Burj+Khalifa

As a spectacle of the modern world, the Burj Khalifa reaches the extent of creativity in the human mind. Built in the jewel of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai, the world’s tallest tower appeals to anyone with a passion for architecture and human feats. With record breaking heights, including not only the height of the tower but also what the tower contains, the tower looks over the land with true greatness. The Burj Khalifa is a part of the modern world in every way, with different aspects of cultures included in the design of the tower and many different countries contributing to the building of the tower. It helps unite the world. The tower’s interior consists of hotels, a restaurant, pools, apartments, and even a mosque among many other things. The Burj Khalifa is unofficially an entire city, residing in a single building.

=__What exactly is the Burj Khalifa?__= As you have probably already noticed, the Burj Khalifa is without a doubt the tallest building in the world. Its home is downtown Dubai, which is part of the United Arab Emirates. A visit to Dubai could potentially be one of the greatest vacations of all times, with all of the modernizations in Dubai including this tower, a seven star hotel, and the palm projects, which are man made islands that give Dubai hundreds of more miles of sandy beaches. The construction of this great tower began on Sept. 21, 2004, and continued for more than five years until it was dedicated on January 4, 2010 (Tristam). The Burj Khalifa did not originally have its current name. It used to be known as the Burj Dubai, but at the last minute it was changed to Burj Khalifa in honor of Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, the president of the UAE, and who is also the ruler of Abu Dhabi, which gave Dubai ten billion dollars at the end of September to bail out Dubai’s bankrupt wealth fund (Tristam). I think that we can give a great thanks to Abu Dhabi, since the Burj Khalifa might not have been able to be finished without their help. Many of the people who bought apartments of the residential part of the tower are wealthy and are from the Middle East, Pakistan, and India as a vacation home or investment, though there are still buyers from all around the world, I know I would want to live in the Burj Khalifa (Fattah). With one hundred and sixty occupied stories and a height of over eight hundred meters, or two thousand six hundred and twenty five feet not including the spire, the Burj Khalifa has broken many records other than world’s tallest tower ("Visit"). Some of these records include highest observation deck in the world, highest occupied floor in the world, and even highest mosque in the world. Elevators rides in the Burj Khalifa practically make it part theme park to with the fact that it holds the record of longest traveling elevator in the world ("Visit"). As you can see the Burj Khalifa was a great achievement.

=__Why and how was the Burj Khalifa Built?__= With the extreme height of the Burj Khalifa, it was not easily built. First of all, the tower was built as one of Dubai’s features in its twenty billion dollar downtown redevelopment project that will help with Dubai’s tourism industry. The tower itself cost one and a half billion dollars. With such an enormous project, many companies were included in the production. The design of the building was by Chicago’s Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill while development was by Dubai’s Emaar Properties. It is nice to see that the U.S. took part in such a grand project. Contractors included in the construction were Samsung, Belgium’s Besix, and UAE’s Arabtec, with about twelve thousand workers at peak construction (Tristam). Thirty one thousand four hundred metric tons of rebar was used, which when lay end to end can go a quarter of the way around the world. Twenty six thousand glass panels were also used for the exterior cladding and three hundred and thirty thousand cubic meters of concrete total was used in constructing the Burj Khalifa. The electrical demand for the tower is equivalent to three hundred sixty thousand, one hundred Watt light bulbs running at the same time. The water system of the tower supplies about nine hundred forty six thousand liters of water a day. Lastly, the design of the Burj Khalifa is very neat and creative. The architecture of the tower is a triple-lobed footprint, which is inspired from the shape of the Hymenocallis flower. Three sections are arranged around a central core which creates a Y-shape. Each of the three sections around the core is twenty six stories above or below the next, which creates a spiral as the sky reaches upwards ("Visit"). The Burj Khalifa was built on a grand scale and took a lot to construct, but in the end was very much worth it all.

=__What features does the Burj Khalifa include?__= The Burj Khalifa consists of many facilities and rooms for a wide variety of uses. Because the tower is so tall, it is able to include all these different rooms which complete the metaphor that states the Burj Khalifa is a city residing in a single building. First of all, the interior of the building is designed with glass, stainless steel, and polished dark stones, with travertine flooring, and walls that are Venetian stucco. Also, over one thousand pieces of art will be in the Burj Khalifa that originates from Middle Eastern and International artists. This interior design was inspired by the Dubai culture, while keeping the Burj Khalifa a global icon ("Visit"). Outside of the tower is a man-made lake with the world’s largest fountains. The lake is part of a park around the tower with five other water features. Every night the fountains will put on a show with Arabian and Indian music. Also outside the tower are a shopping mall and other hotels. Living in the Burj means entertainment every night. With six million square feet, and one hundred and sixty occupied floors, the tower can consist of many different spaces (Fattah). To get around all the different space are fifty seven elevators and eight escalators. The tower has an observation deck on the one hundred and twenty fourth floor and a fine dining restaurant two floors below. Business will also be included with thirty seven office floors. The residential part of the building also consists of different spaces, including a four story fitness and recreation annex ("Visit"). With this fitness facility, a library, a cigar club, and a gourmet market also are part of the tower. On the high end of the Burj Khalifa are two swimming pools and a mosque. For permanent lodging, one thousand forty four apartments are available, and for a nice vacation the world’s first Giorgio Armani hotel is included with one hundred and sixty rooms (Fattah). As you can see, the Burj Khalifa consists of a range of different areas that makes the Burj Khalifa a wonderful place, as the world’s tallest building.