The Petronas Twin Towers

"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 twin 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."

—Cesar Pelli, architect (1995)

The Petronas Twin Towers, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were at one time the tallest buildings when measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural or architectural top.

It has since been unseated by Taipei 101 on October 17, 2003. The Petronas Twin 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 claim that this applies to only one height category.

The towers, which were designed by architect Cesar Pelli, were completed in 1998. The 88-floor, largely stainless steel and glass structure were designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's Muslim heritage. The basic structure however was a development of the design for a cancelled Chicago building.

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

A comparison of the world's tallest structures.

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 rises to 452 m (1483 feet) - the highest 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 tower's claim to the title.

The first occurrence of using a spire to increase the declared height of the building was when the Chrysler Building was erected. A spire was secretly constructed which allowed the Chrysler Building to rise higher than the Bank Of Manhattan Building.

Tenants of the Twin Towers

Tower One is fully occupied by Petronas 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 (but not limited to)

• Microsoft
• Bloomberg
• McKinsey & Co
• Accenture
• IBM
• Khazanah Nasional Berhad

Other facilities

KLCC Park

Outside the building exists a park which features jogging/walking tracks, a fountain with incorporated light show, wading pools, and a children's playground.

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 lifts here. The skybridge is open to all visitors but passes have to be obtained.

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.

• 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.

See also

• Skyscraper
• List of towers

External links

• Structurae: Petronas Towers
• panoramas.dk 360-Pamorama Petronas Tower
• Drawings, photos and videos of the Petronas Towers