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BC-Tallest Skyscraper,0320
Taipei now boasts world's tallest building, 1,676 feet tall
AP Photos TTE101,103
By WILLIAM FOREMAN
Associated Press Writer
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Construction crews finished building the
world's tallest skyscraper in Taiwan on Friday, shifting into place
a massive pinnacle on top of 1,676-foot-tall building.
The 101-story structure looks like a stack of gift boxes, but
developers liken it to a bamboo shoot with notches sections. Called
Taipei 101, the building will house offices, a mall and an
observatory.
Wearing a white hard hat, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou and a small
group of engineers, developers and officials watched the 198-foot
pinnacle being installed from an observation deck on the 91st
floor.
"This ceremony marks a historical moment that Taipei 101 is
officially declared the tallest building in the world," Ma said.
It tops the previous titleholder, the Petronas Towers in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, which measures 1,483 feet. Chicago's Sears Tower,
at 110 stories and 1,450 feet, is the tallest building in North
America.
The structure - which opens officially next year - will have the
world's fastest elevators and a stairway that leads to the top
spire at 1,676 feet, developers have said.
Some worry the building would be dangerous in earthquake-prone
Taiwan. But the skyscraper's developers have said that the closest
fault line is 660 feet from the building, and the fault hasn't been
active in 45,000 years.
Harace Lin, president of the Taipei Financial Center Corp.,
which is responsible for the building's construction and operation,
assured tenants Friday the building would be safe.
Taipei 101 is not expected to hold the tallest-building title
for long. In China, developers say the Shanghai World Financial
Center will be higher when it's completed in 2007.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-10-17-03 0846EDT