January 5 2010

The world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, has been officially opened by the states ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Rising to a dizzying 828m the tower was built in just four years by an army of immigrant labour to designs by Skidmore Owings and Merrill.

Khalifa is to be surpassed by an even grander vision from developer Emaar for a tower of some 1.1km in Saudi Arabia but doubts persist as to whether this was laid low by the ongoing financial crisis sweeping the desert kingdom.

Real estate values have plunged in a vertical counterpoint to the lofty growth of the cities architecture and markets worldwide were spooked by a potential debt default by state controlled developers.

The sky may not yet have completely fallen but it can at least now be touched.

Image taken by www.florephoto.com

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