Designed by C. Y. Lee and C. P. Wang, Taipei 101 was begun on July 31, 1999, and opened on December 31, 2004. Its tip reaches 1,671 feet (509.2 m), with 101 floors above ground, and it was the world's tallest building until the Burj Khalifa surpassed it.
The design draws on pagoda and bamboo forms. Eight segments of eight floors each stack upward, decorated with ruyi motifs. Outrigger trusses at eight-floor intervals link the core to the exterior columns, helping the tower withstand typhoons and earthquakes. A 660-metric-ton steel tuned mass damper hangs from the 92nd to 88th floors and can reduce movement by up to 40 percent.
Elevators run from the 5th to the 89th floor in 37 seconds. The outdoor observatory on the 101st floor sits at 1,474 feet (449.2 m). Fireworks launched from the tower on New Year's Eve are a regular broadcast.
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