FEATURE
Burg Khalifa- Tallest
Building in the World
gambling. And so it seemed,
yet prettier.
I looked out, overwhelmed
Burg Khalifa’s construction
began in 2004 and was
completed in 2010, after 22
by the artistic details in the
million man-hours. At the peak
designs, so many exquisite
of production over 12,000
architectural wonders in one
workers and contractors were
place. I wasn’t familiar with the
on site everyday, representing
skyline yet, but would soon
more than 100 nationalities.
come to recognize the squared
Guides claim that 31,400
arch or Financial Center, Al
tons of rebar were used in the
Yaqoub Tower, the Big Ben
skyscraper, enough to extend
facsimile, and other swooping
over a quarter of the way around
edifices. In the distance I
the world. Another statistic
caught a hint of the World
says, “26,000 glass panels,
archipelago, a series of islands
each individually hand-cut, were
sand-dredged from the sea
placed in the exterior cladding.
like Michelangelo sculpted his
Over 300 cladding specialists
David from marble.
from China were brought in for
The word “burg “means
this part of the project.”
tower in Arabi