Tall building

Today the world’s tallest building is being inaugurated.

I mean, of course, the Burj Building in Dubai.

When will someone try to bring this one down?

Or is it "safe" because it is in an Arab, Islamic country?

I don’t think you could print enough money to get me to work or live in this building.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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13 Comments

  1. chironomo says:

    I’m not sure you could call any building like this “safe”…either from natural or man-made disaster. Anything this prominent and recognized will be a target. Remember that the World Trade Center stood for 30 years as a “target” before being taken down. Of course…

    Has anybody wondered why there is such a large “clear area” around this building, by the way?

  2. Jono says:

    The UAE has largely been pro-western and pro-American. I think that makes this the #1 target for attack in the world right now.

  3. ghlad says:

    I don’t think the UAE is quite as dominated by it’s media and “democratic” vox popoli as are Western governments. I would make a safe bet that they’ve got some kind of way to easily bring down a passenger plane that is in the vicinity that is hijacked, and that in that part of the world and in a country such as the UAE, they need not fear a huge public backlash for doing so.

  4. Tower of Babel?

    Some very tall buildings have dynamic wind dampers that move to counteract motion from wind. As these are electrically operated, the chance of building collapse becomes very real in times of chaos. Elevators are dependent on electricity, and backup sources can fail too.

    Ancient authors have some rather ugly stories about the Roman ‘insulae’ or tall apartment buildings – places where you wouldn’t want to live.

  5. The Egyptian says:

    The height of that thing would induce swaying and thus nausea. sounds like upchuck towers to me ;>)

  6. shane says:

    I am glad I do not live there.

    here’s a ‘must read’ article by Johann Hari

    http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html

  7. Fr Martin Fox says:

    I’d have liked to see that built on the sight of the twin towers. Build it back, bigger and better!

  8. robtbrown says:

    Some very tall buildings have dynamic wind dampers that move to counteract motion from wind. As these are electrically operated, the chance of building collapse becomes very real in times of chaos. Elevators are dependent on electricity, and backup sources can fail too.
    Comment by Mark Scott Abeln

    One building, I think it’s Citicorp in NY, has a 400 ton mass at the top. When the sensors begin to detect too much sway, oil is released on which the mass floats. This acts as a damper to correct the sway.

  9. Tominellay says:

    A radio commentator said today that today’s price per square foot in the Dubai building is about half what it was a few months ago; buyers/investors are losing money even before the project is completed…

  10. jimsantafe says:

    “When will someone try to bring this one down?”

    Mi sembra un po brutta figura, Padre. Ma, Buon Anno!

  11. Taking the elevator is part of the commute.

  12. tioedong says:

    The UAE and other Gulf states are not democracies, but are the anti Saudi Arabia. They are comfortable with diversity because they are descended from a thousand years of Arab traders, not isolated desert nomads.

    Half a million Filipinos live there and they even have their own church, unlike Saudi where a million Pinoys have to risk arrest by worshiping in house churches.

    So yes, the terrorists would bring it down if they could, because it shows an alternative and authentic Islamic Arab society can exist.

  13. GregY says:

    Pride cometh before a fall.
    I was struck when watching Mary Poppins with my children how they portrayed a skyline shot of early 20th century London and all one saw was steeples as far as the eye could see. It was not all that long ago that people reserved the tallest building for God’s house.
    Now we build our temples to mammon, sports, etc. But the Lord will not abandon his people–it is only a matter of how long it will take before we as a society are humbled and get back on our knees.

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