Twin towers have been an architectural motif in human civilization for millennia.
Early examples include the use of twin gate towers in urban and palatial architecture in Chinese cities from the
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...
, when they were viewed as "signifiers of the celestial realm". In the medieval period, examples include the
Seljuk Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to:
* Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia
* Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities
* Seljuk (warlord) (di ...
Kharraqan towers
The Kharraqan towers (as known as the Kharrakhan or Kharaghan towers) are a pair of mausolea built in 1067 and 1093, in the Kharraqan region of northern Iran, near Qazvin. They are notable for being an early example of geometric ornament, an early ...
, twin towers wrought in decorative brickwork that represent a prominent work in the art and architecture of Islamic Iran.
In the contemporary era, the
Petronas Twin Towers in
Kuala Lumpur
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Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
are a particularly celebrated example of twin tower architecture that, from 1998 to 2003, were the tallest structure in the world. Twin towers also recur in Chinese construction, where, while the structures still representing a relative rarity, architects and engineers have developed novel interlinking twinned structures such as the
CCTV Headquarters.
In contemporary architecture, structurally connected twin towers with unequal heights have found particular favor among architects for their
earthquake-resistant properties, due to such couplings yielding two differing vibration frequencies, enabling the twinned towers to support their counterparts at their more vulnerable frequencies.
References
Towers
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