BBC Focus Magazine

[Liam Sheppard]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle ... 438857.stm

is there any real need these days??

[Szymy]

Me and my husband saw it when it was still under construction and it was unbelievable!

The race is now on to beat it - in Dubai again!

[Jamie]

Very impressive, but it's really no wonder Dubai is in the financial mess it is.

[Szymy]

mmmm.... can't even begin to imagine how much it cost to build!

[Jamie]

$1,500,000,000 apparently.

"The total budget for the Burj Khalifa project is about US $1.5 billion; and for the entire new "Downtown Dubai", US $20 billion.Mohamed Ali Alabbar, the CEO of Emaar Properties, speaking at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat 8th World Congress, said that the price of office space at Burj Khalifa had reached US $4,000 per sq ft (over US $43,000 per m2) and that the Armani Residences, also in Burj Khalifa, were selling for US $3,500 per sq ft (over US $37,500 per m2)."

Crikey.

[M Paul Lloyd]

is there any real need these days??

Personally, I think not but others might argue that pushing the boundaries of engineering technology is how we advance our understanding, plus if we have any hope of building a space elevator this is where you start.

[Jamie]

I guess it does have it's engineering advantages, but I suspect it's probably just a case of mine's bigger than yours.

Still, if it results in improved structures and techniques then it's no bad thing.

[Liam Sheppard]

but the priciples in building high are the same these days arent they, no matter how high.... reinforced concrete, ribs, braces, exo skeletans, hollow bits and all that!! heh heh..

[M Paul Lloyd]

The Lotus credo. 'add lightness'

[Shadowwolf]

Very sci-fi looking piece of work.

[Theos Dolophonos]

If Dubai really wanted to build something amazing they should have done something like a bridge over the Gulf. Of course, they wouldn't care that it's almost certainly impossible with current technology - they'd just keep raising the offer until they found someone willing to have a go.

[M Paul Lloyd]

Hello and welcome Theos, an interesting way of looking at it but I have to admit you could have a point, after all if they can build something twice as big simply because someone else has exceeded 'it' by a small margin, well who knows?

If nothing else it pushes the boundaries of engineering and what we can do with the materials we have to hand.