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The 88 storey monsters soar like imperial gatekeepers into the Kuala Lumpur sky, rising 1483 feet and encompassing 32,000 windows. Made from glass and steel they are built on a geometric Islamic pattern – a traditional eight pointed star. You cannot go to the top, but the 192 foot skybridge which links the 41st and 42nd floors of the two buildings is something special. Kuala Lumpar pans out like an old-fashioned lumpy if gleaming tablecloth below, and you will have to pinch yourself to believe the view. Get there early before the rush – visitor numbers are limited strictly each day. Then take a deep breath and take in what what US$1.2 billion worth of building and the summit of man’s architectural imagination feels like.
Continue reading The Petronas Twin Towers are the kings of the architecture world

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the world’s most famous construction mistake. The architect, Bonanno Pisano,
found his bell tower starting to lean almost immediately after he began to build it. And the lean kept increasing through the centuries, a tourist bonanza for Pisa, that would end if the tower leaned too far and fell.
This picture was taken in 1994, prior to a major engineering effort to stabilize the tower and reduce the lean by 10%. The tower was also closed to visitors. I had climbed it back in 1986, great fun, but disorienting.

Why the lean?

The tower is built on unsuitable ground for such a heavy and tall building. It is only about 6 feet above sea level and built on a riverbed. The underlying ground is made up of layers of sand and clay. The layers are not even and the weight of the building has compressed them. Because the layers are not even, as the ground has compressed, it has sunk more in some places than others.

Continue reading The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the world’s most famous construction mistake