The idea for what would become the PETRONAS Towers began in the late 1980’s when the Kuala Lumpur City Center development project was started with the intention of revitalizing the city core with an ambitious building plan. At the very beginning, it was decided to build a large 50 acre park which would have served as both recreational area and also could possibly be a part of an air quality control system in the smog-plagued Kuala Lumpur. But, as the city Government was not ready to spend the maintenance cost for that park, this plan was shelved. Later, a proposal of building something for both commercial and public use was taken as it was an economically sound option. A master plan development competition was held in 1990, and that was won by the American firm Klages, Carter, Vail & Associates which proposed a combination of 60 acres of public area including a 50 acre park, and 40 acres of commercial building development. The design responsibilities for the park were then given to the Brazilian designer Roberto Burley Marx. The development works of the commercial areas were given to a number of different development and construction firms. The development of the proposed twin towers in the center of the master plan was allocated to the Malaysian national petroleum corporation PETRONAS in 1991.

The contract resulting from another international design competition for the towers themselves was awarded to César Pelli and Associates and the year 1992 was spent in developing the structural designs for the towers. In the original plan, the goal of erecting the world’s tallest buildings was not mentioned, but soon before construction began it was determined to target this goal, and the architect subsequently modified the design to include the two tall cones that now crown the towers.

The excavation related work began in the year 1993 and the foundation was later finished in early days of 1994 after which construction of the towers began. The erection contract of Tower Two was assigned to a Japanese firm group headed by the Samsung Engineering and The construction contract for building the Tower One went to a Hazama Corporation group headed by a Korean company. A friendly competition ensued and Korean and Japanese national flags on each building were moved higher and higher as the twin structures were raised above the ground. The Korean firm won the competition by a little margin. By the year 1996, the exteriors of the towers were completed and in the year 1998, the first tenants moved into the building. The official opening ceremony took place in March of 1999.

This building is surely the most technically innovative and impressive projects in recent times. The towers serve as a proud national symbol for the people of Malaysia and also have turned out to be the most popular tourist destination in the Southern Eastern part of Asia.