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The Petronas Twin Towers, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was at one time the tallest high rise when measuring from the sidewalk level of the main entrance to the structural or architectural top.
It has since been unseated by Taipei 101 on October 17, 2003. The Petronas Twin Towers are currently the tallest twin towers in the world, and it lays claim to being the world's tallest high rise of the 20th century. Critics claim that this applies to only one height category.
The towers, which were designed by architect Cesar Pelli, were completed in 1998. The 88-floor, largely stainless steel and glass structure were designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's Muslim heritage. The basic structure however was a development of the design firm's design for a cancelled Chicago building.
Below the twin towers is a popular shopping complex, called Suria KLCC.
Petronas, Malaysia's national oil company, set out to build the world's tallest building. Although other buildings such as the Sears Tower have higher occupied floors, a higher pinnacle, and a higher roof, the Petronas towers' spires rises to 1483 feet (452 m). The Sears towers higher spires (1,703 ft (519 m)), are classified as antennas and do not count. Taking advantage of the quirks of the rules govering building measurements has generated a large amount of controversy over the towers claim to the title.
The first occurence of using a spire to increase the declared height of the building was when the Chrysler Building was erected. A spire was secretly constructed which allowed the Chrysler Building to rise higher than the Bank Of Manhattan Building.
The differentiation between spire like constructions considered architectural details and spire like constructions classified as antennas has not yet been resolved. As a result, controversy continues over buildings which take advantage of spires to boost their height and their ranking among the world's tallest buildings.
Microsoft has located its office on the 30th Floor of Tower Two.
Dewan Philharmonik is a concert hall in Suria KLCC. It is the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. The ceiling of the hall is of acoustically transparent material. On top of this visible ceiling exists an adjustable ceiling which is acoustically reflective. This means the hall itself can be "tuned" prior to a performance, making it the biggest instrument in any concert held within. The second largest instrument in the hall is a Klais pipe organ which features 4,740 pipes.
There is also an art gallery within Suria KLCC called Galeri Petronas. It is recognised as one of Malysia's leading venues for art exhibitions.
The Japanese department store company Isetan has a branch in Suria KLCC. It is one of the anchor tenants of Suria KLCC taking up a verticle space of five floors equal to the height of Suria.
The Japanese bookstore Kinokuniya has a large branch in Suria KLCC. It occupies two floors and faces the pool outside Suria KLCC. It incorporates the usual functions of a book store but also features a cafe.
The Petronas Petrosains Centre is located on the 3rd floor of Suria KLCC. It focuses on Malaysia's oil industry. Children are encouraged to visit by the centre. It is well known for its Dark Ride course, Flight Simulators and Adventure, Molecular Magic, Geotime Formation and Petrojaya sections.
Outside the building exists a park which features jogging/walking tracks, a fountain with incorporated light show, wading pools, and a children's play ground.
the towers feature a sky bridge between the two towers on 42nd floor. This floor is also known as the podium since visitors desiring to go to higher levels have to change lifts here. The skybridge is open to all visitors but passes have to be obtained. The skybridge was closed for security reasons after Septmber 11th 2001. It have since been re-opened.
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