BURJ DUBAI

The Burj Dubai (Arabic for "Tower of Dubai") is a skyscraper currently under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Its exact height remains a closely-guarded secret, but is believed to be approximately 705 meters (2,314 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 1,776-foot (547 meter) Freedom Tower in New York City, the Shanghai World Financial Center, 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 was the 645.4 meter (2,120 feet) Warsaw radio mast built in 1974 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, including the US $800 million tower, 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 (Palm Islands), and the world's tallest five-star deluxe 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.

ARCHITECTURE OF BURJ DUBAI

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 mass 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.

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