It's official, Dubai is now home to the tallest building in the world. On January 4, 2010, with much pomp and ceremony Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai) was opened with an extravagant multimedia and fireworks display.
According to Wikipedia, the structure - which was started on Sept. 21, 2004 and completed Jan. 4, 2010 and stands more than a 1/2 mile high - holds a total of 15 world records including:
- Tallest structure ever built: 828 m (2,717 ft)
- Building with most floors: 160
- World's fastest elevators at speed of 64 km/h (40 mph)
- World's highest mosque (located on the 158th floor)
- First world's tallest structure in history to include residential space
Burj Khalifa, the centerpiece of the $20 billion Downtown Dubai project includes 37 office floors, 1,044 apartments and 160 hotel rooms designed by Giorgio Armani. Emaar, the developer, said it expects 12,000 people to live or work in the tower and connected office buildings. 90% of the building space had already been sold before completion.
The Burj Khalifa opens in the midst of a severe financial crisis in the city-state of Dubai — one of seven small sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates. It was renamed - from Burj Dubai - in honor of the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has provided $25 billion in bailout funds for the financially troubled, state-run Dubai World in the past year.
"Crises come and go. And cities move on," Mohammed Alabbar, chairman of the tower's developer Emaar Properties, told reporters before the inauguration. "You have to move on. Because if you stop taking decisions, you stop growing."
Burj Khalifa developer Emaar is itself partly owned by the Dubai government, but is not part of struggling Dubai World. For more on Burj Khalifa: See the website here.
