Kuala Lumpur Takes on Burj Khalifa
I can hear it now…those titters and scoffs of fellow pedestrians as I gaze, lovingly, up at every skyscraper I see. I’m usually blocking the sidewalk, or standing in the middle of the road…hence the scoffing.
I have lived in New Zealand for 26 of my 27 years on this earth, yet still (even in Auckland’s CBD) I am baffled, betwixt, amazed, stupefied at the logistics behind the ANZ Centre, the Metropolis, the Skytower. How? I ask. How did you get so high, skyscraper? How did you get so high?
I can also see the other side of the coin, however. We’ve been surrounded by tall buildings for as long as any of us can remember. I understand how they can be boring, or same-same-but-slightly-different. However, the recently-finished Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, to any warm-blooded human, is an impressive building. Something to gawk at, for sure. It’s massive—679 metres tall, to be specific. The only building taller in the world than the Merdeka 118 is the Burj Khalifa at 828 metres.
Designed by Melbourne-based architect, Fender Katsalidis, the skyscraper gets its name from the Malaysian word for independence and the number of storeys. The building is built to be sustainable, using the rays from the sun to solar power the entire show. The outside is designed using triangular glass panels in connection to traditional Malaysian arts and crafts. Merdeka 118 is being used as a hotel, a mall, office space and there’s a pretty cool observation deck at the very top, to give the visitors stunning views of Kuala Lumpur. You don’t have to be a full-on skyscraper lover like me to appreciate this megatall building. It’s a triumph, if anything.
