Taipei 101: 2004 Winner

The SKYDB Awards recognize high-rise buildings that unite architectural quality with practical performance, and Taipei 101 was selected as the 2004 SKYDB Awards Winner.

The 508-meter tower is organized as eight stacked modules, each eight floors high, above a broad retail podium. Their repeated setbacks recall the joints of bamboo and the rising tiers of an East Asian pagoda. The arrangement gives the 101-story building a measured rhythm instead of treating its height as a single uninterrupted shaft.

A 660-metric-ton tuned mass damper suspended near the top reduces movement caused by typhoons and earthquakes. The damper is visible to visitors, making a critical piece of structural equipment part of the public experience. The award recognizes the way Taipei 101 joins regional references with the engineering demands of an exceptionally tall building.

Architect: C.Y. Lee & Partners