Its unique Asian faceting and instantly recognizable eight-sectioned shaft have made Taipei 101 an icon almost in spite of its height, currently the greatest in all the world. And that's a good thing, because the title is fleeting these days: Several time zones away, the United Arab Emirates' Burj-Dubai will soon rise higher. Yet Taipei 101 will still claim the mantle of the world's most innovative super-high-rise -- and one of Asia's most culturally adept. As new European and American towers proclaim a rootless internationalism, the unique Chinese desire to culturally anchor their most visible achievements seems both progressive and timeless.
 
A raft of unique technologies also ranks Taipei 101 among the best-tuned tall buildings ever built. Many architects know of the massive steel orb that dampens typhoon-force winds and seismic tremors that buffet the area from time to time. And its high-speed lifts have become de rigueur in new Asian towers. Not only that, Taipei 101 was also delivered as one of the first build-operate-transfer projects in Taiwan -- and certainly the first tower.
 
Its novel approach to solar control is a better kept secret. When the building was finished in late 2004, the local architect C.Y. Lee -- fresh from successes in second-city Kaohsiung like the Grand 50 Tower and the T&C Tower -- sought a clever, highly integral shading solution for the 2 million square feet (200,000 square meters) of office space. The solution would limit glare and dress the entire glazed opening, yet it would leave unmarred the expansive views that thrilled the building's owners and tenants.
 
"The difficulty in making a super-skyscraper is not so much a question of the technology for the structure -- the mechanics and so on -- as it is a case of overall integration," Lee said in a recent interview.
 
The architect analyzed typical lighting conditions at the façade, which tilts outward 5 degrees, and considered the optimum viewing cond