LEGO Burj Khalifa, User Manual, Page: 5 / 36

In July 2007, the Burj became the talest building in the
world, at 512.1 meters (1,680 feet), pushing past Taipei
101, which had held the title of the world’s tallest
for only six years. By September, the Burj had broken
another record: at 555 meters (1,821 feet) it was now
the world’s tallest freestanding structure, nosing
past the CN Tower in Toronto by just two meters (6.6
feet). The Burj reached its fi nal height at 828 meters
(2,716.5 feet), just 172 meters shy of a kilometer, and over
half a mile tall.
No stranger to Middle Eastern design, Adrian Smith
incorporated patterns from traditional Islamic architecture.
But his most inspiring muse was a regional desert
fl ower, the Hymenocallis, whose harmonious structure
is one of the organizing principles of the tower’s design.
Three “petals” are arranged in a triangular shape and
unifi ed at the center, and instead of repeated identical
patterns, the architectural plan appoints successively
receding and rotated stories. The Y-shaped plan is ideal
for residential and hotel usage, with the wings allowing
maximum outward views and inward natural light.
Viewed from above or from the base, the Y-shape
also evokes the onion domes of Islamic architecture.
During the design process, engineers rotated the building
120 degrees from its original layout to reduce stress from
prevailing winds. At its tallest point, the tower sways a
total of 1.5 m (4.9 ft).
Dome shape and Dessert Flower (Image: Emaar Properties)
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