Petronas Twin Towers
The Petronas Twin Towers, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, are the second tallest high rise when measuring from the sidewalk level of the main entrance to the structural or architectural top. They claimed to be the world's tallest buildings by this using this measure from their completion until they were unseated by Taipei 101 on October 17, 2003. The Petronas Twin Towers are currently the tallest twin towers in the world, and they laid claim to being the world's tallest high rise of the 20th century, though this claim is highly disputed since only one height category was held.
In the wake of the controversy that its claim generated the rules were overhauled, but many still do not accept the claim. The differentiation between spire like constructions considered architectural details and spire like constructions classified as antennas has not yet been resolved. As a result, controversy continues over buildings like the Petronas Towers, which take advantage of spires to boost their height and their ranking among the world's tallest buildings.
The towers themselves are entirely devoted to office space and were designed by architect Cesar Pelli in 1998. The 88-story, largely stainless steel and glass structure was 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 firm's design for a cancelled Chicago building. Petronas, Malaysia's national oil company, wanted 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 rise to 1483 feet (452 m). The Sears towers higher spires (1,703 ft (519 m)), are classified as antennas and do not count. Taking advantage of the quirks of the rules govering building measurements has generated a large amount of controversy over the towers claim to the title.
By taking adavantage of the pecularities of these rules and then claiming to have the tallest high-rise building, the towers themselves have been obscured in heated debates over building height measurement. The addition of the buildings to the annals of the tallest buildings of the world has been tainted by the buildings use of quirks in the rules to lay false claim to tallest building title. While having a tall structure may be a source of postive acclaim and pride for a city, the Petronas are popularly derided. Ironically, this is the opposite of what was intended by those responsible for the towers.
Without warning, one morning 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 all the way to the top.
Below the twin towers is a popular shopping complex, called Suria KLCC. There is also a performance hall in the complex, Dewan Philharmonik, in which a classical orchestra plays. Outside the shopping mall there is a well planned park with fountains, pools, jogging tracks and many trees. The skybridge is open to tourists who wish to have a glimpse of Kuala Lumpur from on high.
See also: Skyscraper, List of towers