Monday, January 4, 2010 |
06:46 - Half-a-milestone
http://blog.beliefnet.com/cityofbrass/2010/01/burj-dubai-opens-today.html
|
(top) |
Aziz Poonawalla reports on the opening today of the Burj Dubai, the new tallest building there is (and will be for a while, from the look of things—that is, unless this gets built).
Who knows what the future will hold for Dubai; but this is a pretty epic bookend to the last few years. From the Tribune:
The prospect of a partly-empty skyscraper invariably opens the Burj Dubai to charges of overbuilding. Surprise: It's happened before. As the history of the Empire State Building reveals - when it opened in 1931, it had so few tenants that it was known as the "Empty State Building" - today's white elephant is often tomorrow's beloved landmark. Like the Empire State, the Burj Dubai reflects the exuberance and overreaching ambition of its age. Thanks to its Chicago-based architects and engineers, it possesses the quality and artistry that will enable it to take its place not only in the record books but also among the pantheon of the world's iconic skyscrapers.
I suppose it's fitting that so much of the building's engineering has its roots in Chicago, which if nothing else has plenty of high-building history. Sucks, though, that even the Chicago Spire is still just a hole in the ground, and won't really be a challenger even when it's done.
Nonetheless, all things considered, I'm glad there's a skyscraper race on again. We need something like it.
|
|