BURJ dubai - the rising star of dubai

Dubai is turning out to be a city of spectacular wonders, with many marvels rising from the dunes of its deserts. Currently, the sensation in Dubai that got the whole world in the grip of anticipation is Burj Dubai, the slender megastructure that is scheduled to become the tallest building of any measure, as well as the tallest structure ever made by man, in the entire world.

Burj Dubai is the crown jewel of a massive construction project in Dubai called the Downtown Burj Dubai project. Burj Dubai (the word “burj” meaning “tower” in Arabic) will sit on the oasis that is the manmade Burj Dubai Lake. The tower will be surrounded 19 residential towers, nine hotels, shopping malls and a park.

Burj Dubai is part of the effort of Dubai to breathe more life and diversify its economy from being based on trade to being oriented towards tourism and service. With the construction of Burj Dubai, the emirate intends to make its mark on the world map in a most sensational manner. Burj Dubai will be the first time in hundreds of years that the Middle East will reclaim the distinction of being the location of the tallest structure in the world, after England’s Lincoln Cathedral overtook the Great Pyramid of Giza in terms of height.

Burj DubaiThe vision that is Burj Dubai is the product of a design created by Adrian Smith when he was still working for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, LLP (SOM). SOM, the firm behind Sears Tower and New York’s Freedom Tower, still oversees the architectural, mechanical and structural engineering involved with the tower’s construction.

The design of Burj Dubai takes a lot from The Illinois, the building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the city of Chicago, Illinois. It also takes a lot from various elements of Islamic architecture. Its floor plan is Y-shaped to make the most out of the views of the Persian Gulf. Its footprint is based on the abstracted image of the flower hymenocallis, which is a flower native to Dubai.

The other brains behind the marvel that is Burj Dubai are EMAAR Properties, of which Burj Dubai is a pet project. In charge of construction is Samsung Engineering & Construction, sister company of Samsung Electronics and the construction firm that was also responsible for the Petronas Twin Towers and Taipei 101. Other building companies involved with this project are Besix of Belgium and Arabtec of UAE.

The total budget set for the construction and completion of Burj Dubai is US$4.1B. On the other hand, the budget for the entire Downtown Burj Dubai project is US$20B.

As of now, the companies behind the project are still mum about the exact and official height of Burj Dubai, although some insiders have stated that the tower will stand at 818 meters (2,684 feet), spanning 162 floors, when completed. As of October 2007, 156 floors have been completed so far, with the building’s height rising to 585.7 miles. Even though the construction is still far from done, with the completion scheduled for 2009, Burj Dubai, the rising star of Dubai, is already the tallest structure in the whole world.