CONSTRUCTION & TECHNOLOGY

You can't help feeling a bit like Batman while driving into an apparently secret, subterranean car tunnel coursing under the Downtown Burj Khalifa area.

The US-headquartered architectural practice Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) has revealed the design for the Kingdom Tower, which is to be the world’s tallest building at 1 kilometre height.

Tokyo is awash with skyscrapers offering bird's-eye views across the city. All are eclipsed by the Skytree, which not only dominates the city's skyline but is also the world's tallest free-standing tower (at 634 metres, it is almost double the height of the Eiffel Tower, but falls short of the 828 metres recorded by the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai).

The Dubai Fountain song Baba Yetu has won a Grammy for its composer Christopher Tin. Taken from the album Calling All Dawns, the Swahili song won the Grammy for "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists" and is also the theme tempo for the video game, "Civilization IV". The song made history for being the first video gaming music to be nominated and to win the prestigious music award.

On a global scale, the United Kingdom simply doesn’t compete with having any significantly tall buildings. In fact, the UK’s tallest building is not even a third as high as the world’s tallest man made structure (Burj Khalifa – Dubai). However, The City of London is planning to expand vertically into the skyline with a collection of brand new buildings with some very interesting architecture.

Nikken Sekkei’s chainmail-style broadcasting, restaurant and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo is hot on the heels of the Canton Tower (610m) on its journey to becoming the second tallest freestanding structure in the world. Now measuring an incredible 601m in height, the Tokyo Sky Tree (formerly known as the New Tokyo Tower) may soar above its neighbours in Japan but resides firmly in the shadow of SOM’s highly regarded Burj Khalifa (828m).

Today’s highest skyscraper -- the 818-meter (2,684-foot) Burj Khalifa in Dubai -- is set to be overtaken by the 1 kilometer Kingdom Tower in Jeddah when it’s completed in 2018. Developing countries are eclipsing the U.S. and Europe in the “megatall” category of 600-meter-plus buildings, fueled by faster economic growth and a desire to show off their wealth.

Oil revenues have already fuelled a high-profile construction frenzy in the former Soviet state of Azerbaijan, but in an attempt to raise its profile further, the Caspian Sea country is looking to build the tallest building in the world. Tentatively named Azerbaijan Tower, the planned 1,050 metre structure will dwarf Dubai’s Burj Khalifa to look over Baku’s largest development project which is planned to include dozens of artificial islands and a Formula One race track.

Bob Doughty, Steve Ember: The Burj Khalifa now holds the title of tallest building. Skyscrapers represent modernity, power, and the expanding boundaries of human invention and new technology. Many experts consider the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois to be the first skyscraper. Built in eighteen eighty-five and later expanded, this tower was about fifty-five meters tall.

Recent Crystal projects include the World Voices water installation at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the first-ever water shows on a cruise ship on the Royal Caribbean's Oasis and Allure of the Seas, Ferrari World at Yas Island Abu Dhabi and White Square office complex in Moscow.