Reading reddit this afternoon, I was surprised to see that the partially constructed Burj Dubai has already surpassed Taipei 101 as the tallest building in the world. While 101 was going up, I wasn’t really that impressed with the idea of making a gigantic building right in the middle of an earthquake zone, but now that it’s already been surpassed, I feel oddly unsettled. I’ll bet a lot of elementary school textbooks in Taiwan will have to be updated.

(image credit: Hatim Saleh)

Once it’s finished, the Burj Dubai will be an absolute monstrosity- far, far larger than 101. The site for it is filled with the usual stuff:

The goal of Burj Dubai is not simply to be the world’s highest building. It’s to embody the world’s highest aspirations.

Burj Dubai looks different depending on where you’re standing. For those living nearby, it is a shining accomplishment- tangible proof of Dubai’s central role in a growing world. For those standing in other global capitals, it is a shining symbol - an icon of the new Middle East: prosperous, dynamic, and successful.

I hope Burj Dubai generates a decent return on investment, but it won’t be easy. 101 is still mostly empty, and the construction and maintenance costs were astronomical.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 2nd, 2007 at 5:39 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.