The Burj Khalifa is well known for being the tallest building in the world. Located in the business area of Dubai, it is surprising to see it especially from the plane when landing in the city of opulence: suddenly you see an enoooorme tower at the bottom of kilometers and kilometers of desert. Its construction began in 2006 and in just four years it was inaugurated breaking a lot of records. If you want to know more about this building and its construction, here are 17 curiosities of the Burj Khalifa.
An ephemeral record
With 828 meters it is the tallest building in the world. It equals three times the Eiffel Tower, 15 times the fall of the Niagara Falls and twice the Empire State. In fact, it can be seen 100 kilometers away if it is a clear day. But as if this were not enough, there are already competitors on their heels. It is estimated that in 2020 the Jeddah Tower will be finished in Saudi Arabia, the first building that will exceed one kilometer in height. The plans for the Nakheel Tower, in Dubai and 1400 meters, the Mubarak Tower al-Kabeer in Kuwait and the Murjan Tower in Bahrain are also approved. Although the latter are waiting for lack of budget, what is clear is that the Burj Khalifa does not have many years of reign.
Not only does it have the record for being the tallest building in the world
It also has the highest viewpoint, nightclub and restaurant in the world. To be exaggerated, they even take the cake by having the most spectacular fireworks display at the end of the year! But what most surprises the visitor is perhaps its ultra-fast elevator with capacity for 14 people that runs half a kilometer in just one minute. It goes at a speed of 10m / s, or what is the best, 36km / h.
the fastest elevator in the world
The fastest elevator in the world is in the Burj Khalifa tower, in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The building, inaugurated in January 2010, is also the tallest on the planet, with 828 meters high and 160 floors. In order to transport visitors from one floor to the other, 57 super-powerful elevators were installed. The fastest of them, travels at 18 m / s which is equivalent to 65 km / h. Until the inauguration of the Burj Khalifa tower, the fastest elevator in the world was that of the Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan, which took off at 16.83 m / s (60.6 km / h). He was also the owner of the tallest flat in the world, with 106 flat.
A building of the most international
The building is in Dubai, but people from far away places have been needed to create it. The architectural firm that designed the Burj Khalifa is called SOM, Skidmore Owings & Merrill and is based in Chicago. Of them is the merit of thinking a structure capable of supporting more than 150 plants. But the builders are Korean, the company Samsung Engineering and Construction carried out everything the Americans had printed on paper.