Petronas Towers

Twin stainless-steel-clad skyscrapers, linked by a skybridge, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Designed by Cesar Pelli (b. 1926) and completed in 1998, the circular, step-tapered towers house the headquarters of Malaysia's national petroleum company. Each tower is 88 stories high, has a structural frame of high-strength, steel-reinforced concrete, and reaches a height of 1,483 ft (451.9 m)—a figure that includes a pinnacle and steel spire atop each. In 1996, after achieving their full height, the towers were considered the world's tallest buildings, surpassing the then-tallest Sears Tower; they, in turn, were superseded in 2003 by the Taipei 101 (Taipei Financial Center) building in Taipei, Taiwan, that rose to 1,667 ft (508 m).

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