There's a new Tallest Building in the World today.

The Taipei 101 tower in Taipei, Taiwan, achieved that status today with the addition of a 60-meter metal spire - bringing its height to 508 meters (or 1,674 feet). That's significantly taller than the previous record-setter, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, at 452 meters.

The Windy City's own Sears Tower stands 1,353 feet (1,450 including its twin antennae) - but if the new World Trade Center designed by Studio Liebeskind is built, it'll trump the Taipei, at 1,776 feet.

I've always thought skyscrapers had a special power and mystique. They act both as receiving antennae and transmitters, to borrow from broadcasting; both in a literal sense - with radio and TV towers on top - and as visual and morphogenic beacons in their environs. The question is...do the cities in which great towers are built have their uhique energy because of the lofty structures, or is it the other way around?

The strange part is that their perceived stature seems to diminish when you live around one. I mean - the Sears Tower is still huge, but after a time, people get, ahem...used to huge.

I've had surreal moments driving or walking near the skyline when the skyscrapers seemed like I could reach out and move them like chess pieces...that could either be an optical illusion, or the venti triple-shot no-water Americano I was drinking.

For you fellow skyscraper fans, check out the World Federation of Great Towers site.

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