We arrived in Kuala Lumpur in the evening. The airport is a true metropolis, consisting of an arrival city and a departure city, connected by high-speed trains. All services operate smoothly and very quickly. There are no customs officers or border guards.
The Malaysian capital sprawls where palm groves and reed huts flourished just a few decades ago. Now it is a dynamically developing multi-million metropolis, for which one day is not enough to explore. We have only fourteen hours to spare.
Our hotel is in the city center. The cozy room invites relaxation. But the vibrant life and lights of Kuala Lumpur are even more enticing. Unable to resist the desire, we head out to the street. It feels like the city has just awakened. Restaurants and bars are opening, music, songs, and laughter fill the air. The sidewalks and parks are crowded with people. If I didn't know I was in Kuala Lumpur, I would never think this is a Muslim country, especially after Iran or, say, Jordan. The city has a European atmosphere.
We head towards the Petronas Towers - the symbol of Kuala Lumpur. The largest modern structure in the world. We have no guide, no reference book, no map. The towers are visible from everywhere. So we chart our own path to them.
...And there it is, a miracle of modern architecture. Illuminated by a gentle bluish light from invisible projectors, the twin Petronas Towers impress. They are so astonishing that for the first few moments, you don't understand where time has suddenly transported you. They rise so high above the surrounding city. Great creations of modernity that are worth seeing, sacrificing time, sleep, and money.
The first impression is purely emotional - delight! It is overwhelming when you learn the scale and uniqueness of these complex structures. Truly a wonder of the world!
The night, pushed out of the city’s central streets, lurks in the suburban quarters. In the light of bright lanterns and advertisements, Kuala Lumpur runs, spins, leaps from the sheer heights of tall buildings, rising in beams, flooding everything with magical light.
We stood at the foot of the Petronas Towers, and our heads spun from the height of the tower spirals, twisting into the night sky. The structure is so enormous that it was simply impossible to find a point for a photo. I had to move a hundred meters away, climb roadside terraces and curbs. But it was all in vain. The camera's focus only captured fragments. Perhaps for the first time, I regretted that there was no guide nearby to tell me how, by whom, and when this incredible cosmic project was created. Therefore, the first question I asked the World Wide Web when I got to a computer was about the Petronas Towers.
Here’s what I found out. It happened in the early nineties of the last century. The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, had the ambitious idea to build something the most grandiose and beautiful in the world in the very center of the densely populated capital Kuala Lumpur, on the site of the existing city racetrack.
After the racetrack was moved, a territory of 40 hectares was freed up. The cost of this land was already in the tens of millions of dollars at that time. There was still no clear understanding of what to build. The development project was accepted over several years. Initially, it was proposed to create a huge park on the site of the racetrack, intended to become the main place of recreation for residents and guests of the capital. However, preliminary estimates showed that the park could only be maintained through commercial activities. Therefore, it was decided to design a business center with a park, expand the highways around, and build a light transit railway line.
The competition for the best project was won by an American architectural firm from Connecticut, led by the architect of Argentine descent, Cesar Pelli. It is believed that the architectural style of this master is renowned for incorporating elements of national culture.
