The picture of Taiwan in #611417 featured the building and I don't recall having seen it before. The design is distinctly Asian which is refreshing. It gives the building a steampunk-like time-splitting effect.
It was once the world's tallest building:
The building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening on 31 December 2004 (in time to celebrate New Year's Eve). However, the Burj Khalifa surpassed Taipei 101 in 2010. Upon completion, it became the world's first skyscraper to exceed a height of half a kilometer (about 0.3 miles). As of 2023, Taipei 101 is the tallest building in Taiwan and the eleventh tallest building in the world.
Once featured the world's fastest elevator:
The elevators of Taipei 101 that transport passengers from the 5th to the 89th floor in 37 seconds (attaining 60.6 km/h (37.7 mph)) set speed records.
It's built to withstand 134 mph winds and the strongest recorded earthquakes:
Taipei 101 is designed to withstand typhoon winds and earthquake tremors that are common in the area in the east of Taiwan. Evergreen Consulting Engineering, the structural engineer, designed Taipei 101 to withstand gale winds of 60 meters per second (197 ft/s), (216 km/h or 134 mph), as well as the strongest earthquakes in a 2,500-year cycle.
Its foundation has 380 piles, 5ft in diameter each, driven 262ft into the ground with 100ft of that being through bedrock:
The foundation is reinforced by 380 piles driven 80 m (262 ft) into the ground, extending as far as 30 m (98 ft) into the bedrock. Each pile is 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) in diameter and can bear a load of 1,000–1,320 metric tons (1,100–1,460 short tons).
It also has the world's largest tuned mass damper ball, a 728 ton steel pendulum, that can reduce 40% of the building's movement and is visible from within the building:
Motioneering designed a 660-metric-ton (728-short-ton) steel pendulum that serves as a tuned mass damper, at a cost of NT$132 million (US$4 million). Suspended from the 92nd to the 88th floor, the pendulum sways to offset movements in the building caused by strong gusts. The tuned mass damper is visible to all visitors on the 88th through 92nd floors. It can reduce up to 40% of the tower's movements. Its ball, the largest damper ball in the world, consists of 41 circular steel plates of varying diameters, each 125 mm (4.92 in) thick, welded together to form a 5.5-meter-diameter (18 ft) ball. Two additional tuned mass dampers, each weighing 6 metric tons (7 short tons), are installed at the tip of the spire which help prevent damage to the structure due to strong wind loads. On 8 August 2015, strong winds from Typhoon Soudelor swayed the main damper by 1 meter (39 in)—the largest movement ever recorded by the damper.
Buildings are cool.