Taipei 101

About Taipei 101

Taipei 101, formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a 508-meter (1,667 ft), 101-story skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. It is owned by the Taipei Financial Center Corporation. It was officially classified as the world's tallest building from its opening on 31 December 2004, until it was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa in 2009. As of 2026, it is the tallest building in Taiwan and the eleventh tallest in the world.

The building's high-speed elevators were manufactured by Toshiba of Japan and held the record for the fastest in the world at the time of completion, transporting passengers from the 5th to the 89th floor in 37 seconds (attaining 60.6 kilometers per hour or 37.7 miles per hour). In 2011, Taipei 101 was awarded a Platinum certificate rating under the LEED certification system for energy efficiency and environmental design, becoming the tallest and largest green building in the world. The structure regularly appears as an icon of Taipei in international media, and the Taipei 101 fireworks displays are a regular feature of New Year's Eve broadcasts and celebrations.

Taipei 101's postmodernist and neo-futurist architectural style evokes traditional Asian aesthetics in a modern structure employing industrial materials. Its design incorporates a number of features that enable the structure to withstand the Pacific Ring of Fire's earthquakes and the region's tropical storms. The tower houses offices, restaurants, shops, and indoor and outdoor observatories. The tower is adjoined by a multilevel shopping mall that has the world's largest ruyi symbol as an exterior feature.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.