| Dubai, UAE; January 4, 2010: The world's tallest tower, developed by Emaar Properties, was unveiled tonight to a crowd of thousands and the world in a crescendo of fireworks, lasers and fountain displays. The official height of the tower, unveiled as 'Burj Khalifa', was announced as 828 metres (2716.5 ft). A closely guarded secret, the official height of Burj Khalifa was flashed onto a giant screen before an estimated crowd of more than 400000, as lasers and fireworks lit up the night sky. Fireworks cascaded from the tower's spire to the base and lasers blazed out from all levels leaving the crowds awestruck. The height was disclosed in arithmetic progression, with the numbers being flashed onto the screen, one after another. The tower's height breaks all existing world records for tall buildings. Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world according to the three main criteria of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). The CTBUH ranks the worlds tallest buildings based on Height to Architectural Top, Height to Highest Occupied Floor and Height to Tip. At 828 metres (2716.5ft), Burj Khalifa is 320 metres taller than Taipei 101, which at 508 metres (1667 ft) had held the record for the worlds tallest building measured to the architectural top since 2004, the year the project was announced. Burj Khalifa achieved the distinction of being the world's tallest structure surpassing the KVLY-TV mast (628.8 metres; 2063 ft) in North Dakota, USA 1325 days ... |
