Taipei 101 (台北101)

Taipei 101 (台北101)Taipei 101 (台北101)Taipei 101 (台北101)Taipei 101 (台北101)Taipei 101 (台北101)Taipei 101 (台北101)Taipei 101 (台北101)Taipei 101 (台北101)Taipei 101 (台北101)Taipei 101 (台北101)

This was my first visit to Taipei 101 (台北101), currently the highest office building in the world. I've left from my flat and walked 45 minutes in Taipei before I reached the foot of the tower. The height of the tower can only be perceived when you are at its foot and try to look at its summit; from far away it just looks like a tall building. One very interesting thing in Taipei 101 is its Tuned Mass Damper (or TMD) which is shown to the public. It's basically a big chunk of steel mounted on hydaulic actuators. The setup looks like a flight simulator system which makes perfect sense given the job of the TMD. Taking photos of the TMD is not so easy, especially if you want to keep its gold color (= no flash). A few movies are projected around the TMD explaining a bit how it works and how it was built.

Taipei 101 is ready for Christmas, New Year(s) and Valentine's day! Yes, Taiwan people are fond of colorful lightings for buildings (see other examples on this website) and Taipei 101 is no exception. During my 4 months in Taipei I've seen 4 different decorations of the tower: Christmas Tree, Happy New Year, Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day. At first I thought that the lighting was fully reconfigurable but it turns out that they put light boxes in front of selected windows. The illumination of the tip is different: the lower part changes color regularly (3-4 minutes) and the upper tip is always bright yellow. Just so you know ;-)

Access:

Nearest location: the National Taiwan University 國立臺灣大學 (2.3km)

External links: Website, Wikipedia, Satellite view, Map

Keywords: Taiwan, Formose, 台湾, Taipei, 台北, Taipei 101, 台北101, skyscraper, tower, tour, gratte-ciel, タワー

Statistics: visited on 6 occasions, id 6, 19 photos (10 extra photos can be found in the archive).

Photos of Taipei 101:

Taipei 101's sections
Majestic Taipei 101
Taipei 101 fills the frame
Display in the elevator of Taipei 101
The tuned mass damper (TMD) of Taipei 101
The Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) of Taipei 101
Suspension cables of the Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) of Taipei 101
Detail of the Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) of Taipei 101
Hydraulics of the Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) of Taipei 101
Sunset from Taipei 101, looking south-west
Sunset from the top of Taipei 101, looking west
Taipei 101 at night in its blue dress
Taipei 101 in its Chirstmas dress
Taipei 101 in its New Year dress
The sloped face of the base of Taipei 101
Taipei 101 by night
Taipei 101 by night - detail of the pinnacle
Taipei 101 in its Chinese New Year dress
Taipei 101 in its Valentine's Day dress