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BuildingPorn: The Dubai Skyline-in-Progress
Posted by Adam Frucci at 4:00 AM on November 20, 2008
The Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world, is at 160 stories and counting, with the tower due to be complete next September. But it's not the only tower under construction in Dubai, not by a longshot. No, the city appears to be sprouting up from the ground like a bunch of weeds, with as many cranes as buildings. And now, The Big Picture has nearly 30 amazing shots of the city in transition. Hit the jump for another of my favourites and then head over to The Big Picture for the rest.
Oh look, another insane tower planned for Dubai! This one is dubbed the Anara Tower, and while it's not going to be the tallest in the world (it'll be about 150 metres shorter than the 
If you thought the Leaning Tower of Pisa was messed up, get a load of the Capital Gate tower currently being constructed in Abu Dhabi. Actually, saying it is "messed up" is incorrect given that the 18 degree westward incline was completely intentional. In fact, the project's architects have submitted a joint application to the Guinness Book of Records to recognise the tower as the 'most inclined in the world.' In order to support the awkward angle of the 35-story structure, the design called for a foundation of extremely dense reinforced steel mesh and 490 piles sunk nearly 30 metres into the ground. Hmmm...I hope Abu Dhabi doesn't get a lot of earthquakes. [
At just under 1.5 million square metres, Dubai's International Airport Terminal 3 has not only became the shiniest airport terminal ever, but it's also the largest in the world, beating the 984,000 of the previous record holder, the 
Forget the 
As you know, we always wonder at the grandeur of Dubai's buildings: the 
It's not built quite yet, but Tameer Holding is constructing the world's largest LED screen in Dubai for a commercial office building named The Podium. The gigantic display will be implemented as the building's facade, reaching 33 stories into the sky and maintaining visibility up to a mile away. (Needless to say, that's a lot bigger than we are building displays 
When it's finished in ten years, Dubai's latest architectural monolith will be the tallest skyscraper in the world. At more than one kilometer high (3,280 feet), the Nakheel Tower will have around two hundred floors. Like always, the company behind the project is very secretive about the actual size of the leviathan, in order to beat other buildings for as long as possible, but you can see how it compares to Burj Dubai and other the rest of giant towers here:
A particularly optimistic design firm in Dubai called Timelinks has proposed designs for the Ziggurat, a complete city to be layered inside of a massive pyramid that could serve as home for a million people at a time. Timelinks is currently seeking patents for a variety of technologies that would make such a building possible, including a three axis public transportation system that would run residents up, through and across the pyramid. They've also claimed that with a hybrid wind, solar and steam power the Ziggurat would be able to meet its own power needs, and that there would be enough room to allow for some minor agriculture in designated "green spaces."
If you want to build a skyscraper 2,275 feet (693 metres) tall, you will face engineering challenges comparable to those of the Space Shuttle just because its sheer size. One of them is communications. When the 
