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Where can you find the world's tallest building?
Taipei, Taiwan's capital city
Taipei 101 is the most obvious landmark in the city, and it is currently the tallest building in the world at 508 meters or 1,667 feet. Some people contest this title, since there is an 18m (60 ft.) spire at the top, the design of which is inspired by Taiwan's native bamboo. This is a giant structure with parking for 1,800 vehicles! Designing a building of this magnitude in Taiwan that experiences both earthquakes and typhoons proved challenging. To counter balance the motion created by these forces of mother nature there is an 800-metric ton (1,764,000 lbs.) steel sphere on the 88 story that is visible from the restaurant and the observation decks. The building transfers the energy of the building to the sphere causing it to swing and in the process stabilizes the building. There was great concern about the design after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York. It was determined after intense study that the additional strength required to protect the building against the natural forces of earthquakes and typhoons also protected it against this type of attack.
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