Burj Dubai

Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai) opens: the tallest building in the world

05

Jan 2010

By David Basulto — Filed under: Architecture News ,Featured ,Skyscrapers , Burj Dubai, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, SOM

With its final height kept as a secret until the last minute, we witnessed the incredible opening of the tallest building in the world.

The Burj Dubai, an engineering masterpiece designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM), was finally renamed Burj Khalifa in honor to Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruling sheik of Abu Dhabi who helped Dubai during the financial crisis with over US $25 billion.

The 828m tall structure established quite a distance from the Taipei 101, which used to hold the title for the tallest building in the world with 509m, that’s almost an extra 320m… almost like putting another skyscraper on top of the Taipei 101. This will secure its title for at least a few years.

For more on how the tallest building in the world is structured, you can read this interview with Bill Baker, engineer at SOM.

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From the top of the Burj Dubai

02

Jan 2010

By David Basulto — Filed under: Skyscrapers ,Videos , Burj Dubai, Dubai, SOM

An amazing view of Dubai from the top of the tallest building in the world, which opens this Monday.

Seen at Gizmodo.

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Burj Dubai: Almost ready and in detail [updated]

24

Dec 2009

By David Basulto — Filed under: Skyscrapers ,Videos , Burj Dubai, Dubai

The tallest building in the world will be opened in just a few more days. This 2.3 gigapixel photo, composed of 381 images taken with a Canon 5D Mk II with a 400mm lens by bristolg, who posted a video to show the high level of detail of the image.

Update: Chas left a comment with a link to the actual photo so you can see the detail by yourself.

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A view from the top of Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world

16

Nov 2009

By David Basulto — Filed under: Skyscrapers ,Videos , Burj Dubai, Dubai, SOM

The ninjas at AMNP just featured this short video shot from the top of the Burj Dubai, designed by SOM, the tallest building in the world.

An interesting aerial view of Dubai, where you can see how long the shadow of this tower can get.

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The lobby for the Burj Dubai / SOM

28

Aug 2009

By David Basulto — Filed under: Interiors , Burj Dubai, Dubai, SOM

Burj Dubai, © Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP, Rendering by Crystal CG

Curious about how the lobby for the world´s tallest building will look like? SOM shared with us some renderings of their design.

The building was designed by the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, who also designed the interiors for all the lobbies, public and common spaces for the tower. The design team is lead by Ms. Nada Andric (Associate Director with SOM) and reinterprets the region’s heritage in a contemporary way.

The materials used include glass, stainless steel, polished dark stones, Silver Travertine flooring, Venetian stucco walls, handmade rugs, and stone flooring. Commissioned local and international fine art pieces will be used to decorate these spaces.

I can´t wait to see actual images of this building completed, and see how both the structure and these interiors are materialized. The Burj Dubai is expected to be completed by December, 2009.

You can see some photos during the construction on our previous article.

More images after the break:

Burj Dubai, tallest building in the world almost finished

19

Aug 2008

By David Basulto — Filed under: Skyscrapers ,Structures , Burj Dubai, Dubai, SOM

Some love this building, and some hate it. I´m impressed.

The Burj Dubai (set to be the tallest tower in the world, while the tallest structure as of now), is almost finished. Located in Dubai, it´s the centerpise of a mixed-use development that will include 30,000 homes, 9 hotels, 3 ha of parks, 19 residential towers, a man and a 12ha artificial lake.

I decided to Google about the Burj Dubai a little, and i found an interesting interview at Wired with SOM´s structural engineer Bill Baker, telling the story behind the design, the structure and construction. The foundations were overengineered just in case the client wanted to rise the height of the building during construction… which he did!. Now the final height won´t be disclosed until the construction is finished.

For now, enjoy this pictures the air on an helicopter by David Hobcote, seen at Gizmodo: