CONSTRUCTION & TECHNOLOGY

At least one Oregon exporter defied gravity in 2009, getting its products a half mile in the sky above Dubai during a year when the state's foreign sales sank. Workers at Warm Springs Composite Products mixed a patented brew of earth, fiberglass and recycled newspaper to make fire-resistant-rated door parts for the Burj Khalifa, which opened recently as the world's tallest building.

The tallest building in the world is, by definition, quite visible. So it makes some sense that the creators of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai were fastidious about the look of the tower—right down to the font faces in the parking garage. Austrialia's Emerystudio, the firm designing the building's wayfinding systems—the signage that directs visitors around the huge structure—wanted to employ Arabic typography that'd be distinctive, legible, and harmonious when placed next to Latin lettering.

The world’s tallest building is to ‘go dark’ on March 27, in order to observe Earth Hour, the global initiative against climate change. Emaar Properties, developer of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, is to switch off the exterior lights of its landmark developments from 8.30pm to 9.30pm.

Construction work on the $1.2 billion Kingdom Tower, the 1,000m super skyscraper that is set to exceed Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest building, “is scheduled to begin in January,” a spokesperson from Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, designers of the superscraper, said.

It was taken by National Geographic photographer Joe McNally from the top of the world's tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai. McNally uploaded the photo to his Instagram account on Monday. McNally, who told The Huffington Post he was standing on the railing of a support structure for the building's airplane warning lights, said the photo wasn't a work assignment -- it just "seemed like fun."

"In the meantime, with construction continuing on site, people can now see the superstructure rising above the bridges and roads that surround the Dubai Pearl site which is located at the base of Palm Jumeirah. Dubai Pearl will begin to have a physical impact so everyone driving past the site will be able to follow its construction from now until completion."

The event began in Sydney in 2007, when two million people switched off their lights. In 2009, participation swelled to hundreds of millions as 4,159 cities, towns and municipalities across 88 countries joined in. The Burj Khalifa, Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Grand Mosque, Emirates Palace, Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Emirates Towers and other landmarks will join the cause tomorrow.

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 93m Opus Tower in Business Bay features a distinctive design that sees a gap, called the void, through the middle of the structure allowing views of the surrounding area from each side.

But the place with the highest concentration of skyscraper hotels is Dubai. The first, in the Burj Khalifa tower, is fashion designer Georgio Armani's first hotel.