Dubai - Tallest Man-Made Structure in the World

TALLEST SKYSCRAPER IN THE WORLD

  

Burj Khalifa (Arabic: برج خليفة‎, "Khalifa tower"), known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure in the world, at 829.8 m (2,722 ft) (163 floors)

Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009

 Burj Khalifa was designed to be the centerpiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development that would include 30,000 homes, nine hotels

The Height of Burj Dubai, as it was known prior to its renaming as Burj Khalifa, was kept private until the building's completion in 2010. The developer held a tight grip over the buildings final height, although in 2006 a height of 808 meters had been leaked by an individual familiar with the technical aspects of the project. Ultimately in 2009 the official height, 20 meters taller than the leaked figure, was confirmed and the Burj Khalifa would claim the title of World's Tallest Building at 828 meters.

The building has returned the location of Earth's tallest freestanding structure to the Middle East, where the Great Pyramid of Giza claimed this achievement for almost four millennia before being surpassed in 1311 by Lincoln Cathedral in England.

AMAZING RECORDS:

* Tallest existing structure: 829.8 m (2,722 ft) (previously KVLY-TV mast – 628.8 m/2,063 ft) 
* Tallest structure ever built: 829.8 m (2,722 ft) (previously Warsaw radio mast – 646.38 m/2,121 ft) 
* Tallest freestanding structure: 829.8 m (2,722 ft) (previously CN Tower – 553.3 m/1,815 ft) 
* Tallest skyscraper (to top of spire): 829.8 m (2,722 ft) (previously Taipei 101 – 509.2 m/1,671 ft) 
* Tallest skyscraper to top of antenna: 829.8 m (2,722 ft) (previously the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower – 527 m/1,729 ft) 
* Building with most floors: 163 (previously Willis (formerly Sears) Tower – 108) 
* Building with world's highest occupied floor 
* World's highest elevator installation (situated inside a rod at the very top of the building) 
*  World's longest travel distance elevators 
*  Highest vertical concrete pumping (for a building): 606 m (1,988 ft) 

* First world's tallest structure to include residential space 
* World's second highest outdoor observation deck: 124th floor at 452 m (1,483 ft) When it first opened, the observation deck was the highest outdoor observation deck in the World, but it has since been surpassed by Cloud Top 488 on top of Canton Tower 
* World's highest installation of an aluminium and glass façade: 512 m (1,680 ft) 
* World's highest nightclub: 144th floor 
* World's highest restaurant (At.mosphere): 122nd floor at 442 m (1,450 ft) (previously 360, at a height of 350 m/1,148 ft in CN Tower) 

* World's highest New Year display of fireworks. 

* World's second highest swimming pool: 76th floor (world's highest swimming pool is located on 118th floor of Ritz-Carlton Hotel at International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong).

THE SKYSCRAPER VIEW

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The tower is designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, which also designed the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) in Chicago and the new One World Trade Center in New York City. The Burj Khalifa uses the bundled tube design, invented by Fazlur Rahman Khan. Proportionally, the design uses half the amount of steel used in the construction of the Empire State Building thanks to the tubular system^. Its design is reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's vision for The Illinois, a mile high skyscraper designed for Chicago. According to Marshall Strabala, an SOM architect who worked on the building's design team, Burj Khalifa was designed based on the 73 floor Tower Palace Three, an all residential building in Seoul. In its early planning, Burj Khalifa was intended to be entirely residential

Burj Khalifa compared with some other well-known tall structures

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Burj_Dubai_Evolution.ogv

               http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Khalifa