The Tower of Dubai

Discussion in 'Architecture & Engineering' started by kmguru, Dec 17, 2009.

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  1. kmguru

    kmguru Staff Member

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    The Peak of Megalomania or stunning vision?

    http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,667262,00.html#ref=nlint

    The world's tallest skyscraper will open soon in Dubai, even as the emirate continues to be battered by the financial crisis. Is Burj Dubai an expression of failed megalomania or proof of Dubai leader Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's stunning vision?

    The view is clear, the air is soft and silky, and only a thick strip of red separates the sky and the sea at sundown. The boundary between grandeur and kitsch becomes blurred here, halfway up the Burj Dubai, the world's tallest tower.


    It smells of paint, varnish and new leather, and the steps of female visitors on parquet and marble produce an elegant-sounding echo that suddenly disappears when they step onto soft carpets. An artificial island in the shape of a palm tree is visible to the southwest, and farther to the north is a man-made archipelago that looks like a map of the world.

    But only the furniture, the carpets, the smells and the sounds are real. The rest is an illusion. The visitor isn't gazing out at the Persian Gulf from 400 meters (1,312 feet) up in the air; in fact, he or she is standing at ground level -- in a model apartment with an enormous mural stretched outside its floor-to-ceiling windows -- at the foot of a hermetically sealed building.

    The model apartment is located at the recently closed sales office of Emaar Properties, the real estate development company behind the Burj Dubai, which has over-extended itself -- with projects from India to Morocco -- and is now selling some of its condominiums at half the list price. After falling by 32 percent in last two weeks, Emaar's stock price gained 15 percentage points again last Thursday. Emaar, like the entire city, is on the brink of ruin, and yet it behaves as if nothing has happened.

    Dubai, like no other place in the world, epitomizes globalization, "innovation" and "astonishing progress," as US President Barack Obama said admiringly in his speech to the Muslim world in Cairo in June. But it also stands for mind-boggling excess. In Dubai, utopias almost feel real sometimes, and reality is sometimes nothing but a mirage.
     
    kmguru, Dec 17, 2009
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  3. kmguru

    kmguru Staff Member

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    kmguru, Dec 17, 2009
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  5. kmguru

    kmguru Staff Member

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    Atlantis Hotel and Palm Island

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    kmguru, Dec 17, 2009
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  7. kmguru

    kmguru Staff Member

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    The indoor snow park Ski Dubai
     
    kmguru, Dec 17, 2009
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  8. kmguru

    kmguru Staff Member

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    As the building went into the final phase of construction this autumn, more than 14,000 people worked on it. An army of immigrant guest workers from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have helped build today's opulent Dubai. Two-thirds of the emirate's residents are immigrants.

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    kmguru, Dec 17, 2009
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  9. Carcano

    Carcano Valued Senior Member

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    I understand all that insanity is slowly sinking into the gulf.
     
    Carcano, Dec 20, 2009
    #6
  10. Syzygys

    Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    For a moderator you should know:

    1. There is already a thread about the missfortunes of Dubai in Business.
    2. This belongs to Business or World Events, not in Architecture.

    but thanks for the pics...
     
    Syzygys, Dec 20, 2009
    #7
  11. kmguru

    kmguru Staff Member

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    The OP was meant as the Architecture views but happened to have other considerations. You are welcome to discuss the engineering and architecture part.
     
    kmguru, Dec 21, 2009
    #8
  12. Syzygys

    Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    It is a beautiful waste of money, but so is military, so we could just build skyscrapers, although god has something against people doing that...
     
    Syzygys, Dec 21, 2009
    #9
  13. kmguru

    kmguru Staff Member

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    It started out with the tower of Babel and moved to the Pyramids....
     
    kmguru, Dec 21, 2009
    #10
  14. Creeping Death

    Creeping Death Out of darkness came light Registered Senior Member

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    I trust you have constructive evidence to support this claim?
     
    Creeping Death, Dec 21, 2009
    #11
  15. Nadia84

    Nadia84 Registered Member

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    nice pics, thanks
     
    Nadia84, Dec 21, 2009
    #12
  16. cosmictraveler

    cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Over two thirds of ALL buildings are unoccupied because no one can afford to live there and they over built as well. All of the workers that are there can't afford any of the places they built.
     
    cosmictraveler, Dec 21, 2009
    #13
  17. Syzygys

    Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Syzygys, Dec 22, 2009
    #14
  18. Orleander

    Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    Do all those islands make better new habitats for fish, or does it disrupt the currents and therefore hurt ocean life?
     
    Orleander, Dec 22, 2009
    #15
  19. Henrik77

    Henrik77 Registered Senior Member

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    Waste of money.
     
    Henrik77, Dec 25, 2009
    #16
  20. superstring01

    superstring01 Moderator

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    Well, right now it seems that way.

    But in about 10 years Dubai will run totally out of oil and had to do SOMETHING to keep the money coming in. Realistically the investment in a fantasy world was as good as investing in something else.

    I predict that Dubai will be back on its feet in a few years and will continue its growth as a center of commerce and a destination for the wealthy. Just. . . it'll have to wait a few years.

    ~String
     
    superstring01, Dec 25, 2009
    #17
  21. Syzygys

    Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    The thing is, when the world is running out of oil, it isn't just Dubai's problem, but all the travelers' who would go there. Not to mention that all those building running on oil (air condition, electricity, waste desposal etc.) so once oil gets expensive, all the tourist attraction plan going to collapse.

    ..and have we mentioned that the place is incredily hostile?? (both climate and laws)

    So I see a total collapse of the economy there...
     
    Last edited: Dec 25, 2009
    Syzygys, Dec 25, 2009
    #18
  22. superstring01

    superstring01 Moderator

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    The UAE is the first Mideast nation to be legally authorized to build nuclear reactors. They plan to have the crossover finished by 2020 and have intentions of selling cheep solar and nuclear produced power to the region.

    ~String
     
    superstring01, Dec 25, 2009
    #19
  23. Syzygys

    Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Again, just because the electricity is nuclear generated, the tourist aren't coming on nuclear or wind airplanes. The medevial laws and the incredible heat still stay and I am not sure we have time until 2020, since oil is already peaking.

    The biggest danger is strictly economical as we can see it right now. As long as the world is in recession nobody (meaning the masses) will go there....Let's throw in a little military problem in the region and tourist will go somewhere where they don't get blown away by missiles...

    Can 1 million locals live there fine? Sure. Are those huge investments and buildings needed for the 1 million locals? No....
     
    Syzygys, Dec 25, 2009
    #20
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