The Burj Khalifa currently holds the Guinness World Record as the tallest building on the planet, with a height of 828 meters, which has allowed it to be one of the greatest exponents of modern architecture.
The Burj Khalifa building is located in Dubai, being part of what is known as Downtown, which is a complex of two square kilometers located in what is the business district of the city.
Who built the tallest building in the world?
The Burj Khalifa Tower was built by Emaar Properties, with the participation of the architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP, under the direction of the famous architect Adrian Smith.
The Burj Khalifa was originally planned to be 518 meters tall, only 10 meters taller than the Taipei Tower, which would be enough to earn it the Guinness World Record as the tallest building in the world.
When was the Burj Khalifa built?
Construction of the Burj Khalifa began on September 21, 2004, and the exterior was completed on October 1, 2009.
Burj Khalifa’s height is a challenge
One of the biggest challenges of constructing a building as tall as the current Guinness World Record holder is that it must face the weather, however, the futuristic design of the Burj Khalifa has a cross-section that reduces the impact of wind.
In addition to this, the tallest building in the world has almost 26,000 panels on its exterior, which also represents a challenge when it comes to cleaning them, as it is a task that can take several months.
According to engineer Bill Baker, the building’s structure has the ability to confuse the wind, as it has individual stems that cause the wind to deflect around the building.
Other records around the Burj Khalifa
In addition to the 828 meters that allowed it to appear in the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa is also related to other types of records, such as the highest observation deck in the world, however, this feat was surpassed by the platform of the Shanghai Tower.
Similarly, the opening ceremony featured the world’s highest fireworks display.
While, on the other hand, the Burj Khalifa has been the site of other record attempts, such as the BASE jump of a building at the highest altitude and the shortest time to climb the Burj Khalifa on a bicycle, which took 2 hours, 20 minutes and 38 seconds.
Other curiosities of the tallest building in the world
- There are many curious facts about the Burj Khalifa, among which the following can be mentioned.
- Its cost reached 1,500 million dollars.
- It has 192 floors, of which only 160 are habitable.
- Its usable area is 5,000,000 million square meters.
- Its total weight is approximately 7 million tons.
- It has 57 elevators and 3,000 parking spaces.
- The panoramic elevators reach a speed of 36 kilometers per hour.
- The interior consultants almost reach 36 kilometers per hour.
- The highest point of the building can be seen from 95 kilometers away.
- The name Burj means tower in the Arabic language.
The Jeddah Tower will be the tallest building in the world.
Everything seems to indicate that the Burj Khalifa will no longer hold the record for the tallest building in the world, since the construction of a building with a higher altitude is underway, which is known as Jeddah Tower.
Formerly known as Kingdom Tower, the Jeddah Tower seeks to reach 1,000 meters in height, that is, it would be the first building to measure one kilometer and would surpass the Burj Khalifa by 170 meters, which would be enough to obtain the title of the Guinness World Record for the tallest building in the world.
The design of the Jeddah Tower or Jeddah Tower was made by Adrian Smith, who was also in charge of designing the Burj Khalifa.
What was the world’s first Guinness World Record?
In November 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver took part in a hunt in Ireland. The moment he missed a golden plover, a discussion began among the hunters as to which was the fastest bird in Europe, the plover or the capercaillie.
That same night, Beaver could not find that information in the reference books. He then realized that a book providing those kinds of answers could be very successful. A few years later, in 1954, Guinness Superlatives, later renamed Guinness World Records Limited, was formed to publish the first book. In the first edition for the general public, the book topped the bestseller list for Christmas 1955.
In 2022, its 67th edition has been published and is available in 23 languages and distributed in 100 different countries.