Asia has 57 of world’s 100 tallest buildings

Today at 6.30pm IST, the world willwitness the opening ceremony of Burj Dubai, which, apart from being theworld’s tallest building, will also set several more architecturalrecords. At over 800 metres or 2,625 feet (the exact height is an officialsecret), the Burj will become the tallest free-standing structure in the worldwith the highest number of storeys, the highest occupied floor, the highestoutdoor observation deck, besides having an elevator with the longest traveldistance. The building, which is estimated to have used 330,000 cubic metres ofconcrete, 39,000 tonnes of steel rebar and 22 million man-hours will be visiblefrom 60 miles away. It is designed in such a way that the residents need neverdescend below 1,300 feet if they wish, because there are offices, apartments,restaurants, gyms and almost all requirements of daily life above this height.When did its construction start? On February 24, 2003,Emaar Properties PJSC, a real estate company in Dubai announced the constructionof the world’s tallest building. The excavation work started in January2004 and it attained the milestone of being the world’s tallest buildingin July 2007, the tallest free-standing structure in September 2007, and thetallest man-made structure in April 2008. Designed by Adrian Smith,the inspiration is drawn from a regional desert flower, the Hymenocallis. Likethe structure of the flower, the tower’s wings also extend from itscentral core. Why is it being criticized?Thebuilding’s opening coincides with the fourth anniversary of the accessionof Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as the ruler of Dubai and theconstruction company has claimed that the building is the Arab world’stribute to the art and science of modern engineering and design. However, Dubaiis still struggling with the ongoing real estate crisis and was recently bailedout by Abu Dhabi to pay off its debts. Apart from this, the future occupants ofthe building remain mysterious. Although the construction company claims thatmost of the 900 apartments have been sold, experts say many apartments werebought three years ago when the market was at its peak, and hence, these couldbe speculative purchases, which might not materialize in the present scenario.Overbuilding in the boom era and the financial crisis of 2008 has left a lot ofreal estate unoccupied. The building has 37 floors for office space, while stateanalysts believe there is virtually no demand for office space in Dubai atpresent.Why is the height of tall buildings often debated?It may seem a simple matter of measuring the building from bottom totop, but what is to be included and what is to be excluded in the measurement isoften debated. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which studiesand reports on all aspects of the planning, design, and construction of tallbuildings, recognizes the heights of tall buildings in three classifications.The most widely used and globally accepted is the height to the architecturaltop, which measures the height from the lowest level to the architectural top,including spires but excluding antennae, flags and other functional andtechnical equipment.In this category, the Burj will be the tallestand Taipei 101 the second tallest. The second classification is based on thehighest occupied floor. Here too, Burj will be the tallest but the ShanghaiWorld Financial Centre is the second. The third classification is by height totip, which measures the height from the lowest level to the tip includingantennae and other functional and technical equipment. Even here, the Burj willremain the tallest, but Chicago’s Willis Tower comes insecond.Are most of the tallest buildings in the West?No. Asia has 57 of the world’s 100 tallest buildings, with China alone (including Hong Kong and Macau) accounting for 32, the same number as the US. The only European buildings on this list are in Moscow, so western Europe doesn’t have a single one. If we look at buildings completed in the last 15 years, the picture becomes even clearer. These account for 61 buildings from the 100 tallest cited above, and only seven are not in Asia.