.
THE WORLD’S (LATEST) TALLEST BUILDING
.
Dubai’s Burj Khalifa is now the tallest building in the world. The 160-storey glass and steel structure rising out of the Arabian sands has scored the oft sought and much coveted title, and its arrival on the world stage had me thinking about how this amazing building came to be.
.
Sky-scraping architecture began with the Egyptians, whose pioneering ancient world architecture was dedicated to the Gods and Great Pharaohs they revered. Tombs and religious buildings were among the most important structures of that time.
.
Religious structures continued to reach closest to the heavens for hundreds of years following, and they remain some of the formidable examples to this day. Witness St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, or France’s Notre-Dame Cathedral.
.
As civilization advanced, religion began to lose its governing power. Civic buildings such as the Hotel de Ville in Paris or Brussels and monuments to great leaders such as the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. began reaching ever higher as though to prove their dominance over developing society.
.
Throughout the last century, however, church and state cowered in the shadow of the mighty commercial skyscraper. A myriad of engineering feats and architectural innovation led to the modern skyscrapers we know today. The constant desire for prestige and amazement have led architects of the modern world to push the boundaries of construction and the realms of understanding to create the contemporary masterpieces of our time.
For more information on Burj Khalifa, visit their website. The project was known until Monday, as Burj Dubai, thus the website’s name.
For a review of the building and its inauguration (with a spectacular fireworks display on video), see this New York Times article .
For details of the world’s tallest buildings in general, including calculation methods, see the website of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). You will also find exhaustive lists of data, diagrams and photographs of the tallest buildings over time.
.
/
EVENTS
Burj Khalifa, Dubai – A Virtual Tour
Why not take a virtual tour of Burj Khalifa, the world’s (latest) tallest building from the comfort of your computer…
Location: Burj Khalifa Website
Date/Time: Anytime
Admission: Free!
New Canaan Moderns: A Driving Tour
Take an informative driving tour of New Canaan’s fantastic modern houses! Beginning in downtown New Canaan, Connecticut, you will learn the background of the Harvard Five architectural movement that began here in the 1940′s. Important town buildings and their histories that were part of the modern movement will be included in the discussion. From there, a driving tour throughout the town will begin. While highlighting some of the most beautiful roads in picturesque New Canaan, you will view twelve examples of modern architecture by the Harvard Five and other important architects of the period.
Location: In front of The Gramophone Shop at 99 Main Street, New Canaan, CT.
Date/Time: Tour dates and departure times to be coordinated with Jack Trifero. The driving tour will last approximately an hour and fifteen minutes.
Admission: $60 per person, with a maximum of four people. (A one-on-one experience is $120.)
Phone: 203.216.8774
|
Tags: Bauhaus, Burj Dubai, Burj Khalifa, Happy New Year, Harvard 5, Hotel de Ville, St. Peter's Basilica, The Great Pyramid, Torre Asinelli, Virtual Tour, Washington Monument, World's Tallest Building
