TW- 1233196 TW-1644407 Taipei 101 臺北101

Taipei 101 (臺北101 ) is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. Taipei 101 was finished in 2004. The tower has served as an icon of modern Taiwan ever since its opening.

Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground and 5 floors underground. The building was architecturally created as a symbol of the evolution of technology and Asian tradition. Its postmodernist approach to style incorporates traditional design elements and gives them modern treatments. The tower is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes tremors common in its area of the Asia-Pacific. Planners aimed for a structure that could withstand gale winds of 216 km/h or 134 mph and the strongest earthquakes likely to occur in a 2,500 year cycle.

A multi-level shopping mall adjoining the tower houses hundreds of stores, restaurants and clubs.

There is a lot of Chinese symbolism in Taipei 101.  The height of 101 floors commemorates the renewal of time: the new century that arrived as the tower was built (100+1) and all the new years that follow (1 January = 1-01). It symbolizes high ideals by going one better on 100, a traditional number of perfection.

The main tower features a series of eight segments of eight floors each. In Chinese culture the number eight is associated with abundance, prosperity and good fortune.

The repeated segments simultaneously recall the rhythms of an Asian pagoda (a tower linking earth and sky), a stalk of bamboo (an icon of learning and growth), and a stack of ancient Chinese ingots or money boxes (a symbol of abundance). The four discs mounted on each face of the building where the pedestal meets the tower represent coins. The emblem placed over entrances shows three gold coins of ancient design with central holes shaped to imply the numerals 1-0-1.

Curled ruyi 如意 figures appear throughout the structure as a design motif. Though the shape of each ruyi at Taipei 101 is traditional, its rendering in industrial metal is plainly modern. The ruyi is a talisman of ancient origin associated in art with heavenly clouds. It connotes healing, protection and fulfillment. It appears in celebrations of the attainment of new career heights. Each ruyi ornament on the exterior of the Taipei 101 tower stands at least 8 m (26 ft) tall. The sweeping curved roof of the adjoining mall culminates in a colossal ruyi that shades pedestrians.

 

At night the bright yellow gleam from its pinnacle casts Taipei 101 in the role of a candle or torch upholding the ideals of liberty and welcome. From 6:00 to 10:00 each evening. the tower's lights display one of seven colours in the spectrum.

The first postcard came from John (王珮暄) (23 April 2014) Postcrossing; the second postcard came from Tina (20 January 2015) Direct Swap Postcrossing and the third came from Ann (1 July 2015) Postcrossing.  Ann has also affixed a Taipei 101 stamp (see below).