The tallest building in the world and still growing

Last updated at 15:21pm on 6th April 2008

It is the tallest man-made structure in the world – and it is still growing.

When complete next year the Burj Dubai will stretch half a mile into the sky over the United Arab Emirates, taller than three Canary Wharf towers balanced on top of each other.

Already 2,200ft tall, and the result of 22million man hours of labor, the Burj is the pinnacle of skyscraper engineering.

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When complete next year the Burj Dubai will be taller than three Canary Wharf towers balanced on top of each other

This £2 billion marvel, designed by American architect Adrian Smith, is packed with technological innovations, including double-decker lifts that can carry 42 people at a record-breaking 40mph to the observation platforms, robotic window-cleaning platforms and a system of pipes to collect condensation from the windows.

It will provide about 15million gallons of water per year – equivalent to nearly 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

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The Burj will be the height of luxury. Some of the space will be used for offices but the lower 37 floors will house the world's first Armani Hotel

The water will be pumped into the site's irrigation system for use on the landscaped areas.

Because of its size – more than 6,000 miles of girders, enough to stretch a quarter of the way round the world, have gone into making its 160 floors – evacuation in a fire could be too slow.

Therefore pressurized air-conditioned refuges to allow heat or fumes to escape are situated on every 25th floor, the stairwells are fireproofed and there is a special lift for firefighting equipment.

The Burj will be the height of luxury. Some of the space will be used for offices but the lower 37 floors will house the world's first Armani Hotel.

There are also 700 private apartments, and residents will be able to swim in an outdoor pool on the side roof of the 78th floor.

The Y-shape plan of the tower, copied from Islamic designs on mosque roofs, maximizes views of the Persian Gulf.

Dubai From Burj Dubai's 140th Floor

Dubai is NUTS!!

The Street in 2003

Last Year

The madness. Dubai is said to currently have 15-25% of all the world's cranes.

All of this was built in the last 5 years, including that island that looks like a palm tree.

The Palm Islands in Dubai. New Dutch dredging technology was used to create these massive man made islands. They are the largest artificial islands in the world and can be seen from space. Three of these Palms will be made with the last one being the large

Upon completion, the resort will have 2,000 villas, 40 luxury hotels, shopping centers, movie theaters, and many other facilities. It is expected to support a population of approximately 500,000 people. It is advertised as being visible from the moon.
The World Islands. 300 artificially created islands in the shape of the world. Each island will have an estimated cost of $25-30 million.

The Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai. The worlds tallest hotel. Considered the only '7 star' hotel and the most luxurious hotel in the world. It stands on an artificial island in the sea.

Hydropolis, the world's first underwater hotel. Entirely built in Germany and then assembled in Dubai, it is scheduled to be completed by 2009 after many delays.

The Burj Dubai. Construction began in 2005 and is expected to be complete by 2008. At an estimated height of over 800 meters, it will easily be world's tallest building when finished. It will be almost 40% taller than the the current tallest building, the Taipei 101.

This is what downtown Dubai will look like around 2008-2009. More than 140 stories of the Burj Dubai have already been completed. It is already the worlds tallest man made structure and it is still not scheduled to be completed for at least another year.

The Al Burj. This will be the centerpiece of the Dubai Waterfront. Once completed it will take over the title of the tallest structure in the world from the Burj Dubai.


Recently it was announced that the final height of this tower will be 1200 meters. That would make it more than 30% taller than the Burj Dubai and three times as tall as the Empire State Building.

The Burj al Alam, or The World Tower. Upon completion it will rank as the world's highest hotel. It is expected to be finished by 2009. At 480 meters it will only be 28 meters shorter than the Taipei 101.

The Trump International Hotel & Tower, which will be the centerpiece of one of the palm islands, The Palm Jumeirah.


Dubailand. Currently, the largest amusement park collection in the world is Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, which is also the largest single-site employer in the United states with 58,000 employees. Dubailand will be twice the size.

Dubailand will be built on 3 billion square feet (107 miles^2) at an estimated $20 billion price tag. The site will include a purported 45 mega projects and 200 hundred other smaller projects.


Dubai Sports City. A huge collection of sports arenas located in Dubailand.

Currently, the Walt Disney World Resort is the #1 tourist destination in the world. Once fully completed, Dubailand will easily take over that title since it is expected to attract 200,000 visitors daily.

The Dubai Marina is an entirely man made development that will contain over 200 highrise buildings when finished. It will be home to some of the tallest residential structures in the world. The completed first phase of the project is shown. Most of the other high rise buildings will be finished by 2009-2010.

The Dubai Mall will be the largest shopping mall in the world with over 9 million square feet of shopping and around 1000 stores. It will be completed in 2008.

Ski Dubai, which is already open, is the largest indoor skiing facility in the world. This is a rendered image of another future indoor skiing facility that is being planned.

Some of the tallest buildings in the world, such as Ocean Heights and The Princess Tower, which will be the largest residential building in the world at over a 100 stories, will line the Dubai Marina.

The UAE Spaceport would be the first spaceport in the world if construction ever gets under way. I'm not joking...

Some other other crazy shit...

• The Dubai Metro system, once completed, will become the largest fully automated rail system in the world.
• The Dubai World Central International Airport will become the largest airport in size when it is completed. It will also eventually become the busiest airport in the world, based on passenger volume.
• There are more construction workers in Dubai than there are actual citizens.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OVER THERE?

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