Dubai has a rich collection of buildings and structures of
various architectural styles. Many modern interpretations of Islamic
architecture can be found here, due to a boom in construction and architectural
innovation in the Arab World in general, and in Dubai in particular, supported
not only by top Arab or international architectural and engineering design
firms such as Al Hashemi and Aedas, but also by top firms of New York and
Chicago.
As a result of this boom, modern Islamic – and world –
architecture has literally been taken to new levels in skyscraper building
design and technology. Dubai now boasts more completed or topped-out
skyscrapers higher than 2/3 km, 1/3 km, or 1/4 km than any other city. A
culmination point was reached in 2010 with the completion of the Burj Khalifa
(Khalifa Tower), now by far the world's tallest building at 829.8 m (2,722 ft).
The Burj Khalifa's
design is derived from the patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture,
with the triple-lobed footprint of the building based on an abstracted version
of the desert flower hymenocallis which is native to the Dubai region. The completion of the
Khalifa Tower, following the construction boom that began in the 1980s,
accelerated in the 1990s, and took on a rapid pace of construction unparalled
in modern human history during the decade of the 2000s, leaves Dubai with the
world's tallest skyline as of 4 January 2010.