Construction of Petronas Towers

The Petronas Towers are twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and were officially opened on 31 August 1999 as the headquarters of the national oil company Petronas. They were designed by the Argentine-American architect Cesar Pelli, who drew on Islamic geometric patterns for the floor plan of an eight-pointed star. The two towers are linked by a double-decker sky bridge near the middle. They were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 until Taipei 101 surpassed them in 2004, and they remain the tallest twin towers. The towers became a symbol of Malaysia's rapid economic growth and its ambitions in the late 20th century, and a major tourist attraction.

Open on the timeline