World's Second Tallest Building Tops Out in Malaysia
upstart writes:
World's second tallest building tops out in Malaysia:
The spire of a soaring 118-story skyscraper has topped out at over 2,227 feet above Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur.
Set to become the world's second tallest building upon its completion next year, Merdeka 118 now stands higher than China's 2,073-foot Shanghai Tower and is dwarfed only by the Burj Khalifa[*] in Dubai.
"This is not only a great achievement in the field of engineering," he told reporters . "But it also further strengthens Malaysia's position as a modern and developed country."
Comprising 3.1 million square feet of floor space, more than half of which will be offered as offices, the tower will also house a mall, a mosque, a Park Hyatt hotel and Southeast Asia's highest observation deck. The wider four-acre site will also contain public spaces and a park at ground level.
Set in a historic part of Kuala Lumpur, the skyscraper overlooks the Stadium Merdeka, where former leader Tunku Abdul Rahman declared Malaysian independence in 1957.
[...] The Australian architecture practice behind the project, Fender Katsalidis, said the triangular glass planes on the building's facade were inspired by patterns found in Malaysian arts and crafts. The design also "symbolically (represents) the rich cultural mix that defines the people of the country," the firm said in a press release.
In a statement, one of the company's founding partners, Karl Fender, added that the building was designed to enrich "the social energy and cultural fabric of the city."
[*] Burj Khalifa on Wikipedia:
The Burj Khalifa [...] is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding antenna, but including a 244 m spire) of 828 m (2,717 ft), the Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure and building in the world since its topping out in 2009, supplanting Taipei 101, the previous holder of that status.
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