The Skyscraper Museum is devoted to the study of high-rise building, past, present, and future. The Museum explores tall buildings as objects of design, products of technology, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence. This site will look better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.

WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDING: Burj Dubai

Lecture Series

In conjunction with the Museum's spring/summer 2007 exhibition, The Skyscraper Museum and The New York Academy of Sciences present a lecture series exploring issues and ideas surrounding the construction of this superlative skyscraper and its geographic and historical context.

The New York Academy of Sciences
7 WTC, 40th Floor
6:30 PM

JULY 18
Why Dubai?
Dubai development strives for superlatives: artificial islands visible from space, the world’s tallest building, largest maritime complex, shopping mall, and theme park, as well as the infamous indoor ski run, testify to the limitless ambition, imagination, and wealth driving Dubai’s expansion. A panel of experts currently at work on a range of Dubai megaprojects, including developers, architects, engineers, and construction-industry executives, will discuss the reasons why Dubai has become “the fastest-growing city in the world.”

Robert Booth, Executive Director, Emaar North America
John Braley, Business Development Manager, Turner International -- NEW!
George Efstathiou, Managing Partner, SOM/Chicago
Jordan Gruzen, Partner, Gruzen Samton, LLP
John Mills, Project Director, Hyder Consulting Middle East Ltd.
Moderator: Robert Ivy, Editor in Chief, Architectural Record

Reservations Required

Registration is free for members of The Skyscraper Museum and The New York Academy of Sciences.
Admission is $5 for students and seniors, $10 for adults.

Email burjdubai[AT]skyscraper.org to secure a place.

Previously in this series:

JUNE 13
Extreme Building: The Challenges of Constructing Burj Dubai
Ahmad Abdelrazaq, Executive Director, Highrise Building and Structural Engineering Divisions, Samsung Corporation.

Already at 130 stories, on its way to 160, Burj Dubai adds a story every three days to its concrete frame and will soon become the world’s tallest building, surpassing the current title-holder Taipei 101 at 508 meters. Although its ultimate height remains secret, when finished in 2009, Burj Dubai will rise at least 700 meters. New Yorkers can imagine the Chrysler Building stacked atop of the Empire State to have an idea of its height and volume.

Height, heat, and concrete are three basic challenges of this titanic project being constructed by the high-rise experts of South Korea’s Samsung Corporation. Turner International is the project and construction manager. The executive in charge of Highrise Building and Structural Engineering Divisions for the Samsung Corporation, general contractors Burj Dubai, will explain the planning and execution on this unprecedented feat of skyscraper construction.

MAY 23
Supertallest: Designing Structure
William F. Baker, Partner SOM/Chicago, Chief Structural Engineer, Burj Dubai