20100104

News - The world's tallest skyscraper opens in a blaze of glory... and it's been renamed after Arab ruler who bailed out Dubai with $25bn

Daily Mail on 5th January 2010

Dubai opened the world's tallest skyscraper in a glitzy ceremony this evening that was meant to put a brave face on crushing debt woes.

The £1billion tower reaches 2,717 ft, 200 storeys into the sky, exceeding the next highest structure by some 1,000 ft.

Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum renamed the tower Burj Khalifa after the president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of the neighbouring emirate of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan.

Abu Dhabi has facilitated $25 billion in bailout funds for Dubai in the past year, fuelling expectations that Dubai will make concessions or cede some of its commercial power to its wealthier neighbour.

Concerns about Dubai's $100-billion debt pile, which has made Dubai's stock exchange one of the world's worst performing, overshadowed both the ceremony and boasts by the builder, Emaar Propertie, that the Burj heralds a new dawn.

Read more:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1240280/Burj-Dubai-tallest-building-world-opens-just-months-debt-crisis.html




Spectacular: Even though many of the building's 200 storeys are unfinished, organisers are celebrating the launch with an arsenal of fireworks

Blast off: More than 6,000 guests watched as the world's tallest skyscraper was officially opened with a spectacular fireworks display

A number of the higher floors - up to the 160th - have been designated as office space, while there is a restaurant on the 122nd floor and a gym, with an indoor and outdoor swimming poo, on the 123rd floor - some 1,440 feet off the ground

Guests watched in awe at the opening ceremony, which took place despite the building not yet being finished inside

The Burj was designed to show off Dubai's new wealth and industrial might

Half a mile high: the tower was tarted at the height of the economic boom and built by some 12,000 labourers

The shadow of Burj Khalifa is seen from floor 124 of the Burj, the superfall skyscraper during a media tour in Dubai

Besides an observation deck on its 124th floor affording 360-degree views of the entire city, Burj Khalifa is home to world's first Armani Hotel, luxury offices and residences

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