On the ascent to the top of the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower or Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the outside panorama is the reward. Equally impressive are the views from Taipei 101, Taiwan’s tallest building and the first skyscraper to surpass the half-kilometer mark, which for a time was the tallest building on Earth. Riding one of the world’s fastest elevators up 89 floors at 37 mph delivers a breathtaking cityscape that stretches toward distant mountains. Yet beyond that wide vista, the building’s interior reveals an engineering wonder that is equally compelling.
Inside a smaller, enclosed observation area, visitors encounter a key element of Taipei 101’s stability. Suspended between the 92nd and 87th floors hangs a massive, 660-ton sphere 18 feet in diameter, constructed from 41 staggered layers of gold-painted steel plates. This colossal tuned mass damper moves imperceptibly like a giant pendulum to counterbalance strong gusts of wind acting on the tower. By absorbing and offsetting lateral motion, the damper can reduce building sway by as much as 40 percent. Together with a resilient and flexible foundation, this remarkable orb helps make Taipei 101 one of the most stable skyscrapers ever built.