Caroline Boucher Env.

Science 3/6/12

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are not only some of the world's tallest buildings, but also showcase the advancements of engineering, building and construction technology. They symbolize courage, ingenuity, initiative, determination, energy, confidence, optimism, advancement and zest of a nation that brought worldwide recognition and respect to all Malaysians. The Towers brought together the world's leading practitioners of architecture in order to provide the capital city with an efficient and modern center for urban activity, trade and commerce; all encircling a large, open park. Development and planning of the Towers began in January 1992 and was led world renowned Argentinean architect, Cesar Pelli. At first, it was never specified that the building would be one of tallest in the world, simply only one that would be distinctive from all the others. By March 1993, construction began on the former site of a horse racetrack and the excavators were hard at work digging up to five hundred truckloads of dirt every day. The next stage was the single largest and longest concrete pour in Malaysian history. More than one hundred slabs for the foundation were poured in two continuous pours lasting about two and a half days each and using over 13,000 cubic feet of concrete for each of the two slabs. On top of these slabs a perimeter wall over a kilometer in total length and twenty-one meters tall was created to form the shell that would become a five-level underground parking-garage. The construction of the Towers itself began in April 1994, immediately after the foundation was set. The contract to construct the two Towers was given to two different contracting companies. Their friendly competition resulted in both remarkable speed and valuable cooperation. Tower one was built by the Japanese Hazama Corporation. Tower Two was constructed by the Samsung Engineering & Construction. The composite structure of the Towers employs both the flexibility of steel and high-strength concrete. About 80,000 cubic

meters of high strength concrete with 37,000 tons of steel were used to form the frames of both Towers. Complementing the steel is 55,000 square meters of 20.38 mm laminated glass designed to minimize heat gain by reflecting harmful UV light and unwanted solar radiation. The construction materials came extensively from the local industry, with the finished towers having over sixty percent local material content. Malaysian made items included raw materials such as concrete and timber; finishing materials such as marble, ceramic tiles and glass; also furniture of all types from work-stations to custom-designed suites. Finally, on August 31, 1999, and $1.6 billion dollars later, the Towers were officially opened by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. A particular importance in the Towers was maintaining the verticality throughout all weather conditions, such as high winds or seismic activity. To achieve this, a sky bridge was inserted at the buildings' forty first and forty second floors. It eases travel between the Towers due to their magnificent heights, but is crucial to its safety and endurance. This was one of the most structurally challenging parts of construction because the bridge had to be built on the ground and then lifted into place. Another particular importance in the Towers construction was to reflect local culture, most notably, the Islamic Religion. The Tower's floor design is based on simple Islamic geometric forms of two interlocking squares creating a shape of eight-pointed stars. Upon the eight-pointed stars, are eight superimposed semi-circles softening the inner angles. This symbolizes unity, harmony, stability and rationality which are four important values of Islam. The towers are mainly an office complex shared by the stateowned petroleum company Petronas, which is short for Petroliam Nasional Bhd. This company

is also known as Petronas and is the reason for the towers being named. But the towers also contain an art gallery, an 840-seat concert hall home to the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, a multimedia conference center, and a museum and reference library of energy and petroleumrelated industries. For its Muslim office workers, it also contains a mosque, with a 6000-person capacity. However, the 60 acre area surrounding the Towers is even more enormous and focused on providing a place for people to live, shop, and visit in a pleasant and convenient environment. The building around the base is a 10 acre shopping mall that sits on a 50-acre landscaped public park, which contains two public swimming pools, childrens park, and walking and bicycling trails. The Towers, which rise to 452 meters high, formerly held the Official World's Tallest Building title for six years, from 1998 to 2004 until Taipei 101 was completed in 2004. The height of the towers is measured to the top of their spires, but do not include antennas. The Spires are considered actual integral parts the buildings because any substantially change would alter the appearance and design of the building, whereas antennas may be added or removed without such consequences. However, the Towers still remain the tallest twin buildings in the world. In conclusion, the Petronas Towers was an enormous construction endeavor that required huge numbers of supplies and materials in order to build it. It thwarted Kuala Lumpur and all of Malaysia into a symbol of modern and developed status not only in Asia, but the rest of the world. Surely any individual who were to visit the tower would never forget their experience.

Works Cited
1. http://www.thepetronastowers.com/tag/petronas-towers-facts/ "Petronas Towers." The Petronas Towers. Web. 19 Mar. 2003. 2. http://www.thingsasian.com/stories-photos/20357 "The Petronas Towers." Things Asian. Web. 14 June. 2006. 3. http://www.petronastwintowers.com.my/Pages/default.aspx PETRONAS Twin Towers. 5 Sept. 1999. 4. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/wonder/structure/petronas_towers.html "Petronas Towers." PBS. WGBH Educational Foundation., 2 Dec. 2001. Web