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Burj Khalifa

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Burj Dubai
File:Burj Dubai 02.jpg
Technical Data
Structural height 800 m (2,625 ft) (est.)
Height to tip 800 m (2,625 ft) (est.)
Height to roof 705+ m (2,313 ft) (estimate)
Height to top floor Unknown
Floors (Above ground)   167 [1]
Floors (Under ground) 2 [2]
Groundbreaking Sep. 21, 2004 [3]
Topout 2008 (est.)
Opening Unknown
Gross floor area Unknown
Companies
Developer Emaar
Architect SOM
Construction Contractor Samsung Constructions /
BESIX / Arabtec

The Burj Dubai (Arabic: برج دبي for "Tower of Dubai") is a skyscraper currently under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Its exact final height remains a closely-guarded secret, but is believed to be at least 705 metres (2,313 ft).

Expected to be completed in 2008, the Burj Dubai is a formidable threat to other bids to the title of world's tallest building. These include the 547 m (1,776 ft) Freedom Tower in New York City, the Shanghai World Financial Center, the planned Fordham Spire in Chicago, Illinois, and the current record holder, Taipei 101. The Burj Dubai's developer Emaar Properties has suggested that the Burj Dubai will become the tallest manmade structure of any kind in history. The highest structure to date was the 645.4 m (2,120 ft) Warsaw radio mast which was built in 1974 and which collapsed during renovation work in 1991.

The Burj Dubai has been designed to be the center of a large-scale, mixed-use development that will include commercial, residential, shopping, entertainment, and leisure outlets. The complete development will cost about US$8 billion.

The Burj Dubai will be the latest feather in the cap of Dubai, also home to the largest man-made marina, the Dubai Marina; the world's largest man-made island, the Palm Islands; and the world's tallest hotel, the Burj al-Arab.

Developers say the silvery glass-sheathed concrete building will restore to the Middle East the honor of hosting the earth's tallest structure—a title lost circa 1300 when Lincoln Cathedral upset the 38-century reign of Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza. However, it may not hold this title for long if the enormous 1,000 m (3,281 ft) Solar Tower project that has been proposed in Buronga, New South Wales, Australia is completed as planned.

A hotel will occupy the lower 37 floors. Floors 45 through 108 will have 700 private apartments in 64 floors (which, according to the developer, sold out within eight hours of going on sale). Corporate offices and suites will fill most of the remaining floors, except for a 123rd floor lobby and 124th floor indoor/outdoor observation deck. The spire will also hold communications equipment.

The interior will be decorated by Giorgio Armani.

Architecture

The design of Burj Dubai is derived from the geometries of the desert flower, which is indigenous to the region, and the patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture.

The tower is composed of three elements arranged around a central core. As the tower rises from the flat desert base, setbacks occur at each element in an upward spiraling pattern, decreasing the cross section of the tower as it reaches toward the sky. At the top, the central core emerges and is sculpted to form a finishing spire. A Y-shaped floor plan maximizes views of the Persian Gulf.

Questions of necessity

The decision to build Burj Dubai and other skyscrapers is reportedly based on the government's decision to diversify from a trade-based (and oil-reliant) economy to one that is service- and tourism-orientated. While many champion Dubai's strides at changing its core economy, others have raised questions about the necessity of building the world's tallest building in Dubai. Dubai has a population of just over one million residents, a little more than half that of the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area in the United States. In fact, the United Arab Emirates as a whole has a population of 2,563,212 including an estimated 1,606,079 non-nationals [4] (roughly the population of Brooklyn, NY), and a population density of a mere 46/km² compared with the density of the United Kingdom: 246.5/km². However, due to recent population growth, there are estimates that the UAE population was nearing 3.5 million in 2002.

Race for the top

Burj Dubai's main competitor at the moment is actually proposed at a location 50km (30 miles) away from the Burj Dubai site. This tower, Al Burj, is being developed by Al Nakheel and is also keeping the height under wraps. Also said to be at least 700m tall, this is a formidable threat to Burj Dubai's world's tallest building status. Also competing with the Burj Dubai, a proposed 1001 metre-high skyscraper may be erected in Kuwait as part of a new city development project called Madinat al-Hareer ("City of Silk"). However, the building, if built, would take up to 25 years to build according to some reports. [5] Also, there are several projects that have been designed previously which would have surpassed the projected height of the Burj Dubai. These include X-Seed 4000, The Illinois, Sky City 1000, and Millenium Tower.

Pictures

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