Press

Given our city's heritage as the birthplace of the skyscraper and home to many of the nation's tallest buildings, it's not surprising that the rest of the world continues to look to our architects for their super-sized projects. A report out of the Middle East claims Chicago architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill have been tapped to design a skyscraper that will dethrone the recently completed Burj Khalifa as the world's tallest building.

Dubai , which attracted the world's attention recently with the inauguration of Burj Khalifa; the world's tallest skyscraper, has always been a prime destination for foreign investment. The Dubai government has been consistent in reviewing and aligning regulatory framework to cater to new challenges in maintaining its leading position as a major commercial, industrial and trading hub in the region.

As Van der Werf notes: “It’s beautiful to do the Armani Hotel in the Burj Khalifa, which took a lot of effort, but we should never forget that we can serve our four-star hotels at least as well and as efficiently”.

Carrara has recently executed the supply and installation of about 120,000 sq m of natural stone for the Burj Khalifa project and its work portfolio includes projects such as Burj Al Arab, Royal Mirage Hotel, Yas Island Marina Hotel, Aldar headquarters, Turkmenistan Parliament Building, Presidential Palace and President Hotel.

The first of two fashion-brand hotels to open this year in Dubai (there's also a Palazzo Versace in the pipeline), the Armani Hotel will take up floors five to eight and two higher levels of the Burj Khalifa. Don't expect anything here to be done on a subtle scale – 160 rooms and suites (all furnished with signature Armani/ Casa designs), Armani/Dolci artisan confectionery, Armani/Fiori bespoke flower arrangements, an Armani/Privé nightclub and a spa will all be part of the operation when it opens next month.

FROM the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum should be master of all he surveys. But there are a few problems for the ruler of Dubai: the murk of dust and exhaust that lays heavy on the desert metropolis makes it very hard to see to the bottom, while the lifts of the newly opened building are not working, making it impossible to get to the top.

The much-anticipated opening of the Armani Hotel in the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, has been delayed by more than a month, UAE daily the National reported on Monday, citing a source familiar with the matter. The opening ceremony of the Italian designer's first hotel will now take place on April 22, instead of March 18, due to unfinished work, the newspaper said, adding that it will open to the public two days later.

Giorgio Armani’s first hotel, due to open in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa today, will be delayed by more than a month, said two people with knowledge of the plan. The luxury hotel, occupying 10 floors of the world’s tallest building, is now scheduled to open on April 22, said the people, who declined to be identified because there hasn’t been an official announcement.

The number of completed buildings in Dubai during 2009 topped the 2,500-mark, according to Dubai Municipality data released by the Dubai Statistics Centre (DSC). These numbers are set to grow this year, with Burj Khalifa delivered in January 2010. The value of these completed buildings, according to DSC statistics, was Dh24.89 billion.

At 2717 feet it towers above the competition—it's more than two and a half times the size of the Chrysler tower, and while the previous top five highest buildings were all within a couple of hundred feet of each other, the 160-story Burj Khalifa beats the old world-record-holder, the Taipei 101, by some 900 feet. For size-conscious architects, the gauntlet hasn't been thrown. It has been launched into space and threatens to blot out the sun.