Have you ever wondered which are the first two world’s tallest buildings? And how they look like? Well, let me tell you that today world’s tallest skyscraper is Burj Khalifa known as Burj Dubai from Dubai city, United Arab Emirates. It was described by Sheikh Mohammed as “the tallest building ever created by the hand of man”. If we look in the pictures we may give him right, but if we’ll see the tower in reality we’ll be sure of that. Maybe for some of you the fact that the world’s tallest structure is located in Dubai isn’t a surprise knowing the fact that the United Arab Emirates are well-known for its futurist and innovative architecture. This magnificent centerpiece of Downtown Dubai is 828m (2716ft) high. It was renamed it Burj Khalifa after the president of the United Arab Emirates and emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan.
Construction of the Burj Dubai began in 2004 at the height of an economic boom and progressed rapidly, with the exterior of the structure completed on 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010. The design incorporates ideas from traditional Islamic architecture, while the inspiration for the tower’s base were the open petals of a desert flower. Clad in 28,000 glass panels, the tower has 160 floors and more than 500,000 sq m of space for offices and flats. The tower also lays claim to the highest occupied floor, the tallest service lift, and the world’s highest observation deck – on the 124th floor. The world’s highest mosque and swimming pool will meanwhile be located on the 158th and 76th floors.
But this great engineering work will not be anymore the world’s tallest tower because in 2016 it is expected to be finished a new skyscraper, Kingdom Tower. Almost unreal and unbeliveble! Kingdom Tower, the next world’s tallest building is proposed for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as a part of a $20 Billion development ($1.2 billion for the tower), designed by Chicago’s Adrian Smith with his new firm AS+GG, who also designed the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. This stunning architectural work will measure one kilometre height and will be a mixed-use building featuring a luxury hotel, office space, serviced apartments, luxury condominiums and the world’s highest observatory. Kingdom Holding Co, the investment firm headed by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, said it signed a $1 billion deal with the Saudi Binladen Group to build Kingdom Tower on the outskirts of the Red Sea city of Jeddah. The Saudi construction giant is owned by the family of Osama bin Laden. The family disavowed the slain al-Qaeda terror group leader years ago. This ambitious project will surely become a symbol of the Kingdom’s economic and cultural stature in the world community. Check out some spectacular pictures. Fancy living in the world’s tallest buildings?
