Burj (برج): A tower. The word is Arabic in origin.
The amazing 7-star hotel, The Burj Al Arab, celebrates 10 years this month! As usual, The National has an excellent article about it. Please have a read here:
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091201/NATIONAL/711309906/1182/enewsletter
It's really worth reading it! Good work from Leah Oatway.
The architects and engineers for this iconic building that needs no introduction were Atkins. Before Burj Al Arab, I never heard of Atkins, but after seeing their masterpiece being built (I used to drive by the building site everyday), I was very impressed with the company that is one of the world leaders in the engineering field.
Although I've only been inside the Burj Al Arab a few times, I believe that it perfectly manifests Dubai's and the UAE's ambitions to be a world class city and a world class country respectively.
The Burj Al Arab (Hotel) is 321 m high, and the new Burj Dubai (tower) is 818 m high. Even though the newer, taller Burj is much more impressive in terms of numbers, I doubt it will do to Dubai what the Burj Al Arab did and continues to do.
Having said that, I can't wait for the grand opening of Burj Dubai... have they set a date yet? I'm betting on 4 Jan 2010!
Happy Birthday to the Burj!
ReplyDeleteThe first question that came to mind when I heard about the anniversary today was why didn't they make it at the 2ed to coincide with the National Day?
Thanks DJ.. kullak thoq!
ReplyDeleteI dunno the exact date of opening the Burj Al Arab, but as professionals in the building field we know that there is not one single "finishing" day for a building project.
there are handover days, completion certificate days, soft openings, and official openings (e.g. by a sheikh).
most of these will never happen on the same day!
actually, I was at the university of oxford in the middle of my degree in Dec 1999 when the building was opened!