DISCOVERING KUALA LUMPUR - PART IV

DISCOVERING KUALA LUMPUR – PART IV
By Doods A. Amora, PEE

In both ancient and modern times, man’s compulsion to touch the skies is manifested in the many shrines & monuments spreading out across Planet Earth today.

From the biblical Tower of Babel to New York’s Empire State Building, Chicago's Sears Tower, Kuala Lumpur’s PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS, lately Taiwan’s Taipei 101, and the future’s BURJ of Dubai; we are looking at all of them as the signatures of man's attempts at scaling the heavens.

And who can ever erase the memories of the World Trade Center Twin Towers, once the world’s long-reigning supreme edifices leveled down within minutes in the 911 attacks…?


SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2007:

At 9:00 o’clock in the morning, with hearts throbbing vigorously, we found ourselves in real face-to-face with Malaysia’s ultimate monuments, the PETRONAS TOWERS. Famed as the essence of the modern Malaysia, this is one big reason why I came. For a Kuala Lumpur visitor, it is mortal sin not to pay homage to this world icon.

THE MANY FACES OF THE PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS

1) Note the Bluish-Gray Color of the Towers

2) Note the Shades of Violet in the Towers at Dusk

At close range, in both engineering and design, the Petronas Towers succeeded at showcasing Malaysia's past and future, embracing the country's heritage while proclaiming to the world its modernization. The end-result is a monument that is not only Malaysian, but will forever be recognized with Kuala Lumpur.

“Satu Warisan, Satu Matlamat” - “One Legacy, One Destiny”, as the huge front signage says - lifting the fervors of what a nation should be!

3) The Towers in Stainless & Blue Colors

Judging on its might and magnitude, the towers appeared to be two giant sentinels guarding the gates of the entire land from harm. Hospitable to what’s good coming in, but hostile to threats to the homeland. Spiralling through the skies, the towers seem to act as the gateway to a proud present and a vision of an assuring future…

They are a people’s dignity indeed. So entrenched are these mirror sentries in the Malaysian psyche, that it is now unimaginable if the majestic presence of the Twin Towers weren't part of the Kuala Lumpur skyline. In other words, take out the Petronas Towers from the map and things in Malaysia will never be the same again.

Since 1998, they've become a national icon, its images keep popping up in the most likely and unlikely places - on the National Geographics TV programs or on the big screens of cinema houses to paper weights and home decors.


OUR DATE WITH A WORLD ICON

Converging at the Photo Plaza (as they call it), a spacious fountain-garden park fronting the towers, we were about a hundred souls of different colors and origins - Americans, British, Dutch, Germans, Egyptians, Indians, Greeks, Indonesians, Koreans, Chinese, Mid-Eastern people, other nationalities and of course us, Filipinos. Reminiscent to the Tower of Babel, we spoke diverse languages, even amongst us Filipinos; one group was speaking in Ilonggo, while another group in Ilocano. But with same wavelengths of pleasure, we spoke to be understood – all awed in utter admiration.

4) The Towers in Transformation from Blue to Gray

We stayed in the Photo Plaza until noontime – taking hundreds of pictures, in any angles. Under the scorching tropical heat in a cloudless sky, we braved our eyes into looking straight at the pinnacles of the twin buildings against the glaring background of the blinding sun.

Then we noticed the multi-hued magic of the towers as the sun and the clouds ushered changes in their tempers. Depending on the radiance of the skies as the clouds switched course, the Towers’ ambiance tauntingly varies from stainless steel to silver, from silver to blue, from blue to gray… from gray to black! It’s like a gaudy stage show gradually shifting moods in colors. And it’s not man-made script; it was but an enchantment from the heavens…

But this time, unlike Babel, wala kaming pakialaman sa isa’t isa, (unmindful to each other), we posed for picture-taking in whatever stances we could think of. As if superstars in a movie-film shooting, we frolicked within the fabulous fountains, laid down our backs on the concrete walkways just to have us framed within camera peep-screens with the towers visible up to the apex of these wonderments.

5) The Family with The Towers in Gray

Unabashed of our excitements, we never hid our glees as we attained personal glories to be with one of the man-made wonders in the world. As if a cue, other tourists mimicked what we did. Naughtily glancing and smiling at us, - they also danced with the fountains’ rhythm, laid on their backs to take full pictures of the towers and shouted at the top of their voices. Then, we shook hands with each other, as if we were long related friends united under the mantle of the Petronas Towers.

6) The “Movie Stars” Frolicking at the Fountains

But then I realized, it is not within my powers to conquer her. The 1.6 billion dollar 88-storey marvels each at 452 meters high (1,483 ft) meeked me to the lowest degree. No matter how I tried to imagine, even in my wildest dreams, the Petronas Monument would always be there – its magnificence transcending through the hearts and eyes to behold!

7) The Petronas Towers in Black

Gliding my thoughts back to my own country, the Philippines’ tallest building is the PBCOM Tower (Philippine Bank of Communications) completed in Y2000 & is located in Makati City. With 55 storeys at 258 meters (848 ft) high, PBCOM Tower is listed as today’s 93rd tallest skyscraper in the world. I imagined if the PBCOM Building were in Kuala Lumpur, it should have been the fourth tallest structure in Malaysia; 635 feet short of the Petronas pride.

