CONSTRUCTION & TECHNOLOGY

It started as a design concept. When Montreal-based gsmprjct was hired to conceive and construct the multimedia elements for the viewing platform of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, it seized on the idea of installing state-of-the-art LCD touchscreen telescopes. But there was a hitch: No such device existed.

Workers have installed the first road signs bearing the new name of the world’s tallest tower, Burj Khalifa. Two signs, one on Sheikh Zayed Road and the other between Al Wasl Road and the Defence Interchange, were installed overnight on Saturday, apparently the first to point the way to Burj Khalifa after its name was changed from Burj Dubai at its January 4 inauguration.

Developed by Kobi Karp, a Miami based architectural and interior design firm, the “Miapolis” is a 975-meter high tower planned for Watson Island that if constructed will surpass Dubai’s Burj Khalifa by 183 meters. Accommodating an amusement park, observatory, restaurants, 1.96 million sq ft of shops, over 1000 apartments, 1 million sq ft office space and a 792-room hotel, the 160-story superscraper will create 35,000 permanent jobs and generate $39 million to the City and $2.5 billion to the local economy annually.

The Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest tower in the world, officially opened in Dubai on Jan. 4 amid an impressive pyrotechnics display that highlighted the tower's 2716.5-feet of aluminum and steel, and its 26,000 hand-cut glass panels. The Burj Khalifa blows away the next-nearest skyscraper, which is China's 1670-foot Taipei 101, and the building has even surpassed ultra-tall, ground-cable-supported radio antennas.

The German bathroom fittings and shower manufacturer supplied more than 5000 fittings from its Axor Starck luxury collection for the Burj Khalifa. The installation started in 2008 and was finished in June 2009. “Hansgrohe was given a great deal of credit for not pulling out of the market in the face of the economic crisis, unlike other companies,” said Siegfried Gänßlen, chairman of the management board of Hansgrohe AG.

Time Out Dubai’s commemorative Burj Khalifa edition is on sale now. To mark the occasion of the opening of the world’s tallest building.Time Out has created the world’s tallest magazine.

The world’s tallest building has a green and engaging footprint. Designed by SWA Group, one of the world’s leading landscape architecture, planning and urban design firms, the 11-hectare green oasis including plazas, pools and promenades creates a beautiful and functional framework to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

SUPERMAN could not, if he were alive today, have leaped the newly opened Burj Dubai in a single bound. It is the tallest building in the world.