Press

UAE's largest contractor posts loss for last quarter of 2009. The UAE’s largest contractor Arabtec has posted a loss for the last quarter of 2009, with profit for the full year slashed by 50%. The contractor, whose projects include the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, blamed the results on a charge of about $80m (£53.5m) for bad debts.

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.

Armani is credited with pioneering the concept of the lifestyle brand, and today his empire encompasses a couture line, several ready-to-wear lines, underwear, perfume, cosmetics, cafés and homeware. But the latest must-have in an Italian designer's portfolio is a hotel or two; Missoni and Versace have their own and Moschino unveiled one here in Milan this week. Not to be outdone, Armani will open his first hotel in April in the Burj Tower in Dubai.

The Burj Khalifa was practically made to inspire a fear of heights. At 2,717 ft and 160 stories, the building formerly known as the Burj Dubai is the tallest building in Dubai, in Asia, and on the planet—it is literally the tallest freestanding thing ever made. And on February 8, 2010, 15 of its visitors found themselves stuck in the highest elevator in the world for 45 minutes. On the 129th floor.

Visitors to the Dubai Aquarium can pay to swim in its shark-infested waters, but shoppers in the Gulf state almost had the chance for free when the attraction sprang a leak. The Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa are both managed by Emaar Properties and form the core of a $20 billion (£13 billion) development to establish a new modern centre for the Gulf state.

The storm has somewhat subsided — although the media still appears to enjoy putting the boot in whenever it sees the opportunity, as shown by a recent article in The Times which insisted that the opening of Burj Khalifa was an example of how, according to the headline,

Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building developed by Emaar Properties, is readying to welcome its first residents with the orientation programme for home-owners of Armani Residences, located on levels 9 to 16 of the tower, currently ongoing. The interiors of the world-class and first of its kind Armani Residences is in the final stages, and finishing work of The Residences in Burj Khalifa is progressing at a fast pace.