1 The World's Tallest Building Taipei 101,the blue-green glass tower that reigned for six years as the world's tallest building,is everywhere in Taiwan.Its image appears on advertisements,magazine covers,brochures,guidebooks,and billboards; the soaring structure itself is visible from nearly everywhere in Taipei City. As ubiquitous as Shanghai's Oriental Pearl TV tower-and considerably more graceful-Taipei 101 has become the iconic image of contemporary Taiwan. Patterned on the tiered design of traditional pagodas,the 101-story tower consists of eight cubical sections with gently sloping sides rising out of a massive 20-story base (a less generous description:a stack of Chinese take- out containers).The topmost floors and spire take the shape of a stupa,a Buddhist monument,and the building is decorated with traditional motifs symbolizing fulfillment and health.Taipei 101 is an engineering marvel, the world's tallest building-built atop a tectonic fault,stabilized by a mas- sive,gilded sphere perched on giant pistons twelve hundred feet above the ground.According to C.Y.Lee,the architect who designed it,Taipei 101 blends recognizably Chinese elements with cutting-edge global aesthetic and technical standards.In his words,the building embodies "Oriental philosophy and Western technology. Lee's magnificent building is beautiful from any angle-from any angle, because Taipei 101 stands completely alone.Unlike skyscrapers in Shang- hai,Hong Kong,and New York,Taipei 101 does not compete for sunlight with a forest of similar buildings.It was constructed at the edge of Taipei as part of a redevelopment scheme to update a sleepy residential neighbor- hood.The next tallest building in the city is less than half its height,and three miles away.Taipei 101 thus stands absolutely alone;no man-made 1