ABSTRACT

The media and scholarly descriptions and understandings of the tallest building in the world, namely the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, generally, have been simplified. Either celebrating or condemning it, these explanations typically stress the unique technological solutions, the symbolic and political motivations or the financial risk and economic gamble. This manuscript documents the origins – in terms of both its generation as centrepiece of the large-scale development project called Downtown Dubai and the mobilization of antecedents of Dubai’s icon (including the Kuala Lumpur City Centre, the Samsung Tower Palace Three, Seoul). Drawing on secondary data and prior research materials, the paper analyses the mobilities of architectural, engineering and real estate experts and solutions, arguing that this urban spectacle worked at multiple scales, that multiple actors embraced it for different purposes: the government celebrating the nation and the city, the developer gaining a distinct landmark in a massive development to market it internationally, enticing partners and regulators in subsequent transnational operations and the design experts testing unprecedented technological solutions. The conclusions concentrate on the diverse motivations behind this architectural piece and the importance of a place-based yet critical and multiscalar understanding of similar urban transformation processes and their uneven urban effects.

摘要

媒体和学术界对世界上最高的建筑，即迪拜的哈利法塔的描述和理解，一般都被简化了。无论是庆祝还是谴责，这些解释通常强调独特的技术解决方案、象征性和政治动机或金融风险和经济赌博。这份手稿记录了起源 - 就其作为名为“迪拜市中心”的大型开发项目的核心部分以及迪拜标志性建筑（包括吉隆坡市中心、首尔三星塔宫殿三期）的前身动员而言。本文利用二手数据和先前的研究材料，分析了建筑、工程和房地产专家和解决方案的流动性，认为这种城市景观在多个尺度上发挥作用，多个参与者为了不同的目的而接受它：政府庆祝国家和城市，开发商在大规模开发中获得一个独特的里程碑以在国际上推广它，在随后的跨国运营中吸引合作伙伴和监管机构，以及测试前所未有的技术解决方案的设计专家。结论集中在这件建筑作品背后的不同动机上，以及对类似城市转型过程及其不均衡的城市影响进行基于地点但具有批判性和多尺度性的理解的重要性。在随后的跨国运营中吸引合作伙伴和监管机构，以及测试前所未有的技术解决方案的设计专家。结论集中在这件建筑作品背后的不同动机上，以及对类似城市转型过程及其不均衡的城市影响进行基于地点但具有批判性和多尺度性的理解的重要性。在随后的跨国运营中吸引合作伙伴和监管机构，以及测试前所未有的技术解决方案的设计专家。结论集中在这件建筑作品背后的不同动机上，以及对类似城市转型过程及其不均衡的城市影响进行基于地点但具有批判性和多尺度性的理解的重要性。