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Dubai reaches for the sky
[ Jan 5, 2010 12:37:50 ] Burj Dubai is the extremely tall centerpiece of an ambitious development in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Things are looking up in Dubai. Way, way up.The Arab emirate's colossal, multibillion-dollar skyscraper, Burj Dubai, opened for business Monday, stretching 168 stories and 2,684 feet into the desert sky.
The "At the Top" observation deck, at the 123rd floor, isn't really at the top, but it's plenty high enough.
"No question, the tower is going to be a huge draw for people who want to get up there," said George Efstathiou, Burj Dubai's lead architect and managing partner for the Chicago, Illinois, architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
Burj Dubai boasts a towering list of superlatives:
• World's tallest building
• World's tallest free-standing structure
• World's highest occupied floor
• World's highest outdoor observation deck
• World's longest-traveling elevator (1,640 feet, traveled in two minutes)
Burj Dubai is so tall, according to SOM, that the outside air temperature at the top can be as much as 15 degrees cooler than at ground level. So, if you're uncomfortable in Dubai's 120-degree summer heat and can't get a ticket to the emirate's famous indoor ski resort, just head up to the top of Burj Dubai, where you can cool off at a relatively chilly 105 degrees.
See the view from the top of the Burj Dubai
Counting the spire and its podium together, Burj Dubai contains 5 million square feet of floor space, which Efstathiou points out is actually less than Chicago's Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, the former champion that now ranks No. 5 in the world.
CNN
