MAGA STRUCTURE

The world’s most ambitious cities have always had something of an edifice complex. Last century there was the fabled rivalry between New York and Chicago to build the boldest and biggest skyscrapers. Now the action has shifted to prospering metropolises in economically dynamic Asia and the currently cash-flush Middle East. In late January the South Korean business hub, Busan, announced plans to erect a 560m (1,837 ft.) tall skyscraper complex dubbed the Millennium Tower World Business Center that will be the tallest building in Asia when it’s completed in 2010 or 2011.

Yet the true bragging rights for the world’s mightiest mega-structure (currently Taiwan’s Taipei 101 building) will soon belong to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where the 800 m. (2624 ft.) Burj Dubai is expected to be completed in November, 2008. Designed by U.S. architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, it will house 39 floors of hotel space, 64 floors of apartment units, and 37 floors of office space. Here’s a quick look at how this trophy tower is going up, built by a consortium led by prime contractor Samsung Corp.