At a glance, Kuala Lumpur's 10 tallest skyscrapers are the following:

1) PETRONAS TOWER I: 452 m (1,483 ft), 88 storeys, Y1998
2) PETRONAS TOWER II: 452 m (1,483 ft), 88 storeys, Y1998
3) MENARA KL TELEKOM TOWER: 310 m (1,017 ft, 55 storeys, Y2001
4) MENARA MAYBANK: 244 m (799) ft, 50 storeys, Y1988
5) EMPIRE TOWER: 238 m (781 ft), 62 storeys, Y1994
6) MENARA MAXIS: 212 m (696 ft), 49 storeys, Y1998
7) BAGUNAN AMFINANCE: 210 m (689 ft), 50 storeys, Y1998
8) BERJAYA TIME’s SQUARE: 203 m (666 ft), 48 storeys, Y2003
9) MENARA MUTI-PURPOSE: 198 m (650 ft), 40 storeys, Y1994
10) MAJU TOWER: 196 m (643 ft), 50 storeys, Y2002


WORLD’S TALLEST BUILDINGS

The Petronas Twin Towers were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004, measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural top - the height reference used by the US-based Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

In 2004, Taiwan’s Taipei 101, measuring at 508 meters (1,667 ft) to the top of their structural components (spires included, but not antennas), took over the record. The Petronas Twin Towers however, remain the tallest twin-buildings in the world.

8) Taiwan’s TAIPEI 101 – Now the Tallest in the World

9) Burj Dubai, The Tallest in the World by 2008 - Dwarfing the Other Skyscrapers

But Taipei 101’s reign will be short and brief. By 2008, the Burj Dubai, said to have an ultimate height of 693 meters (2,275 ft) will be the tallest skyscraper in the world. Today, even at its unfinished state, Burj Dubai has already reached 585.7 meters at 141 storeys and has already surpassed Taipei 101, its developers say. There is speculation that, spire included, the final height could be more than 800 meters, as hinted by its owners but still are keeping structural details secret.

At the outset, it is worthwhile to have a look-see on today's top-ten significant skyscrapers in the world, as follows:

1) TAIPEI 101, Taipei, Taiwan: 508 m (1,667 ft), 101 Storeys, Y2004
2) PETRONAS TOWER 1, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 452 m (1,483 ft), 88 Storeys, Y1998
3) PETRONAS TOWER 2, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 452 m (1,483 ft), 88 Storeys, Y1998
4) SEARS TOWER, Chicago, USA: 442 m (1,451 ft), 110 Storeys, Y1974
5) JIN MAO BUILDING, Shanghai, China: 421 m (1,381 ft), 88 Storeys, Y1999
6) INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CENTRE, Hong Kong: 415 m (1,362 ft), 88 Storeys, Y2003
7) CITIC PLAZA, Guangzhou, China: 391 m (1,283 ft), 80 Storeys, Y1996
8) SHUN HING SQUARE, Shenzhen, China: 384 m (1,260 ft), 69 Storeys, Y1996
9) EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, New York, USA: 381 m (1,250 ft), 102 Storeys, Y1931
10) CENTRAL PLAZA, Hong Kong: 374 m (1,227 ft), 78 Storeys, Y1992


Note that eight of ten tallest skyscrapers today are sitting on Asian soils. As an Asian myself, I am proud of them.

But then, seen in different light; these again manifest modern man’s mimicry to Babel.


THE PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS IN FOCUS

"The Petronas Headquarters should be a building that would identifiably be Malaysian, and of world class standards that Malaysians could specially be proud of," said the Petronas Chairman at its conceptualization. Thus the designs of the Petronas headquarters not only had to fit the strict criteria of being uniquely Malaysian and aesthetically pleasing, they also had to be efficiently functional, with optimal maximization of space. As the designers recalled, “it was a tall order for many reasons, not the least being Malaysia has no home-grown architectural style that can be easily translated when designing a skyscraper”.

According to the designers, "the project was in a way a challenge of the century. Not only would it be the world's tallest towers as its owners envisioned at the time, but to have two of them side by side. The 88-floor towers were constructed largely of reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass facade designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic Art, a reflection of Malaysia's religion. Because of the depth of the bedrock, the buildings were built on the world's deepest foundations. The 120-meter foundations required massive amounts of concrete."

10) THE PETRONAS TOWER, this time in Stainless & Blue Colors

Completed in 1998, the Petronas Twin Towers are a striking glass-and-steel combination with floors based on an eight-pointed star. The Towers were designed to symbolize strength and grace using geometric principles typified in Islamic architecture. The buildings include a “curtain wall” of glass and stainless steel sun shades to diffuse the intense equatorial light; a double-decker elevator system with a sky lobby transfer point on the 41st floor to accommodate the thousands of people who use the complex daily. The towers are also joined at the 41st and 42nd floors (175 m above street level) by a special feature 192 ft-long (58.4 m) double-decker skybridge - linking the two sky lobbies and facilitating the movement between the two towers.

