Sunday, March 12, 2017

The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world challenged by none.

A mile is 5280 feet. The Burj Khalifa is a bit more than a half mile high.

If one examines the architecture of Burj, it is build similarly to pyramids. One level built on top of another level gradually diminishing in "area" all the way to the top. Fascinating. A half a mile. Wow.

Interestingly, the next few buildings in this exclusive club are Shanghi Tower, China at 2073 feet without a radio antenna, Makkah Royal Clock Tower, Saudi Arabia at 1972 feet, Pang An International Finance Center, China is 1965 feet, Lotte World Tower in South Korea at 1819 feet, One World Trade Center also known as The Freedom Tower USA at 1776 feet, CTF Finance Center, China at 1739 feet, Tapei 101, Tiawan at 1667 feet, Shanghi World Financial Center, China at 1614 feet and the International Commerce Center, Hong Kong, China at 1588 feet.

Of the nine tallest buildings in the world five are in China. China is 3.7 million square miles. The USA is 3.797 millions square miles. China has nearly 1.4 billion citizens. The USA has nearly 319 million citizens. So, China has 4.5 times more citizens than the USA on nearly the same square miles of land. It is understandable why the cities in China are vital.

The important part here is that the Burj Khalifa is one half mile high.

The Burj Khalifa, (click here) originally known as the Burj Dubai, towers above the city's already burgeoning skyline. It has 163 floors and a height of 2,717 feet tall, and is the tallest building in the world. Primarily constructed from steel and concrete, the building is the design by Owings, Skidmore and Merrill of Chicago, who were also responsible for the design of famous skyscrapers such as Willis Tower and One World Trade Center. The South Korean company Samsung C&T carried out the engineering and construction of the structure, which was completed in the year 2010. The building was a project by the United Arab Emirates’ government to shift the country’s economy from solely oil-based to a more tourism- and service-based nation. The building has 30,000 residences, 19 residential towers, a man-made lake which occupies 30 acres, parkland which occupies seven acres, nine hotels, and a shopping mall. This superstructure has given the United Arab Emirates international recognition, in addition to receiving praise from critics for its sleek design.