Dubai Skyscraper World's Tallest

Rich Tate

Supreme [H]ardness
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While really not tech related, The Dubai skyscraper is truly one huge building.

When finished, the skyscraper will have more than 160 floors, 56 elevators, apartments, shops, swimming pools, spas, corporate suites, Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani's first hotel, and an observation platform on the 124th floor.
 
my uncle already has a lease down on an apartment there - cant wait to see how it is on the inside!




Dubai's got it right, they are moving away from the oil industry into other industries to make sure a steady stream of money comes in after the wells run dry...


...that and I'm sure it helps that oil is > 70 bucks right now ;)
 
Dubai's got it right,
Without knowing too much of Dubai personally, I'd have to agree. All of these middle eastern oil nations need to start preparing for the next phase of their economies NOW, lest they be totally f*cked when the wells do run dry (or at least too expensive to feasibly drill miniscule amounts of crude).

..Bit more on topic, definitely a cool factor. I wonder how fast their elevators will be to get up/down ~160 floors in a decent amount of time? But what about when there's a tremendous earthquake (hey it could happen I guess) - no amount of seismic preparation can ready you for the mother of all quakes... I don't know a way of saying this next bit with pussy footing around so here goes... Or the fact that we already know planes + towers don't mix well? The tallest building designation seems like putting a big target saying come get me.
 
Without knowing too much of Dubai personally, I'd have to agree. All of these middle eastern oil nations need to start preparing for the next phase of their economies NOW, lest they be totally f*cked when the wells do run dry (or at least too expensive to feasibly drill miniscule amounts of crude).

..Bit more on topic, definitely a cool factor. I wonder how fast their elevators will be to get up/down ~160 floors in a decent amount of time? But what about when there's a tremendous earthquake (hey it could happen I guess) - no amount of seismic preparation can ready you for the mother of all quakes... I don't know a way of saying this next bit with pussy footing around so here goes... Or the fact that we already know planes + towers don't mix well? The tallest building designation seems like putting a big target saying come get me.

None of the other tallest buildings have been hit by planes...
 
I've seen the artists pics for this - very neat. Hope some nutcase doesn't decide to topple it for Allah. Maybe were getting close to the day when building will be over a mile tall (although I can't see any practical reason for building one)
 
I've seen the artists pics for this - very neat. Hope some nutcase doesn't decide to topple it for Allah.
This is highly unlikely. We're getting to a period of time where a very significant percentage of the world's tall buildings are in Muslim countries. The people of those nations see the buildings as a status symbol, and in some regards they believe it proves their faith's superiority over others. Both the Petronas towers and the Burj Dubai are designed around geometric patterns popular in the Islamic faith. This was deliberate by both architectual groups (who happen to be Americans BTW).

The other new buildings among the "world's tallest" are mostly in China, or Chinese territories. That country is much more xenophobic about its culture, as a result China doesn't attempt to export their values (just their cheaply made crap) to the rest of the world.

It isn't very politically correct, but realistically speaking, the only countries who would have a problem with buildings would be the US or Western Europe. We are the only group of nations where our values are in direct cultural opposition to Muslim tradition.

On a side note, I'm really displeased with the WTC redevelopment. The plan is a joke. The primary-building is this tiny 70-80 story thing with 600-800 feet of lattice work on top just so it can stand among the world's tallest. If you removed the architectural lattice structure, the building probably wouldn't rank in the top-20. It's a joke. The people of New York should be incensed. After composing my emotions, the WTC redevelopment was something I was really looking forward to. I was thinking it would be our shinning opportunity to build something huge like the Burj Dubai and show the rest of the world we can't be bullied.

Instead, we decided to build something that shows the rest of the world we run away whenever we get a bloody nose... The worst thing, by the time the project is completed, I don't think it's even going to rank in the top-5 tallest. One almost has to ask, "what's the point?" As you can tell, I've got strong feelings on the subject...
 
This is highly unlikely. We're getting to a period of time where a very significant percentage of the world's tall buildings are in Muslim countries. The people of those nations see the buildings as a status symbol, and in some regards they believe it proves their faith's superiority over others. Both the Petronas towers and the Burj Dubai are designed around geometric patterns popular in the Islamic faith. This was deliberate by both architectual groups (who happen to be Americans BTW).

The other new buildings among the "world's tallest" are mostly in China, or Chinese territories. That country is much more xenophobic about its culture, as a result China doesn't attempt to export their values (just their cheaply made crap) to the rest of the world.

It isn't very politically correct, but realistically speaking, the only countries who would have a problem with buildings would be the US or Western Europe. We are the only group of nations where our values are in direct cultural opposition to Muslim tradition.

On a side note, I'm really displeased with the WTC redevelopment. The plan is a joke. The primary-building is this tiny 70-80 story thing with 600-800 feet of lattice work on top just so it can stand among the world's tallest. If you removed the architectural lattice structure, the building probably wouldn't rank in the top-20. It's a joke. The people of New York should be incensed. After composing my emotions, the WTC redevelopment was something I was really looking forward to. I was thinking it would be our shinning opportunity to build something huge like the Burj Dubai and show the rest of the world we can't be bullied.

Instead, we decided to build something that shows the rest of the world we run away whenever we get a bloody nose... The worst thing, by the time the project is completed, I don't think it's even going to rank in the top-5 tallest. One almost has to ask, "what's the point?" As you can tell, I've got strong feelings on the subject...
This is why Chicago > New York.

Can't wait till the Spire is finished.
 
You can accomplish great things when you quit killing random people and start working.
 
This is why Chicago > New York.

Can't wait till the Spire is finished.