11) The Sky Bridge at 41st Floor – Connecting the Two Towers Together

The lack of steel and the huge cost of importing steel necessitated on the cheaper but radical design of super high-strength reinforced concrete. High-strength concrete is twice as effective as steel in sway reduction; however, it makes the building twice as heavy on its foundations as compared to steel building. Supported by 23-by-23 meter concrete cores and an outer ring of widely-spaced super columns, the towers use a sophisticated structural system that accommodates its slender profile and provides 1,300 to 2,000 square meters of column-free office space per floor.

But implementing the designs into reality was a different ballgame. In an unusual move, different construction companies were hired for each of the towers, and they were made to compete against each other. Eventually the builders of Tower 2, Samsung Constructions (the Construction Division of Samsung Corporation), won the race, despite starting a month behind Tower 1.

Tower 1, built by Hazama Corporation, ran into problems when they discovered the structure was 25 millimeters off from vertical.

12) Across the Petronas Towers id the MENARA MAYBANK at 244 m, 50 Storeys – The 4th Tallest Skyscraper in Malaysia

On the other hand, the shopping mall (Suria KLCC) beneath both towers was constructed by Alabama based Bill Harbert International.

Today, Tower 1 is fully occupied by the Petronas Company and a number of its subsidiary companies. Tower 2 is being occupied by PETRONAS' associate or affiliate companies and other world renowned multinational companies.

13) Doods & Mimi in a "Dramatic Dialogue" at The Photo Plaza

THE “WHICH IS TALLER” CONTROVERSY

It is worthwhile to mention that in 1974, Chicago’s SEARS Tower dislodged out New York’s World Trade Center Towers in height supremacy although each were constructed with 110 occupied floors. Then in 1998, the PETRONAS Towers only at 88 occupied floors (22 storeys less than the Sears Tower) grabbed the honors as the Tallest Buildings in the World. Note the SEARS Tower and the World Trade Center’s roofs and highest occupied floors substantially exceed the height of the roof and highest floors of the Petronas Twin Towers. The Sears Tower’s antenna on top of the buildng is about 250 feet (76 meters) taller than the Petronas Twin Towers’ spires. Needless to say, this triggered the height controversy.

14) THE PETRONAS TOWERS AT NIGHT

However, in accordance to Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat (CTBUH) regulations and guidelines, the antennas of the Sears Tower were not counted as part of its architectural features. On the other hand, spires are considered integral parts of the design of buildings, to which changes would substantially change the appearance and structure of the building, whereas antennas may be added or removed without such consequences.

The Petronas Towers hence, surpassed the roof of the Sears Tower by 10 meters.

15) Inside the Six-Storey K L City Centre – A First Class Shopping Mall within the Petronas Tower Complex

THE SURIA KLCC

Having touched and embraced the pillars of the Petronas’ pride, it was now time for us to explore the SURIA KUALA LUMPUR CITY CENTER (SURIA KLCC), a six - storey open-to-the-public world-class shopping mall which is a part of the Petronas Tower Complex.

The SURIA KLCC is a first class shopping arcade & mall, with complementing restaurants and a science museum. It is also the home of the famous Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

16) Another Shot at Kuala Lumpur City Centre Shopping Mall within the Petronas Tower Complex

Being the most modern Shopping Mall in the country, shopping is expensive in the Suria KLCC. All the top brands of electronics, shoes, gems & jewelry, wardrobes, suits, and clothing are there – all high class, no second class. Feeling our pockets threatened I recalled James Bond’s movie theme song “For Your Eyes Only”. We decided to take our lunch in one of the restaurants while shopping would later be done somewhere else.

But then, the Mall itself offers a legendary lagoon with dancing fountains multi-colored during the night time. After the lunch break, we promenaded the park and again, the picture-taking resumed.

17) The Famed Lagoon at the Back of Kuala Lumpur City Centre

At 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon, we roamed around Kuala Lumpur in search of more sights to capture. The Monorail Transport System (said to be Malaysian made), the locally crafted Proton cars which filled 90% of KL’s streets, the high rise buildings, the parks and the people were all ingredients of the fundamental taste but contemporary Malaysian.

18 & 19) Another Shots at the Fabulous Lagoon Located at the Back of Kuala Lumpur City Centre

Then we found Sungei Wang and the other inter-connected malls where we shopped to our delight. In a nearby Lu Yat Mall, it was there that I bought a new laptop for my wife and a professional digital camera at very reasonable price at PhP 15,000 to PhP 20,000 less compared to if purchased in the shopping malls of Cebu City, Philippines.

20 & 21) Typical High-Rise Buildings of Kuala Lumpur

22 & 23) Another Shots at the Typical High-Rise Buildings of Kuala Lumpur

24) The Monorail Transport System of Kuala Lumpur

25) Typical City Street of Kuala Lumpur

All exhausted at 8:00 PM, we need to be back to the hotel. Kitty had to prepare herself for a 1:00 AM rendezvous with the rest of the 14-man crew of the Airbus 330 that will bring them back in a flight to Doha, Qatar.

The next day after, it would be our turn to fly back to Cebu.

(To be continued…)