Burj Dubai

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Template:Future building

**Burj Dubai**
Technical Data
Image:Newrender.JPG Artist's rendition.
Structural height	805 m (2,625 ft) (est.)
Height to tip	800 m (2,625 ft) (est.)
Height to roof	705+ m (2,313 ft) (est.)
Height to top floor	Unknown
Floors (Above ground)	167 [1]
Floors (Under ground)	2 [2]
Groundbreaking	Sep. 21, 2004
Topout	Dec. 30, 2008 (est.)
Opening	Unknown
Gross floor area	Unknown
Companies
Developer	Emaar
Architect	SOM
Construction Contractor	Samsung Constructions / BESIX / Arabtec

The Burj Dubai (Arabic: برج دبي for "Tower of Dubai") is a skyscraper currently under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at Template:Coor dms. Its exact final height remains a closely-guarded secret, but is believed to be at least 750 metres Template:Fact.

Expected to be completed in 2008, the Burj Dubai is a formidable threat to other bids to the title of world's tallest structure. These include the 541 m (1,776 ft) Freedom Tower in New York City, the Shanghai World Financial Center(492m), the planned Fordham Spire in Chicago, Illinois, and the current record holder, Taipei 101(509m); as well it would also usurp the record for tallest free standing structure from Toronto's CN Tower(553m). 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 to date was the 645.4 m (2,120 ft) Warsaw radio mast which was built in 1974 and which collapsed during renovation work in 1991. The current tallest man-made structure on land is the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota at 628.8 m (2,063 ft), while the tallest free-standing man-made structure on land (i.e. without supporting cables) is the CN Tower in Toronto at 553.33 m (1,815 ft).

The Burj Dubai has been designed to be the center of a large-scale, mixed-use development that will include 30,000 homes, 9 hotels, 6 acres of parkland, 19 residential towers, and 12 hectare Burj Dubai Lake. The complete development will cost about US$ 8 billion. Once completed, the tower will cover a total of 2 million m² (22 million ft²) of development.

The Burj Dubai will be the latest feather in the cap of Dubai, also home to the world's tallest hotel, the Burj al-Arab, the (soon to be completed) world's largest man-made marina, the Dubai Marina; the (soon to be completed) world's largest artificial island, the Palm Islands; the (soon to be completed) Dubai Waterfront; and the (soon to be built) world's largest mall, the Dubai Mall.

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.

1 Architecture & Design
2 Questions of necessity
3 Race for the top
4 Labor controversy
5 Pictures
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

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Architecture & Design

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 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.

The tower is designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, one of the most established architectural firms in the world. SOM has designed several other landmark towers such as the Sears Tower in Chicago, IL, the Freedom Tower in New York City, NY and the John Hancock Center also in Chicago. Once completed, the peak of the tower is said to be visible from a distance of 90 km (60 miles).

An Armani Hotel (the first of its kind) 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. An outdoor infinity-edge swimming pool will be located on the 78th floor of the tower.

The interior will be decorated by Giorgio Armani.

It will also feature the world's fastest elevator, at 18 m/s (40 mph). <ref>Burj Dubai will have world's highest elevator installation, by Moushumi Das Chaudhry, BurjDubaiSkyscraper, March 12, 2006, retrieved March 25, 2006</ref> The world's current fastest elevator is in the Taipei 101 office tower, Taipei, Taiwan, at 16.83 m/s (37.5 mph).