Absolutely correct. Chicago is a great town, whereas the politicians in New York don't seem to care what the people of New York want... I just hope the Spire doesn't run into further funding problems. Construction isn't far enough along for them to be committed.
 
The Prince wants it to be the tourist capital of the world. That palm tree looking offshore homes/shops thing is cool he is building one even bigger then that.
 
damn. not that great of a place to live (lived there for 4 years) but you can make mad money there, and its a GREAT vacation spot, well as long as you have money to burn!
 
Wow so freaking tall!.......... do you know what im thinking about right now?? ... base jumping any one? :)
 
after the wells run dry
peak oil is a hoax
no amount of seismic preparation can ready you for the mother of all quakes
this region has very few earthquakes so I don't know what your point is.
The people of those nations see the buildings as a status symbol, and in some regards they believe it proves their faith's superiority over others.
If you understood history you would realize that it's a phallic symbol related to the Egyptian myth of Set.
Hope some nutcase doesn't decide to topple it for Allah.
Shhhhhhhh.... dont tell Al Quida :eek: :p :D
oh stop it, Al Qaeda is admittedly a branch of the US government. Zbigniew Brzezinski openly admits this.
 
damn. not that great of a place to live (lived there for 4 years) but you can make mad money there, and its a GREAT vacation spot, well as long as you have money to burn!

Agreed. However, I think it would be a great place to live, especially if you are buddies with the princes ;) Can't get better than that, lol.
 
Absolutely correct. Chicago is a great town, whereas the politicians in New York don't seem to care what the people of New York want...
Oh, yes. Those Chicago politicians are just so honest and good that even dead people vote for them.
 
I will admit peak oil is a hoax.

The US has 120 BILLION barrels remaining in the ground, due principly to how bad the old oil technology SUCKED ASS when PA, OK, and TX were being sucked dry.

And there is 350 BILLION barrels in the oil shales at Four Corners, and 400 BILLION barrels in the tarsands in NW Canada.

That's more than twice the total reserves in Saudi Arabia in 1920 (262 BILLION barrles).

The oil industry wont lift a finger to go back to domestic potentials until they've sucked all the foreign reserves dry at little to no effort. Fuckers. :eek: :p :D
 
I will admit peak oil is a hoax.

The US has 120 BILLION barrels remaining in the ground, due principly to how bad the old oil technology SUCKED ASS when PA, OK, and TX were being sucked dry.

And there is 350 BILLION barrels in the oil shales at Four Corners, and 400 BILLION barrels in the tarsands in NW Canada.

That's more than twice the total reserves in Saudi Arabia in 1920 (262 BILLION barrles).

The oil industry wont lift a finger to go back to domestic potentials until they've sucked all the foreign reserves dry at little to no effort. Fuckers. :eek: :p :D


Extracting from oil sands and shale is a lot more expensive than sticking a straw in the sand so to speak.

The price deal is bogus, in Saudi Arabia, gas is 5 cents a gallon, I think in Venezuela (correct me if I'm wrong), gas is 10-15 cents a gallon for refined gasoline.. but yet they all pay the same price per barrel. I don't see how it could take so much in shipping or transport to get gas up here to the US for a whopping $3.30 a gallon.
 
Well, I'm glad they were able to construct, and now cool, this building without resorting to any use of oil. :rolleyes:

How about a 95,000 square foot temple made entirely by hand without use of nails or steel? Just opened this weekend:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/22072007/3/canada-hand-carved-40m-hindu-temple-opens-toronto.html

And there is 350 BILLION barrels in the oil shales at Four Corners, and 400 BILLION barrels in the tarsands in NW Canada.

That's more than twice the total reserves in Saudi Arabia in 1920 (262 BILLION barrles).

Extracting oil from the oil sands takes a lot of steam, which is being heated by natural gas, another resource whose price is rising. We will most likely reach Peak Methane before the oil sands are tapped out.

It would be a huge mistake to think that fuel is the only application for petroleum. Plastics, pharmaceuticals, paints, tires, ... marshmallows. You can't make this stuff from the wind. OK, except maybe marshmallows...

How can Peak Oil be a hoax if it is in limited quantity? Eventually we will run out, no? Along with gold, and tungsten, and love ... *sniff*
 
I understand that the Mideast isn't running out of oil anytime soon, but my point was Dubai is setting themselves up nicely for when that day happens.



Besides, from what I understand, Dubai doesn't have much in terms of oil supply to begin with?
 
It would be a huge mistake to think that fuel is the only application for petroleum. Plastics, pharmaceuticals, paints, tires, ... marshmallows. You can't make this stuff from the wind. OK, except maybe marshmallows...
But you can make that stuff from air. Plants convert the CO2 in the air into vegetable oils which can be extracted from the plants and made into plastics.
 
Besides, from what I understand, Dubai doesn't have much in terms of oil supply to begin with?

I believe majority of their money comes from business transactions. Oil and petroleum only accounts for about 2-5% of their economy if I remember correctly.
 
But you can make that stuff from air. Plants convert the CO2 in the air into vegetable oils which can be extracted from the plants and made into plastics.

Yes, there was a New Scientist article about this a few weeks ago. There are benefits, but there's still the lignin problem, and it will be a race to see if biofuel needs will trump biopharma needs before the oil runs out.
 
I believe majority of their money comes from business transactions. Oil and petroleum only accounts for about 2-5% of their economy if I remember correctly.

Define 'business transaction' in the Middle East. Who are their clients? Who has the money to build and stay in their hotels? How can they afford to fuel--and replace annually--all of their Mercedes, BMWs, ...

Forget how much money they make off of oil. How much energy does a country that produces nothing have to *import* to keep the economy going?
 
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