On Top of the World: Petronas Towers Quiz

Answer: Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia. In the Malay language, its name means 'muddy estuary', which is fitting since the city sits on the place where the Kelang and Gombak rivers meet. As cities go, it's relatively young. A group of Chinese tin miners founded a settlement near the confluence of the two rivers in 1857. By 1895, it was the capital of the Federated Malay States.

Answer: Cesar Pelli

The Argentine-American architect, Cesar Pelli, could put his name to an impressive range of iconic structures across the world. Soon after earning his Masters degree, he joined the team that created the Trans World Airlines Terminal at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. As director of a few well-known firms, he designed notable landmarks like the U.S. embassy in Tokyo, Carnegie Hall Tower in New York, and the Canary Wharf Tower (One Canada Square) in London.

George Maddox was an architect in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Christopher Wren helped to rebuild London after the Great Fire in 1666. Giovanni dei Dolci was one of the men behind the Sistine Chapel.

Answer: Glass

The Towers tapered to a point so some of the walls, particularly those close to the top, sloped inwards. Much of the structure was covered in 55,000 glass panels, with some stainless steel panels, too. Kuala Lumpur often had scorching tropical sun, which is why the glass had light filtering properties.

Answer: True

When they were completed in 1996, both Towers were 451.9 metres and they towered over the rest of the world's skyscrapers. The final 73.6 metres was the pinnacle and spire, which allowed the Twin Towers to rise above Sears (now Willis) Tower in Chicago as the new tallest building in the world. Petronas Towers lost the title to Taiwan's Taipei 101, which was completed in 2004.

Answer: A skybridge

If you took a trip up to the 41st or 42nd floor you could travel between the Towers on an impressive two-story skybridge. At 170 metres, it was the highest bridge of its kind in the world when it was built. The Towers sometimes swayed quite significantly in high winds, so the skybridge wasn't actually fixed to either Tower; instead it was designed to slide between the two.

Answer: An eight-pointed star

Geometric patterns are common in Islamic art and can be seen in a range of buildings and furnishings. The base of each Twin Tower was like two overlapping squares, which formed an eight-pointed star. Use of this kind of star in Islam dates back to the Middle Ages, and may have been based on the six-pointed star used in Judaism.

The shapes used in the building's structure relate to Islamic principles like unity and harmony.

Answer: Weaving

Songket was a traditional Malay style of weaving that featured intricate patterns. It often used gold or silver thread that stood out against the rest of the material. In Petronas Twin Towers, the entrance foyer was inspired by songket fabric. Traditional Malaysian wood carvings were also used as inspiration for some of the wall panels and screens.

Answer: 90 seconds

The Petronas Twin Towers had a number of elevators to get people where they wanted to go. Some of them were lowly service elevators, but some were high-speed passenger lifts that zoomed up and down the Towers. The executive lifts served each level from the basement car park to the top of the 88 storey building in an impressive 90 seconds.

When they were installed, the executive lifts were the longest rise in any Malaysian office building.

Answer: 42,857

Upon completion, each Tower weighed 300,000 metric tonnes. According to the Petronas Towers website, that was equal to 42,857 elephants! Alone, one of the Twin Towers weighed around one and a half times more than Willis Tower in Chicago, and about twenty times more than the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.

The skybridge alone weighed approximately 750 tonnes, which was roughly equal to the weight of seven blue whales.

Answer: A shopping mall

Within the complex, the list of facilities seemed endless! Petronas (short for Petroliam Nasional Bhd) became Malaysia's national petroleum corporation in 1974, and the Twin Towers were built to house their offices. Some of the office space was used by other companies, too.

There were also attractions for visitors and tourists throughout the structure, such as a shopping mall, a science discovery centre, the Petronas Philharmonic Hall, and an observation deck.