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To infinity and beyond!
Short of taking a rocket to space, the Burj Khalifa is a compelling attempt to construct a stairway to the heavens. While the silver spire seems a bit cold and sinister when viewed from afar against the barren Dubai backdrop, the experience is absolutely breathtaking standing at its base. Mankind advances when boundaries are reset, so my compliments to the architects and engineers for enabling this contemporary wonder of the world.
I continue to find it shocking that RECORD has an almost total inability to write a critical word about any new building that graces its pages, the latest example being the Burj Khalifa, which stretches the rational uses of resources beyond the breaking point and is purely an ego-driven project for its owners. The floor plates are so tiny they can only accommodate small firms, like hedge funds, which can generate the necessary revenue to pay the rent. And while the engineers found a way to build so tall, every wall is needed to resist load, which means the current architectural layout is almost entirely fixed forever. Finally, from the drawings, it appears the space utilization factor is only about 50 percent, which cannot possibly be a rational use of materials and energy.
The cover of the August issue is perhaps the most thrilling, inspiring, and jaw-dropping ever. I am stunned by the beauty and human achievement of the Burj Khalifa. The image of Wright’s hypnotic Illinois Tower is no longer a mirage! I am also completely perplexed by the Burj’s economic and humanitarian validity and by its setting, so clearly shown in the surreal photograph by Iwan Baan. What has emerged may be our era’s Tower of Babel. Given the surrounding hostile desert, world religious turmoil, eventual collapse of oil empires, and the sheer, untouchable visual and economic gravity of this shimmering landmark, can this endeavor succeed? Yes, the next decade will be most interesting, and nowhere more so than beneath this awesome stretch to the heavens.
On one hand, the cover image of the Burj Khalifa is truly spectacular — an impressive sculptural object and an architectural and engineering achievement. On the other hand, the August cover shows an uncoordinated scattering of mediocre towers (“random clumps,” in the article’s words). The context of the Burj seems to be a combination of strewn architectural trash, decorative water features, and a sand-blown haze reminding everyone that the desert is ready to obliterate it all once the population and the money goes away.
CORRECTIONS
In his article on Expo 2010 Shanghai China [August 2010, page 52], Thomas J. Campanella stated that the 1893 World Columbian Exhibition in Chicago featured “the world’s first elevated rail line.” Actually, elevated rapid-transit rail lines had been in regular service in New York City since the 1870s, but they were steam-powered. The Chicago fair had the first electric elevated rail line in regular service.
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