Errantes Magazine :: Issue # 13 :: Dubai EAU

ISSUE 13 ERRANTES MAGAZINE Director: FABIAN PULIDO Photography: www.fabianpulido.com

Dubai

Dubái es uno de los siete emiratos que conforman los Emiratos Árabes Unidos —EAU—. Está situado en la costa del golfo Pérsico, en el desierto de Arabia, y limita al sur con el emirato de Abu Dabi, con el de Sharjah por el noreste y a través del exclave de Hatta, con el Sultanato de Omán por el sureste y con los emiratos de Ajmán y Ras al-Jaima. El entrante de agua salada del golfo pérsico denominado Khawr Dubayy atraviesa la ciudad capital en dirección noreste-suroeste. Su superficie es de 4113 km².El nombre de «Dubái» puede provenir del árabe o del persa y apareció por primera vez en la literatura en 1095, citada por el geógrafo Abu Abdullah al-Bakri, y luego por el comerciante italiano Gaspero Balbi en su visita al territorio en 1587. El origen de la palabra podría provenir de Daba —un derivativo de Yadub— que significa «cosa que fluye», en referencia a la masa de agua del Khawr Dubayy. Su capital es la ciudad homónima.

The Burj Al Arab is a hotel located in Dubai, United Arab, While the hotel is sometimes described as “the world’s only seven-star hotel”, the hotel management claims to never have done that themselves. In the words of a Jumeirah Group spokesperson: “There’s not a lot we can do to stop it. We’re not encouraging the use of the term. We’ve never used it in our advertising.”

According to the group, the “Seven-Star” notion was brought to being by a British journalist who visited the hotels on a pre-opening press trip. The journalist “described Burj al Arab in her article as above and beyond anything she had ever seen and called it a seven-star hotel.by a British journalist who visited the hotels on a pre-opening press trip. The journalist “described Burj al Arab in her article as above and beyond anything she had ever seen and called it a sevenstar hotel.

Construction of Burj Khalifa began in 2004, with the exterior completed in 2009. The primary structure is reinforced concrete. The building was opened in 2010 as part of a new development called Downtown Dubai.

It is designed to be the centerpiece of largescale, mixed-use development. The decision to build the building is reportedly based on the government’s decision to diversify from an oil-based economy, and for Dubai to gain international recognition. The building was named in honor of the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Abu Dhabi and the UAE government lent Dubai money to pay its debts. The building broke numerous height records.

Burj Khalifa was designed by Adrian Smith, then of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), whose firm designed the Willis Tower and One World Trade Center. Hyder Consulting was chosen to be the supervising engineer with NORR Group Consultants International Limited chosen to supervise the architecture of the project. The design of Burj Khalifa is derived from patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture, incorporating cultural and historical elements particular to the region, such as the spiral minaret. The Y-shaped plan is designed for residential and hotel usage. A buttressed core structural system is used to support the height of the building, and the cladding system is designed to withstand Dubai’s summer temperatures. A total of 57 elevators and 8 escalators are installed with a capacity of 12 to 14 passengers per cabin.

Critical reception to Burj Khalifa has been generally positive, and the building has received many awards. However, the labor issues during construction were controversial, since the building was built primarily by workers from South and East Asia, who earned low wages and were reportedly housed in poor conditions.