Skidmore, Owings and Merrill's update for the Burj Dubai
The Burj Dubai, planned as the world’s tallest building, will be the centerpiece of a large scale, mixed-use development comprised of residential, commercial, hotel, entertainment, shopping and leisure outlets with open green spaces, water features, pedestrian boulevards, a shopping mall and a tourist-oriented old town.
The design of the tower is derived from the geometries of a regional desert flower and the patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture. It combines historical and cultural
influences with cutting-edge technology to achieve a high-performance building. Its massing is manipulated in the vertical dimension to induce maximum vortex shedding and minimize the impact of wind on the tower's movement.
The tower is composed of three elements arranged around a central core. As the tower rises from the flat desert base, setbacks occur at each element in an upward spiraling pattern, decreasing the mass of the tower as it reaches toward the sky. At the top, the central core emerges and is sculpted to form a spire. A Y-shaped floor plan maximizes views of the Persian Gulf. Construction started in January 2004 and the building is currently around level 82, building should be completed by mid-2009.
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