ABSTRACT
Pelli’s Petronas Towers exemplify the never-ending quest to build taller structures-a quest that inspired the building of the Tower of Babel, the city of San Gimignano, Gothic cathedrals, and the modern skyscraper. The skyscraper building type emerged in the United States in the late 19th century, with Chicago and New York competing to have the tallest building in the world. Made possible by the invention of the elevator, improved fireproofing technology, and metal structural cages, skyscrapers of the Chicago School became important civic and corporate status symbols. Some of the earliest examples of this type include the Home Insurance Building (1885) by William LeBaron Jenny; Reliance Building (1894) by Burnham and Root; and Guaranty Building (1895) by Sullivan and Adler. Petronas Towers joins a list of buildings that have held the title of the tallest building in the world: Masonic Temple (1892) by Burnham and Root in Chicago; the Woolworth Building (1913) in New York City by Cass Gilbert; the Empire State Building (1931) in New York City by Shreve, Lamb and Harmon; the World Trade Center (1972-73, destroyed in 2001) in New York City by Minoru Yamasaki; and the Sears Tower (1974) in Chicago by Skidmore, Owing and Merrill. The Petronas Towers bested the Sears Tower by nine meters, standing at 452 meters to the tip of the spire. There was some controversy about which building was actually higher, since the Sears Tower has a higher occupiable floor, but Petronas reaches a higher overall height. Although Petronas Towers will someday be eclipsed as the tallest
Petronas Office Towers, designed by Cesar Pelli
© Jeff Goldberg/ESTO. Photo courtesy of Cesar Pelli and Associates
in the world, it will remain the tallest concrete frame structure for many years to come. After an international competition, the architectural commission for the towers was
awarded to Cesar Pelli Associates, a firm that had executed several tall buildings noted for their rich palette of materials and elegant skyscraper profiles. The U.S. firm of Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers with their Malaysian counterpart Ranhill Bersekutu
undertook the challenge of engineering the high-strength concrete frame. In addition to the technical demands of these towers, the high profile of the project, and the nationalistic nature of the program caused unusual stipulations to be placed on the design. The technology to build the towers, while developed with international expertise, had to be transferable to the Malaysians working on the project. The subcontractors were required to develop fabrication plants in Malaysia and to train local workers, both of which would have longterm benefits for the Malaysian economy.
