Taipei 101, skyscraper in the Hsinyi dist., Taipei, Taiwan; also known as the Taipei Financial Center. With 101 floors and reaching 1,667 ft (508 m) high, Taipei 101 became the world's tallest building when it was topped out in 2003, surpassing the Petronas Towers; it was surpassed in 2007 by the Burj Khalifa, which was still under construction. Work on Taipei 101 began in 1999 and was completed in 2004. Designed by C. Y. Lee & Partners, the multiuse steel-and-glass skyscraper echoes a traditional Chinese pagoda with its soaring podium base, eight tiers of eight stories (a number that is a homophone for prosperous growth in Chinese), and narrow pinnacle tower and spire. A 18-ft (5.5-m), 882-ton (800-metric-ton), ball-shaped damper located near the top counteracts swaying during earthquakes and typhoons.
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