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Burj Dubai
The Burj Dubai is a super-tall skyscraper currently
under construction in Dubai. The Burj is an Arabic word which means Tower. Burj
has also a very important role to play in Islamic architecture. The symbol of
Dubai, "Burj
Al Arab Hotel" is also named after the same word. The Burj Dubai Projected
to be completed and occupied in 2008, the building is part of a huge development
located at the "Defense round-about" along Sheikh Zayed Road at Doha Street
Dubai. The main architect of this mega structure is Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
LLP (SOM) of Chicago. they are also structural engineer and mechanical
engineer of the Burj. On completion, Burj Dubai will likely be the tallest
structure in the world of any kind which may need many years to see a
comparison.
The competition
Several other mega-projects of planning and
construction may vie for the title of "tallest structure". One of Burj Dubai's
main competitors is planned for a location only 50 km (31 miles) from the Burj
Dubai site. Al Burj ("The Tower"), is being developed by Nakheel Properties
which is also keeping its final height tightly under wraps. meed.com recently
reported that this tower's projected height is around 1,200 m (3,937 feet) with
at least 200 floors
Another proposed supertall skyscraper, the Murjan
Tower in Manama, Bahrain is planned to be 1,022 meters (3,353 ft) tall with 200
floors. The Murjan Tower is being designed by Danish firm Henning Larsens
Tegnestue A/S.
Also potentially competing with the Burj Dubai is the
proposed 1,001 meter-high (3,284 feet) Mubarak al-Kabir Tower to be erected in
Kuwait as part of a massive development project called Madinat al-Hareer ("City
of Silk") that also includes an Olympic stadium, residences, hotels, and retail
facilities. However, the project may take 25 years to complete.
 Architecture and design
Cross-section plan of the Burj from the architectural
firm SOM.The tower is designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, who also
designed the Sears Tower in Chicago and the Freedom Tower in New York City,
among numerous other famous high-rises. The building resembles the bundled tube
form of the Sears Tower, but is not a tube structure. The design of the Burj
Dubai is reminiscent of the Frank Lloyd Wright vision for a mile high skyscraper
designed for Chicago, Illinois. The Burj Dubai is expected to rise 50% the
height of the Sears or more.
The design of Burj Dubai is ostensibly derived from
the patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture, with the triple-lobed
footprint of the building based on an abstracted desert flower native to the
region. 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. Viewed from above or from the base, the form also evokes to the onion
domes of Islamic architecture.
The exterior cladding of the Burj Dubai will consist
of reflective glazing with aluminum and textured stainless steel spandrel panels
with vertical tubular fins of stainless steel. The cladding system is designed
to withstand Dubai's extreme summer temperatures.
The interior will be decorated by Giorgio Armani. An
Armani Hotel (the first of its kind) will occupy the lower 37 floors. Floors 45
through 108 will have 700 private apartments on 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. An outdoor zero-entry swimming pool will be located on
the 78th floor of the tower.
It will also feature the world's fastest elevator,
rising and descending at 18 m/s (65 km/h, 40 mph).[9] The world's current
fastest elevator is in the Taipei 101 office tower in Taipei, travels at 16.83
m/s (60.6 km/h, 37.5 mph). Engineers had considered installing the world's first
triple-decker elevators, but the final design calls for double-decker elevators.
Engineers rotated the building 120 degrees from its
original layout to reduce stress from prevailing winds. Over 45,000 cubic meters
of concrete, weighing more than 110,000 tons were used to construct the concrete
and steel foundation, which features 192 piles buried more than 50 meters (164
feet) deep.
Purpose of Burj Dubai
The Burj Dubai has been designed to be the centerpiece
of a large-scale, mixed-use development that will include 30,000 homes, nine
hotels such as the Burj Dubai Lake Hotel & Serviced Apartments, 2.5 hectares (6
acres) of parkland, at least 19 residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and the 12
hectare man-made Burj Dubai Lake. The complete 500 acre development will cost
about US$20 billion. Once completed, the tower will cover a total of two million
m² (22 million ft²) of development.
The silvery glass-sheathed concrete building will
restore the title of Earth's tallest structure to the Middle East — a title not
held by the region since Lincoln Cathedral upset the four millennial reign of
Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza in 1311 AD.
The decision to build Burj Dubai and other skyscrapers
is reportedly based on the government's decision to diversify from a trade-based
economy to one that is service- and tourism-oriented. Currently, Dubai has a
population of 1.5 million crowded into less than 10% of the country's land.
Desert covers over 90% of Dubai's 4,114 km² (1,517 mile²) country. [11] .
According to officials, it is necessary for projects like Burj Dubai to be built
in the city, to garner more international recognition, and hence investment. "He
(Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum) wanted to put Dubai on the map with
something really sensational," said Jacqui Josephson, a tourism and VIP
delegations executive at Nakheel Properties.
Travel & Culture Services
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United Arab Emirates
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