CONSTRUCTION & TECHNOLOGY

Close behind the Burj Khalifa will be many other local and global landmarks, including the three tallest towers in the world after Burj Khalifa: CN Tower, Taipei 101 and Willis Tower would all stand in the dark from 8.30pm to 9.30pm on March 27. The only structure from the top five yet to confirm their participation is Malaysia’s twin wonder Petronas Towers.

The world’s tallest building is to ‘go dark’ on March 27, in order to observe Earth Hour, the global initiative against climate change. Emaar Properties, developer of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, is to switch off the exterior lights of its landmark developments from 8.30pm to 9.30pm.

Tall towers have come to symbolise the excesses of the boom years. The focus must be on city centres instead. Makkah’s Clock Royal Tower, the world’s second tallest tower at 577 metres, is scheduled to be complete in August this year. If the project meets its completion deadline, it comes just eight months after the opening of the world’s tallest tower, Dubai’s 828-metre Burj Khalifa.

At 828 metres in height, the Burj Khalifa has been officially recognized as the world’s tallest building. In an unsurprising announcement, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) bestowed the ‘tallest’ title after checking detailed documents provided by the building’s developer Emaar.

Dubai’s Burj Khalifa has been officially confirmed as the world’s tallest building by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has confirmed the Burj Khalifa’s status as the world’s tallest building at a height of 828m, following detailed examination of drawings submitted by building owner Emaar.

Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) says Burj Khalifa builder Emaar has not shared blueprints in order for the 828-metre Dubai skyscraper to be truly certified as the world's tallest structure. "No, we haven't got a blueprint yet, but we'll probably get one sooner or later," Jan Klerks, CTBUH spokesman, told XPRESS from CTBUH's headquarters. "We'll sure let the world know when we do."

The improbably thin shaft of the 828-meter (2,717-foot) Burj Khalifa, a tour de force of architecture and engineering, is a reflective-glass icon ofDubai's triumphant arrival on the world scene. Or it's a towering monument to easy-money hubris. Take your pick. Changing expectations is the perilous fate of architecture that strives to be the biggest, the most lavish, the most significant. Now pundits galore predict the end of spectacle and glitz. The post-crash reality is looking more complex.

It may well be the tallest building on the planet, but the Burj Khalifa can no longer boast the fastest lifts in the world. That record has now been clinched by the new 1 080 metre/minute lift in the 212.75-metre-high G1 Tower being built by Hitachi in Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan. This will also be the tallest lift research facility in the world.

The world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa (formerly known as Burj Dubai), officially opened Jan. 4 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. Architect Adrian Smith, who designed Burj Khalifa while at the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, attended the opening ceremonies. Burj Khalifa's official height was announced at 828 meters, or 2,716.5 feet. "It was the culmination of many years of work and one of the most thrilling moments of my career," said Smith, who left SOM in 2006 to start his own firm, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.

Nothing, not even the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world’s tallest building, screams “boom-to-bust” louder. It was designed by world-class architects who command sky-high fees, including Britain’s Norman Foster. The boutiques — Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Cartier — are the stores nobody wants to shop in any more, even if they can afford to.