only does this show that the architect actually engaged with the surroundings of the building he was designing - Malaysia is a Muslim country - but it also gives these towers a look that is simultaneously very modern and very local. It is always good to see examples of non-westernized modernity and these towers are an icon of that thinking.

Underneath the Petronas Twin Towers are the Suria KLCC shopping mall, and the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas which is the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. Tower One is fully occupied by the Petronas Company which is Malaysia’s national oil company and a number of its subsidiaries and partners. Tower Two is nearly all available for lease companies which have offices in Tower Two include Al Jazeera International, Boeing, IBM and Microsoft.

Outside the towers is KLCC park which looks lovely, and of course is the paddling pool for all you children out there. But the best is the Skybridge. It’s accesible on the 41st and 42nd floors so is approximately half way up the buildings have 88 floors each. This bridge connects between the the two Towers. This bridge weighs 750 tons and is 170m above ground. A maximum of 1700 visitors are allowed to visit the building per day. It is a free pass to travel in the sky bridge, there won’t be charging money to travel in the sky bridge. The sky bridge also acts as a safety purpose to shift the people from one tower to another in the case of emergency.

Sure thing, the Petronas Towers is not only a building but a tourist attraction as well. One of the most attractive building ever built!

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