The Burj Al Arab

If I hadn’t become a mechanical engineer I guess I would have become an architect. I have this thing for buildings. Especially tall ones.

Back in 2000, an architect called Tom Write said, “If you can draw a building with a few sweeps of a pen and everyone recognizes not only the structure, but also associates it with a place on earth, you have gone a long way towards creating something iconic.”

Tom is the architect and designer of the Burj Al Arab, one of the most iconic and famous luxury hotels in the world. The building is shaped like the sail of a dhow, a traditional Arabian sailing vessel. There is no way I was going to leave Dubai without visiting it. Tomorrow I intend to climb to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.

At 321 meters, the Burj Al Arab is the tallest standalone hotel structure in the world. On Wikipedia’s list of tallest hotels it stands stands fourth. The atrium is at 182 meters and is the tallest in the world. The building is located on a man made island off the Jumeirah beach. In spite of its tall height the building has only 28 floors. That’s because each floor is double height with glass curtain walls extending from floor to ceiling.

Today I had lunch in one of Burj Al Arab’s ten exquisite restaurants.

I tweeted this picture saying “I’m having a Burj Royal at the Burj Al Arab with a view of the Burj Khalifa. ;-)”

A view of the building from the short bridge that connects the island to the shore