Tallest isn't the Best
Well, I wanted to post this comparison of former title holders of the World's Tallest Building for quite some time. So after doing some research I was finally able to put this piece together.
IMHO, this building is a bad attempt of interpretting what is truly 'Chinese' in character. Taking the form of a Pagoda it joins in the stigma of other 'Made in China' products: lacking in imagination and unrefined. Taipei needs an 'identity' it seems, but certainly it could have taken a more elegant form. When I first saw pictures of this building I thought it was located in Shanghai, another Chinese city which has become famous in recent years for having a motley crew of architecturally misguided buildings. Taiwan certainly has something to look up to now, but perhaps with raised eyebrows.
Completed in 1974, it held the title so quite some time before being unseated by the Petronas Twin Towers. Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), this building was designed in a typical American skyscraper style. Brute and conventional, just like most of its contemporaries. Nothing really imaginative in its design as it turned out to be blockish. Some say it's practical and some say it's unimaginative. However it was the trend of the time... very 1970s buildings wise.
Now destroyed, it briefly held the title before Sears. Fully completed in 1979, it was the focal point of NYC. I view them as monumental structures - two strong columns - a symbol of American economic strength. Its simplicity made it elegant, yet again, the design was nothing to shout about.
Built in the 1930s, it was unoccupied in its early years. Designed tiered, it was America's pride and joy and held the title of tallest building for over 40 years. It is now NYC's tallest building, after the tragedy of Sept 11, 2001. Yet looking at this building today, it is totally symetrical. Brute, blockish and not as elegant as its contemporary and former title holder, the Chrystler building.
Designed by William Van Allen and completed in 1930, the Chrysler Building the best example of a skyscraper built in the art deco style. It is crowned with a beautiful 7 storey pinnacle. It was the tallest in the world for a short while, but lost its title to the Empire State Building. However, it has never lost its beauty.
Currently the 10th tallest building in the world, this is certainly one of my favourite skyscrapers. I would like to illustrate that this skyscraper is more honest to what I deem as 'Chinese' than Taipei 101. Making a building true to the 'Chinese spirit' doesn't mean an architect should design a superscale pagoda. IM Pei instead took what he deemed as important aspects of Chinese character and communicated that idea through his design. This building is about geometry, something the Chinese were masters of when Europe was still uncivilised. It also communicates
The attention to detailing is remarkable, again it was as if this building reenacted the glory of past SE Asian civilisations where craftmen and artisans were among the most skillful in the world. Perhaps it is a symbol of what Malaysians should strive for, leading this region through example. Perhaps it was the decision-makers' dream that Malaysia would be the cradle of SE Asian civilisation in the near future. The final product is a high quality mix of art and engineering. Feel free to look through the former title holders and meet with your own conclusions. IMHO, this is most certainly a beutiful building.
Below is the official list of the world's tallest buildings:
http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?1241105