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Questions of necessity

The decision to build Burj Dubai and other skyscrapers is reportedly based on the government's decision to diversify from a trade-based (and oil-reliant) economy to one that is service- and tourism-oriented. While many champion Dubai's strides at changing its core economy, others have raised questions about the necessity of building the world's tallest building in Dubai. Currently, Dubai has a population of just over one million residents (1,070,779 according to a 2004 estimate on the Dubai government website), with many areas of it still being desert land (covering over 90% of the 1,517 mile² country <ref name="EP">Dubai - Global Talent Magnet, by John Hagel, Edge Perspectives, December 11, 2005, retrieved April 10, 2006</ref>), or very less occupied. In 2005, the United Arab Emirates as a whole had an estimated population of 4.3 million <ref>Background Note: United Arab Emirates, U.S. Department of State, February 2006, retrieved March 2006</ref> including more than 3.2 million non-nationals, compared to a total population of 297 million (2006 est.) of the United States. However, due to the population density of Dubai, 293.94/km², many feel that there is a justified need for such skyscrapers to be built in the city. Others also feel it is necessary for projects like Burj Dubai to be built in the city, so that Dubai can get more recognition in the outside world. "He (Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum) wanted to put Dubai on the map with something really sensational," says Jacqui Josephson, who is the Tourism and VIP delegations executive at Nakheel. <ref>"In Dubai, the Sky's No Limit", by Megan K. Stack, Los Angeles Times, October 13, 2005, retrieved March 26, 2006</ref>. Mohamed Ali Alabbar, founder and chairman of Emaar remarked:
"This region is way behind all the regions of the world, except sub-Saharan Africa. There’s no time to stop, the world is so advanced compared to us, we’ve been sleeping for so long." <ref name="EP" />
While non-nationals cannot own real-estate in the UAE, condominiums in the Burj Dubai will work around this law by selling "lifetime" leases -- reportedly up to 99 years in length.

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Race for the top

Burj Dubai's main competitor now is actually proposed at a location 50km (30 miles) away from the Burj Dubai site. This tower, Al Burj, is being developed by Al Nakheel and is keeping the height under wraps. Also said to be at least 700m tall, this is a formidable threat to Burj Dubai's world's tallest building status. Also competing with the Burj Dubai, a proposed 1001 metre-high skyscraper may be erected in Kuwait as part of a new city development project called Madinat al-Hareer ("City of Silk"). However, the building, if built, would take up to 5 years to build according to some reports; the entire development, which incorporates an Olympic Stadium, residences, hotels, and retail facilities, would take a total of 25 years to construct.<ref>"Architects plan kilometre-high skyscraper", by Will Knight, NewScientist.com, December 9, 2005, retrieved March 25, 2006</ref> In addition, there are several projects that have been designed previously which would have surpassed the projected height of the Burj Dubai. These include X-Seed 4000, The Illinois (proposed in 1956 by Frank Lloyd Wright with a sketch that looks very similar to Burj Dubai), Sky City 1000, and Millennium Tower.

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Labor controversy

Burj Dubai is being built primarily by immigrant workers from South Asia and the Philippines. Press reports indicate that skilled carpenters at the site earn £4.34 (US$7.60) a day and labourers £2.84 (US$4.00). <ref>"Workers Riot at Site of Dubai Skyscraper", Jim Krane, breitbart.com, March 22, 2006, retrieved March 24, 2006</ref> <ref>Riot by migrant workers halts construction of Dubai skyscraper, by Brian Whitaker and agencies, The Guardian, March 23, 2006, retrieved March 25, 2006</ref> Unions were forbidden in the United Arab Emirates previously, but the government recently announced steps to allow construction unions. <ref>"UAE to allow construction unions", BBC News, March 30, 2006, retrieved April 20, 2006</ref>

On March 21, 2006, tensions boiled over at the construction site as workers employed by Al Naboodah who were building the Dubai Mall next to Burj Dubai, rioted over low wages and poor working conditions. They damaged cars, offices, computers, and construction tools. (See also Dubai Mall) At Dubai International Airport, construction workers staged a sympathy strike. News reports about the riots conflicted with each other in regards to whether or not the riots affected work at the Burj Dubai itself, with the majority of reports claiming that it did. However, the development manager for Samsung Corp., the South Korean conglomerate that is chief contractor on the Burj Dubai, said construction of the skyscraper was moving ahead, and not affected by the labour dispute, in which builders on adjacent towers are asking for better pay and employment conditions.<ref>"Labourers at Burj Dubai site halt work for second day", Khaleej Times, March 23, 2006, retrieved March 28, 2006</ref>

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