CTBUH has honoured the supertall skyscraper Burj Khalifa with the Global Icon award as a part of the organization’s ninth Annual ‘Best Tall Buildings Awards Ceremony’.
Developed by Dubai-based Emaar Properties and designed by Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Burj Khalifa is the centre of a large scale, mixed-use development comprising residential, commercial, hotel, entertainment, shopping and leisure outlets with open green spaces, water features, pedestrian boulevards, a shopping mall and a tourist-oriented old town.
Burj Khalifa is composed of three elements arranged around a central core. The modular, Y-shaped structure, with setbacks along each of its three wings provides an inherently stable configuration for the structure and provides good floor plates for residential spaces. Twenty-six helical levels decrease the cross section of the tower incrementally as it spirals skyward. The central core emerges at the top and culminates in a sculpted spire. A Y-shaped floor plan maximises views of the Arabian Gulf. Viewed from the base or the air, Burj Dubai is evocative of the onion domes prevalent in Islamic architecture.
The interior design of Burj Dubai public areas was done by the SOM, and was led by award-winning designer Nada Andric. It features glass, stainless steel and polished dark stones, together with silver travertine flooring, Venetian stucco walls, handmade rugs and stone flooring. The interiors were inspired by local cultural while staying mindful of the building’s status as a global icon and residence.
Over 1,000 pieces of art from prominent Middle Eastern and international artists adorn Burj Dubai and the surrounding Emaar Boulevard. Many of the pieces were specially commissioned by Emaar to be a tribute to the spirit of global harmony.
Upon receiving the award at a banquet held on 21 October 2010 at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Crown Hall, George J. Efstathiou, SOM consulting partner stated that the Global Icon Award is a befitting title as it represents the collaboration of more than 12,000 professionals and skilled workers and over 60 consultants and contracting companies from around the globe.
‘Global Icon’ is the highest CTBUH award that can be conferred upon a project and will only be presented to exceptional projects. Since the inauguration of the building on 4 January 2010, Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world in all three categories recognized by the CTBUH, the world leading authority which compiles and ranks the world’s tallest buildings.
