The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is home to three of the world’s tallest buildings. The most recently completed project in Dubai sets another world record for skyscraper and engineering ingenuity.
World’s Tallest Twisted Structure, Talk of the Town in Dubai
The Cayan Tower, aka Infinity Tower, is a residential tower designed by Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM) for CAYAN Development Company. The residential building, completed in 2013, is situated in Dubai’s prestigious Marina District, stands 1,004 feet tall (306m), has 73 stories and cost $272 million (1 billion UAE dirham). The building’s 90° twist makes it the world’s tallest twisting tower.
The shape of Canyan Tower was inspired by the structure of DNA. Each floor of the tower is rotated by 1.2° to create a full 90° spiral and the shape of a helix. According to architects, the twisting action of the tower puts tremendous strain on the materials that make up the structure, creating significant design and engineering challenges that had to be overcome.
World’s Tallest Residential Building
Just five minutes away from the twisted tower is the world’s tallest residential building, the Princess Tower that stands over 1,350 feet (411 meters) and more than 100 floors high. The building was built by Tamir and engineered by Syed Majid Hashmi, Chief Structural Engineer. For perspective, the Burj Khalifa is 2,717 feet (828m) and has 160 floors.
Princess Tower houses over 700 luxury apartments from one to four bedrooms in size, all with sweeping views of the city. The building is ultra-modern with high speed elevators and indoor and outdoor swimming pools.
As much of the Middle East is new territory for many, included is the map of UAE, below, to give you a better sense of the relative locations of its major cities and location in the region.
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References and related content:
- World One, Mumbai, India – In Photos: The World’s Tallest Residential Towers – Forbes
- World’s Longest Commutes, by Elevator – WSJ
