Taipei 101 vs Mecca Royal Clock Tower

Informations

The Taipei 101 (Chinese: ??101; pinyin: Táib?i y? líng y?; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly called the Taipei World Financial Center (????????), is a supertall skyscraper designed by C.Y. Lee and C.P. Wang in Xinyi, Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 before the 2010 completion of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE. Its elevators, capable of traveling 60.6 km/h (37.7 mph) and used to transport passengers in the 5th to 89th floor in 37 seconds, set new records upon completion. In 2011 Taipei 101 received a Platinum rating under the LEED certification system to become the tallest and largest green building in the world. The arrangement regularly appears as an icon of Taipei in international media, and the Taipei 101 fireworks displays are a regular feature of New Year's Eve broadcasts.

Taipei 101's postmodernist architectural design evokes traditional Asian aesthetics in a contemporary structure employing industrial substances. Its design incorporates numerous features that allow the construction to withstand the Pacific Ring of Fire's earthquakes as well as the region's tropical storms. The tower houses restaurants and offices as well as both indoor and outdoor observatories. The tower is adjoined with a multilevel shopping mall that has the world's largest ruyi symbol as an exterior feature. Taipei 101 is possessed by Taipei Financial Center Corporation. The skyscraper started on 31 December 2004 to celebrate New Year's Eve.

Source: Wikipedia

Informations

The Abraj Al-Bait (Arabic: ????? ??????, romanized: ?Abr?? al-Bayt 'Towers of the House') is a government-owned complex of seven skyscraper hotels in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. These towers are a part of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project which aims to update the city in catering to its pilgrims. The central hotel tower, the Makkah Royal Clock Tower, has the world's largest clock face and is the third-tallest building and fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world. The clock tower comprises the Clock Tower Museum which occupies the top four floors of the tower.The building complex is metres away from the world's largest mosque and Islam's most sacred site, the Great Mosque of Mecca. The developer and builder of this complex is that the Saudi Binladin Group, the Kingdom's largest construction firm. It's the world's second most expensive building with the whole cost of construction totalling US$15 billion. The complex was built after the demolition of the Ajyad Fortress, the 18th-century Ottoman citadel on top of a hill overlooking the Grand Mosque. The destruction of the historically important site in 2002 from the Saudi authorities sparked international outcry and a powerful response from Turkey.

Source: Wikipedia