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CUA, BERNADETTE D.

Taipei 101 CONSTRUCTION (Reaction Paper)


Taiwan is where typhoons and HUNDREDS of earthquakes occur every year, yet still erected in
one of its hazardous cities is Taipei Financial Center or commonly known as Taipei 101. First, why is it
called Taipei 101? This megastructure towers with 101 floors from ground level, thus earning its title.
It is built from 1998 to 2004 with the height of 508 meters and floor area of 412,500 square meters,
being one of the tallest, strongest and stable buildings ever built surpassed by Bhurj Kalifa.
Designed to withstand the worst nature could shout, with advanced construction methods.
Harris Lin, the president of Taipei Financial Group and Diana Chen, the chairperson and CEO of the
company, C.P Wang, the architect in the early stages of construction, and Shaw Sheih, the engineer in
charge visions the structure as the high trademark of Taiwan so it would be visible to the world. But of
course, it would still had been a complex process not just in designing but with construction as well.
Its concept design is to be a blend with traditional Chinese icons such as: bamboo for strength
and resilience, pagoda for serenity, the perfect form of an open flower, and the number 8 for
prosperity. Pagoda style was also applied, as an opinion, it is fair to judge that the Taiwanese
exceedingly value their customs, beliefs, and ancient architecture.
Structurally speaking, it is a high-rise building with a mass damper, designed to be stiff enough to
resist a typhoon to prevent extreme sideways movement (lateral drift) and flexible enough to resist
an earthquake tremor. It seems that is is an antonymous requirement, but was able to flourish due to
high-tech engineering and construction.
The materials used in constructing the structure were of glass and five different types of steel,
such as carbon, alloy, etc. Columns were in the mixture of steel and concrete. With this, it was built in
6 years with a construction army of 2000.
Taipei 101 was built on soft clay with uniquely designed foundations reinforced by 380 piles
driven 80 meters into the ground, including eight super columns with 69 Mpa concrete. This was to
achieve both strength and flexibility.
Typhoons that arrive in Taiwan brings in strong winds, thus moving the structure sideways. So for
protection and comfort of occupants, glass and curtain walls were used
Earthquakes that trembled the structure had a 6.8 magnitude, strong enough to drop
construction cranes and kill at least 5 people, but the despite the unfortunate events, the
construction continued. It does not end there as being a finished building, Taipei 101 itself is said to
be causing quakes because seismic activity is more active with it.
As earthquakes passes up into the structure, a ball remains kinetic and this is called dampers
that is dampening the tremors. It stabilizes the building during earthquakes and typhoons. It is made
of steel cables, bumper rings, and hydraulic dampers.
While it is true that Taipei 101 is a great and unique wonder ever built, personally, it is such a
risky construction and till now, it still is. Earthquakes are inevitable, but it does not need to turn into a
disaster, being Taipei 101 is a probable reason for its causes. It could be improved with multiple and
smaller dampers to prevent failures and save human lives. Designers were quite brave to build this
high wonder in a hazardous zone with lives that could be affected. But then again, building
skyscrapers symbolize having power and industrial might anyway. And man cannot be stopped from
aiming higher.

Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B031ebdzRvc (04/24/2014)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZlFTPKhUts (02/27/2009)

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