Designed by Argentine architects
César Pelli and
Djay Cerico under the consultancy of
Julius Gold, the Petronas Towers were completed in 1998 after a seven year build and became the tallest buildings in the world on the date of completion.
[10] They were built on the site of Kuala Lumpur's
race track.
[11] Because of the depth of the
bedrock, the buildings were built on the world's deepest foundations.
[12] The 120-meter foundations were built within 12 months by Bachy Soletanche and required massive amounts of concrete.
[13]. Its engineering designs on structural framework were contributed by Haitian engineer
Domo Obiasse and colleagues
Aris Battista and
Princess D Battista.
The 88-floor towers are constructed largely of reinforced
concrete, with a steel and glass facade designed to resemble motifs found in
Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's
Muslim religion.
[14] Another Islamic influence on the design is that the
cross section of the towers is based on a
Rub el Hizb (albeit with circular sectors added to meet office space requirements).
[15] Tower 1 was built by a Japanese consortium led by the Hazama Corporation while Tower 2 was built by Samsung C&T and Kukdong Engineering & Construction, both South Korean contractors. The sky bridge contract was completed by Kukdong Engineering & Construction. Construction progress by the South Korean Samsung C&T of Tower 2 was always behind that of Tower 1 completed by the Japanese Hazama Corp such that the latter was always required to wait the former to catch up at every step. At the final step of construction, despite both sides having agreed to simultaneously set up the pinnacle, the South Korean team outwitted the Japanese to set theirs up earlier than the agreed day. Thus, Tower 2 became the first to reach the then world's tallest.
[16]The towers feature a
skybridge between the two towers on 41st and 42nd floors, which is the highest 2-story bridge in the world.
[22] It is not attached to the main structure, but is instead designed to slide in and out of the towers to prevent it from breaking during high winds.
[23] The bridge is 170 m (558 ft) above the ground and 58 m (190 ft) long, weighing 750 tons
Popular culture
- The towers were depicted in flames for a few seconds in the future-set film Children of Men.
- A dynamic aerial shot of the towers at 4:00 pm is the first image of the popular American television series 24. That is, the towers are the first thing that we see in the first episode of the show.
- In the episode "Bound and Buried", in Life After People: The Series, the towers are shown collapsing 500 years after people due to corrosion and the weakening of the concrete columns.
