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Constructed adjacent to the Taipei World Trade Center by the Taipei Municipal Government, Taipei 101 is the first large scale project of its kind, joint ventures between civilian and government called BOTs (Build, Operate, Transfer). In June of 1997 the Taipei Financial Building Corporation, comprised of 14 domestic company as principles, obtained the above-the-ground development right of seventy years, and began its planning and construction, as well as its operation and management.

Mr. Lin Hong Ming, CEO of Taipei 101, told the Fantastic 9 that originally the Taipei Financial Building Corporation planned for three buildings, one with sixty-six floors and two with twenty floors. However, the intended tenants for the two lower buildings did not like to be dwarfed by the large building next to them, so the drawing went back for a redesign. Since the land belongs to the Taipei Municipal Government, when the need for redesign was reported back to the residing mayor in office, Mr. Chen Sui Bian. He encouraged planning a taller single building instead, translating into taller visibility for the City of Taipei . Eighty-eight would be taller than the tallest Shin Kong Building , which had eighty five floors. Yet why not further the vision to ninety-nine, one hundred, or even beyond that.

From sixty-six, seventy-seven, eighty-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred, the lastly one hundred and one, not only in the future the building can be a member of the over-one hundred-story structures, but many consider the number one hundred to be a symbol of perfection. Being one hundred and one, the planners wish to encourage the younger generations to go a step further than being perfect. The number 101 is a number in the binary code , Mr. Lin also indicated, and in college or universities 101 is used for the beginner course of a study, such as “Literature 101” or “Biology 101” . Thus, he said that the name TAIPEI 101 also wishes to convey Taipei 's importance in bringing the world into the digital age.

The construction took eight years, during which there were challenges on the issues with the flight path height of the Taipei Airport , earthquake resistance, terrorist attack, and numerous safety associated debates, yet the cooperation between the domestic engineers and the international construction team overcame the obstacles, and opened a new chapter in the architectural history in Taiwan .

Ref: Interview of Mr. Hong-Ming Lin , by Fantastic9