Constructing Merdeka 118:
World’s Second-Tallest Building

Tue, Jan 18, 2022
Merdeka 118, with elevator shaft in the middle. Wikimedia LengendaryLim.
The Skyscraper Museum returns to its WORLD VIEW lecture series with a coda on the construction of the Merdeka 118 Tower in Kuala Lumpur. In December 2021, Merdeka 118 lifted its symbolic spire into place and topped out at its full height of 2,227 ft. or 679 meters to surpass the 632-meter Shanghai Tower and become the second-tallest building in the world.

AHMAD ABDELRAZAQ, who led the Samsung C & T team as the tower's contractor, will present an overview of the structural engineering, planning, and construction innovations of the supertall and the key challenges in its design and construction. He will describe the structural system optimization; the construction planning and sequencing; the application and delivery of high-performance concrete; and the application of real-time structural health monitoring, among other issues

Ahmad Abdelrazaq

FAIA

Executive Vice President, Samsung C&T Corp

Based in Seoul, Abdelrazaq is Senior Executive Vice President at Samsung C & T Corporation where he heads the Highrise Building and Structural Engineering Divisions. He spent the first half of his career at SOM, where as an Associate Partner he worked on the structural design of Jin Mao Tower, Tower Palace III, and the Burj Khalifa, among other projects. Since joining Samsung, he has been involved in the design and construction planning of several Korean and international projects, including Samsung HQ office, the proposed 151-story Incheon Tower, 360 West, Mumbai, and Tanjong Pagar in Singapore. He has also held operational positions as Executive Project Director of the Lakhta Center in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Ahmad received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. He served as an adjunct professor at IIT from 1990-2004 and since 2005 at Seoul National University where he teaches Tall Building Design.

The video begins with Ahmad Abdelrazaq''s lecture, followed by a brief dialogue with Museum Director Carol Willis, whose introduction to the webinar is included after the discussion.

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