#003 l Petronas Towers l KUALA LUMPUR l 452m l 88fl

[D-Mac]

Petronas Towers
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

HEIGHT: 452 meters/1,483 feet
FLOORS: 88 floors
COMPLETION: 1998
ARCHITECT: Cesar Pelli & Associates Architects

On April 15, 1996, the Council on Tall Buildings named the Petronas Towers the tallest in the world, passing the torch to a new continent. Although the project's developers, a consortium of private investors in association with the Malaysian government and Petronas, the national oil company, had not originally set out to surpass Chicago's Sears Tower, they did aspire to construct a monument announcing Kuala Lumpur's prominence as a commercial and cultural capital. In the design of American architect Cesar Pelli they found a winning scheme--twin towers of elegant proportions with a slenderness ratio (height to width) of 9.4--that would capture not only the title but the public imagination.

Pelli's design answered the developer's call to express the culture and heritage of Malaysia by evoking Islamic arabesques and employing repetitive geometries characteristic of Muslim architecture. In plan, an 8-point star formed by intersecting squares is an obvious reference to Islamic design; curved and pointed bays create a scalloped facade that suggests temple towers. The identical towers are linked by a bridge at the 41st floor, creating a dramatic gateway to the city.

The structure is high-strength concrete, a material familiar to Asian contractors and twice as effective as steel in sway reduction. Supported by 75-by-75-foot concrete cores and an outer ring of widely-spaced super columns, the towers showcase a sophisticated structural system that accommodates its slender profile and provides from 14,000 to 22,000 square feet of column-free office space per floor

Other features include a curtain wall of glass and stainless steel sun shades to diffuse the intense equatorial light; a double-decker elevator system with a sky lobby transfer point on the 41st floor to accommodate the thousands of people who use the complex daily; and a mixed-use base featuring a concert hall and shopping center enveloped by nearly seventy acres of public parks and plazas.

In both engineering and design, the Petronas Towers succeed at acknowledging Malaysia's past and future, embracing the country's heritage while proclaiming its modernization. The end result says Pelli, is a monument that is not specifically Malaysian, but will forever be identified with Kuala Lumpur.

[RafflesCity]

9/10

Magical, Big, Beautiful, enchanting..plus they built TWO.

[SteelCity32]

what a scraper baby woo.

10/10

[DamienK]

10/10. Alot of care was taken in design, I love the overall shape, the gleaming steel facade, the skybridge and the way the mall is integreted into the base of the building. I was very impressed when I visited these buildings in 1998!

[Aleksey]

Very beautiful!!!!
10/10

[Insomniac]

I give the Petronas Towers a:

9.99999999999/10

.....but only because skyscrapers are a work of art, and they can always be improved slightly. Thus, no building is perfect, and will ever get a 10/10 rating from me. But this may damn well be the two buildings that come as close to it as any building ever will.

[Ersh]

They're really tall and get points for it. They're nice looking, but aren't in my top 10 favorites of all time. 8/10

[Bobdreamz]

that last aerial is stunning...what beautiful buildings!
the design from the top almost has an art deco feel to it...
9.5/10

[Homeroids]

I actually don't like the skybridge. I like the idea of one but not the look of this one. 8.0

[Phil]

Great building, I give it a 9, it looks a bit too metallic imo but very great anyway.

[baqthier]

9.9/10, it bring back some good memories! And if you guys ever visit this tower, touch the steel plates of it

The towers suffer from the problem that many Asian towers suffer from - oriental influences on skyscrapers simply do not work. They are fine for low-rise structures. But once you start mixing influences - you end up with a mutt that is neither one thing or the other. In other words - a jack of all trades, good at many things, excellent at none. And unfortunately, Petronas suffers because of this.

And the skybridge is a major faux-paux, although, functionally it works. So that is a wash in my book.

They are the worlds best example of underachieving architecture.

7.5/10

G

[The Messiah]

I like this building allot,i'll give it an 9.5.
And i love the last pic,i just saved it.

[BoresvilleMcYawn]

Originally posted by gojeda
[size=1]The towers suffer from the problem that many Asian towers suffer from - oriental influences on skyscrapers simply do not work. They are fine for low-rise structures. But once you start mixing influences - you end up with a mutt that is neither one thing or the other. In other words - a jack of all trades, good at many things, excellent at none. And unfortunately, Petronas suffers because of this.

And the skybridge is a major faux-paux, although, functionally it works. So that is a wash in my book.

They are the worlds best example of underachieving architecture.

7.5/10

G [/size=1]

I completely agree!

[Patrick]

i don't really know why i don't like it very much

5.5/10

[ethan]

It is the best.Great structure. An office building, a megamall, a petrosains, a philharmonic hall and public park in one!!!

Petronas Office building



Suria KLCC megamall



Petronas Philhamonic Hall



Petrosains



KLCC public park

[AG]

Love the two tallies. Good design, it well reflects the culture of Malaysia, and the double-decker skybridge is unique.

9.5/10

[tayser]

I love the underlying arabic floor plate .: facade "shape" (two squares on top of each other and different angles)....

tall and there's two

9.5 / 10 - "fecking" superb

tays

[Bob di Gills]

I don't know what it is, but I don't really like these towers,
But there BIG so...

7/10

[DrumCorpsAlum]

I'll give PT an 8.5.