ABSTRACT
The Petronas Twin Towers, opened in 1998 after a record building period of three years, are known to every taxi driver on the globe as the world's highest skyscrapers. This apparently megalomaniacal project, viewed with some skepticism before completion, has actually fulfilled its purpose admirably and precisely, which was to put Kuala Lumpur on the world map, to make it instantly recognizable. On 11 September 2001, minutes after the World Trade Center was attacked, tens of thousands of office workers were evacuated from the Petronas Towers due to a terrorist threat. Although nothing untoward happened, this fact was often repeated to me by several residents of the city with a certain amount of unconcealed pride – it was proof that Kuala Lumpur had arrived in the Big League; it was finally up there with the most important cities.
