Slog - Comments on Working on a Building http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building This building, in Dubai, has just become the world's tallest freestanding structure—555 meters, beating Taipei 101 by forty-something meters. They want to push it up to over 700 meters, with around 160 floors. Here's what the Dubaians hope it will look like when it's done: Which reminds me of one of my favorite sentences in the new George Saunders book, when he describes Dubai's skyline: "like four or five architects had staged a weird-off, with unlimited funds."... Copyright 2008 Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:24:39 -0800 Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:31:37 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Gloria Hmm, I thought it was the CN Tower that was beaten. But I've only read articles about it from Toronto, so the perspective is probably biased.

]]> Gloria http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804533 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804533 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:43:02 -0800 Comment by maxsolomon we should blow up dubai, and this pointless exercise in arab ego, on the way out of iraq. tit for tat.

architects are whores. i would know.

]]> maxsolomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804536 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804536 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:46:45 -0800 Comment by monkey I believe you are correct, Gloria.

Dubai in 10 years is going to be the futuristic city of the future we see in movies.

I've ready some ugly things about the way they treat construction workers there (in Dubai, not specifically that building). And it's being built for the super rich.

So I have mixed feelings about the place. It's going to be beautiful, but at what cost and for whose benefit?

]]> monkey http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804537 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804537 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:47:43 -0800 Comment by maxsolomon i suppose we could tell the east asian slave laborers to clear out before we blow the fuck out of it, because we're 'civilized', and not 'terrorists'.

any firm working there has no shame.

]]> maxsolomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804542 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804542 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:51:58 -0800 Comment by Brendan Kiley You should read the Saunders essay, monkey. It wonders about those questions. And includes a funny scene in a water park. And it's great.

]]> Brendan Kiley http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804552 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804552 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:00:47 -0800 Comment by mattymatt How do they intend to change the desert from brown to blue?

]]> mattymatt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804556 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804556 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:04:31 -0800 Comment by Katelyn Anyone else hearing shades of Babel here? I gave up trying to find biblical reference in everything but this in particular reminds me of 1) Babel and 2) Pharoah's Egypt during Moses' time. "Let my people goooo"

]]> Katelyn http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804576 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804576 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:30:09 -0800 Comment by Paul Dreamy! I wanna move into that pristine tower!

]]> Paul http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804577 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804577 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:33:12 -0800 Comment by Jon Is this Halliburton's new headquarters?

]]> Jon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804588 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804588 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:06:41 -0800 Comment by Dougsf Built by indentured servants, ta boot! (if I remember the story correctly, most of laborers are Filipino, trapped in "pay off your ride here before you get paid"-type contracts).

I hope they're investing wisely, or when the wells run dry that place is going to be one bizarre post-apocalyptic ghetto.

]]> Dougsf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804592 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804592 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:18:10 -0800 Comment by OR Matt @10

Those were pretty much my thoughts exactly. This extravagance is pretty, but there is NOTHING in that dessert but oil A building that big needs to be maintained and if there are no funds .... oh man.

]]> OR Matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804601 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804601 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:53:08 -0800 Comment by Giffy Is it wrong that my first thought was that it would be really funny if the thing toppled over... or some schmucks fly a plane into it.

]]> Giffy http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804611 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804611 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:17:03 -0800 Comment by Sean I'm just about done with Raban's Bad Land, and I need a new book. Brendan, any chance you might lend some of your literary wisdom to a lowly computer guy (with a liberal arts education)? Would you recommend Saunder's book? I vaguely recall laughing through Ask an Optimist in The New Yorker. Or is there something better I should pick up?

]]> Sean http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804630 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804630 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:49:49 -0800 Comment by keshmeshi @10,

Just what I was thinking. Coolest (inevitable) ghost town ever. It'll look really amazing sticking out of 20+ feet of sea water.

]]> keshmeshi http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804631 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804631 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:50:18 -0800 Comment by duncan looks like Bellevue.

]]> duncan http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804633 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804633 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:53:58 -0800 Comment by z 10, 11
little of dubai's economy is based on oil revenues. theyve got a lucrative free economic zone and income from tourism is increasing and will continue to as they build more stupid slowly-sinking islands and 70-star hotels and indoor amusement parks for rich people to enjoy. i would be curious what would happen once all their neighbors' wells dry up.
also migrant workers comprise a large majority of the population so thats gonna be fun down the road.

]]> z http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804658 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804658 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:13:40 -0800 Comment by Carollani That reminds me of the Ivory Tower from the NeverEnding Story.

]]> Carollani http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804672 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804672 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:00:32 -0800 Comment by kinaidos The solution to that babel problem was obvious enough - English. Of course at earth scale anything you stick on it will be about as phallic as a micropenis (which is in fact an official medical diagnosis - ICD9 752.64).

]]> kinaidos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804685 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804685 Architecture Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:47:01 -0800 Comment by Cato the Younger Younger I know where all that money the Bush Administration lost in Iraq went now!

]]> Cato the Younger Younger http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804726 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804726 Architecture Fri, 14 Sep 2007 06:56:30 -0800 Comment by Horsewash Condi will fly in for visits on Falcor.

]]> Horsewash http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804751 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804751 Architecture Fri, 14 Sep 2007 08:23:36 -0800 Comment by gillsans I love that the "Atheist Awareness Campaign" post is followed up with a reference to a gospel song.

]]> gillsans http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804775 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804775 Architecture Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:13:49 -0800 Comment by Greg Unlike the architects of this building, I don't make others participate in my masturbation fantasies.

]]> Greg http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804776 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804776 Architecture Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:16:57 -0800 Comment by Scottie "Weird-off," a phrase I hope to use a lot in the future. :-)

]]> Scottie http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804839 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804839 Architecture Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:31:00 -0800 Comment by Rotten666 @20 wins.


I love it. Its a wild looking building. Too bad we don't build big in America anymore.

]]> Rotten666 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804902 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804902 Architecture Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:29:12 -0800 Comment by Brendan Kiley Sean: Yes, Saunders is good. Most of the time.

Other titles by living writers that jump to the front of my brain: Absurdistan by Shteyngart, Wake Up Sir by Jonathan Ames, and Murder in Amsterdam by Ian Buruma. I want to read the new Steven Pinker book, but haven't yet.

]]> Brendan Kiley http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804911 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804911 Architecture Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:38:49 -0800 Comment by Sean Many thanks.

]]> Sean http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804978 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804978 Architecture Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:36:46 -0800 Comment by frederick r This is what Broadway should look like. Those Arabs know density, folks.

]]> frederick r http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804993 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c804993 Architecture Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:55:26 -0800 Comment by Orv @24: Yeah, but we've still got the tallest structure, period -- a TV antenna tower in South Dakota. It's over 2,000 feet tall. (It doesn't count as free-standing because it's supported by guy wires.)

]]> Orv http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c805229 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c805229 Architecture Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:27:39 -0800 Comment by Orv @1: It depends on what perspective you're looking at it from. Taipei 101 was previously the tallest office building, and the CN Tower was the tallest freestanding structure. Traditionally these are considered separate distinctions. This new building has broken both records.

]]> Orv http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c805230 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/working_on_a_building#c805230 Architecture Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:31:37 -0800