Who designed the Petronas Towers?

The Petronas Towers were designed by César Pelli. The Argentine-American architect created the landmark twin towers as a modern symbol for Kuala Lumpur, working with executive architects Adamson Associates.

Planning began in 1992, construction started in 1993, and the towers were completed in 1996 before their official opening in 1999. Their design combines a postmodern skyscraper form with geometric motifs inspired by Islamic art, including an eight-pointed star-based floor plan adapted for practical office space.

The towers stand 451.9 meters high and contain 88 stories each. They were the world’s tallest buildings from 1996 until 2004, although they remain the world’s tallest twin skyscrapers. Another common mix-up is crediting structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan: his tube-structure principles influenced the engineering, but Pelli was the design architect.