The world of architecture is astonished to see a structure named Burj Khalifa. It is a symbol of pure and a genius work of architecture. The science of architecture has touched great heights in creating such a brilliant skyscraper standing 121feet tall. The architects of Burj Khalifa has taken great pain and devoted an enormous amount of labor hours to actually bring their reality into dreams. Burj Khalifa is surely the greatest work of the 21st century and it is the thus the world’s tallest building till date.
The building was initially known as Burj Dubai but later on it was changed to Burj Khalifa. The construction of the enormous project began in the middle of September 2004 and it was completed on 1st October 2009. It took more than five and a half years to complete the project and now it is surely the pride of Dubai. It was officially inaugurated on 4th January 2009. It is also a part of flagship development known as Dubai Downtown. The project was being completed at the time when the world was going through a financial crisis. Due to financial crisis, the Dubai administration was forced to seek help from oil rich neighbor country Abu Dhabi. Dubai was deeply rooted to debts due to its ambitions and Abu Dhabi played a major role in bringing Dubai out of its crisis.
The architecture and engineering was being done by Merill, Skidmore, Owning of Chicago and Adrian Smith was the chief architect along with Bill Baker as the structural engineer. The project cost was enormous $ 1.5billion and the entire Dubai down town took $20billion. The initial deadline of completion of project was being considered for June 2008 but it got delayed till October 2009. The main reason for this delay was the financial crisis that shook the world in the middle of 2008. Thus after failing the initial deadline the Emaar authorities made conscious effort that the second deadline is not missed and ultimately the project was completed in time.
The design of the building was inspired from those in the Islamic architecture. The structure explains the historical and cultural elements of the region itself. The Y-shaped structure is appropriate for the usage of hotels as it allows best outward view. The triple lobbed structure was inspired form the desert flower Hymenocallis. The tower has three elements surrounding a central core. There are 27 terraces in Burj Khalifa allowing different set of views from each terrace. The y-shaped structure planned in such a way to maximize the view of the Persian Gulf. The structure is built in a way that viewing it from the top or from the base, the onion dome of Islamic structure is clearly visible.
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