Burj Khalifa: Designing the world’s tallest building

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2022

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

The tallest building in the world opened in 2010. There was a glitzy firework display to celebrate the occasion. The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is nearly three times the height of the Eiffel Tower. The statement building cemented the reputation of the city as a place for luxury tourism and high-end real estate. Alex Collins speaks to chief architect Adrian Smith about his creative vision and the challenges he faced on such a huge project. (Photo: Burj Khalifa. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the witness history podcast with me, Alex Collins.
0:08.9	Today I'm taking you back 12 years to the spectacular opening of the world's tallest building
0:14.3	in the United Arab Emirates.
0:18.1	It's the 4th of January 2010.
0:23.3	Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai, is opening a single structure roughly three times the
0:27.9	height of the Eiffel Tower.
0:29.8	With its interlocked glass towers culminating in a spire, the building is over 800 meters
0:34.6	tall.
0:35.6	It dwarfs all the other buildings around it.
0:38.4	No wonder he's put on a dazzling firework extravaganza.
0:43.1	From here you can see just how tall this building is.
0:45.6	There are 164 floors inside a little house, a hotel, apartments, shops and offices.
0:51.8	To get to the top it'll take you just 50 seconds or once you're there on a clear day
0:56.6	you can see from more than 80 kilometers.
0:58.9	We're out across the Gulf into Iraq.
1:01.6	Chief architect Adrian Smith has flown thousands of miles from the US to attend the opening
1:07.0	ceremony of his latest creation.
1:09.4	He's amazed at what the Sheikh is saying.
1:11.4	He started talking about it in Arabic so I wasn't really understanding what he was saying.
1:16.5	But right at the end of that he announces the building, 828 meters, Burj Khalifa.
1:25.7	We said Burj Khalifa, what's that?
1:30.0	That was the announcement of changing the name from Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa.
	...

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