Since time immemorial, man has immortalized his power and achievements by marking it in stone.  The great pyramids, the monuments of ancient Rome and Greece, the majestic fortresses and castles of great kingdoms—all of these are markers of power and prestige.  Such expression of greatness and influence is no different in modern times. Contemporary skyscrapers, towers, and high-rise buildings are as much expressions of man’s achievements as the monuments of ancient times. Adding to this roster of remarkable structures is Burj Dubai.

Burj Dubai, or the Dubai Tower, is envisioned to be the tallest skyscraper in the world.  It is designed to be at the center of an urban project called “Downtown Dubai”, which is a two square kilometer mixed development that will include 30,000 houses, 19 residential towers, 9 hotels, Dubai Mall, 6 acres of parkland, and the Burj Dubai Lake. This development is located along Sheikh Zayed Road on Doha Street, at the First Interchange, which is otherwise known as defense Roundabout.  Although the structure is still under construction, it has already reached a height of 629 meters or 2,064 feet as of April 8, 2008. It had already surpassed the height of the current tallest building in the world, Taipei 101, which stands at 509.2 meters or 1,671 feet.  Upon its estimated completion in 2009, Burj Dubai will stand at a height of 818 meters, or 2,684 feet, from the ground to its spire. It will contain 164 floors with a floor area of 334,000 square meters.  As of February 2007, Burj Dubai surpassed Sears Tower in Chicago as the building with the most number of levels.

The steel and silver tower, primarily targeted for housing residential apartments and office spaces, is envisioned to be the new symbol for Dubai’s success and achievements.  In order to make this vision a reality is a group of highly skilled firms, which are all equally well-esteemed and established in their fields.  Bauer Spezialtiefbau of Germany, together with Middle East Foundations, constructed the foundations of the tower.  In charge of the whole project is the architecture and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), with Samsung Engineering & Construction of South Korea, along with Besix and Arabtec as the general contractors.  The Seattle-based general construction and management firm, Turner Construction Company, is chosen to manage the project.  The tower’s designer, Chicago-based architect Adrian Smith of SOM was given the important task of giving this vision shape and appearance.

Combining traditional Islamic designs and ultra-modern Western architectural style, Adrian Smith derived Burj Dubai’s design from the patterning system which is embodied in Islamic architecture with the tower’s triple-load footprint based on an abstracted version of the desert flower hymenocallis, which is common in the region.  It features three elements arranged around a central core, with 15 tears of uniformly-shaped floors over 100 storeys.  Setbacks at each element decreases as it rises in an upward spiral pattern, thereby decreasing the tower’s width at each setback as it goes up.  This feature is much like steps ascending in a spiral manner, which according to Adrian Smith, symbolizes ascent towards the heavens in Islamic architecture.  It is also used to reduce the stress from prevailing winds, therefore keeping the forces at a minimum.  On top, the central core emerges and forms a finishing spire.

Burj Dubai’s exterior cladding will be made of a combination of 142,000 square meters, or 1,528,000 square feet, of aluminum, reflective glazing, and textured stainless steel Spandrel with upright tubular fins.  This cladding system is especially designed to withstand the extreme summer temperatures in Dubai.  This will be done by the Swiss firm Schmidlin.

On the other hand, the interior of the Burj Dubai will be decorated by Giorgio Armani, with the first-of-its-kind, Armani Hotel, occupying the first 37 floors.  Meanwhile floors 45 through 108 will feature 700 private apartments.  The apparent prestige of Burj Dubai has made these apartments much sought-after, that they have all been quickly sold within 8 hours of their going on sale.  Almost all of the remaining floors will be filled with corporate offices and suites, except for a lobby on the 123rd floor and an indoor-outdoor observation deck on the 124th floor.  The 78th floor will contain a 0-entry outdoor swimming pool.  The spire will also hold communications equipment, with the world’s fastest double Decker elevators servicing the entire tower.  The US-based OTIS and Lerch, Bates and Associates Incorporated will provide the elevator engineering and the installment of these lifts.

Providing the cooling system for Burj Dubai, and the whole of the Burj development, is the American firm Trane. It will provide 20 CenTravac centrifugal chillers for this purpose.  The Burj Dubai developer, EMAAR Properties, is also planning to build three district cooling plants (DCP) at the Burj Dubai site.  Designed by Allied Consultants, the DCP’s will provide support to a sophisticated cooling system which will offer a total capacity of 145,000t of refrigeration.  The same company will employ special low-temperature chillers in order to compensate for the height of the tower and achieved the design temperature.

Most certainly, Burj Dubai is one sensational feat that will yet once again place Dubai on the map of the world’s most prominent tourist and business destinations.  Yet Burj Dubai does not have to wait for its completion before establishing remarkable feats.  By March 2008, Burj Dubai, which stood at a height of   629 meters, surpassed the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada, which stands at 553.3 meters.  Due to the its height, Burj Dubai holds the record for the Highest Vertical concrete pumping for a building at 601.0 meters, which was previously held by Taipei 101 at 449.2 meters.  It also holds the record for the highest vertical concrete pumping for any construction, which was a record previously held by Riva del Garda Hydroelectric Power Plant at 532 meters.

Due to the many contenders to the title of the “tallest building in the world”, Burj Dubai’s height is kept secret, until its completion in 2009.  In addition, architects have made plans for extra-deep foundations to enable more levels to be added in the event that another skyscraper under construction threatens to take the title.  One of Burj Dubai’s potential competitors for the title is the proposed Murjan Tower in Manama, Bahrain.  This tower is designed by the Danish architects Henning Larsens Tegnestue & Associates.  It is rumored to stand at a height of 1,022 meters, or 3,353 feet, and will contain 200 floors.  Another potential   competitor for Burj Dubai is the Burj Mubarak al-Kabir, which is to be erected in Kuwait as part of a development project called Madinat al-Hareer, or the City of Silk.  It is planned to stand at a height of 1,001 meters, or 3,284 feet.  The development will also feature an Olympic stadium, hotels, residences, and retail outlets.  However, the entire project might take 25 years to complete.  Another notable potential competitor is a skyscraper planned to be built in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  Planned by the Riyadh-base firm Kingdom Holdings, it is envisioned to stand at a height twice as that of Burj Dubai.

Until otherwise toppled by another tower or skyscraper, Burj Dubai is undoubtedly set to become the world’s tallest structure.  This vision by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is only befitting to commemorate the city’s affluence and remarkable achievements.  As this commemorative structure is set in steel and stone,   Dubai’s current standing will most undoubtedly be remembered by the world for all time.