Great buildings: Burjal Arab

It is believed that all architectural masterpieces were built more than 1000 years ago, at worst - in the Middle Ages. And today only standard skyscrapers are being created, albeit with a more modern design. However, this is a fallacy. And architects have something to surprise the public with, as well as attract millions of tourists to their creations. Moreover, it’s much easier to implement such projects now, given modern technologies and equipment - huge truck cranes, jib crane, robotic welding, the use of heavy-duty materials, unbreakable glass and much more, which allows you to create fantastic buildings.

One of such masterpieces was the world-famous hotel in Dubai, Burjal-Arab. This is not just a luxury hotel, it is a symbol of Dubai, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris or Big Ben in London. Just a lot more practical and fully self-supporting.

Initially, this project was not easy. And although there were a lot of drawings and design options, it turned out to be difficult to choose something really worthwhile. There was not that highlight that was required by the customer, and the architect himself. Until he accidentally saw in the bay an ordinary boat sailing. It was then that the idea came to mind to create a hotel in the form of a huge sail.

The difficulties were not so much with the construction as with the deadline - the customer, and she was the UAE sheikh, demanded that the opening of the hotel take place before the beginning of the 21st century. And at that time it was 1994, that is, for all the calculations and construction was given only 6 years. To cope with this task, the chief architect had to engage a team of 250 designers from around the world and more than 3,500 workers.

Difficulties arose everywhere - with the filling of the foundation, and with waves from the storm, and with water pressure. For the foundation, concrete columns had to be used, which went 40 meters under water. In total, the creation of this architectural masterpiece took more than 9,000 tons of steel and 70,000 cubic meters of concrete.

However, even more materials were spent on interior decoration, and quite expensive ones. Marble alone required 24,000 square meters. meter. Not to mention gold leaf, which took almost 8,000 square meters. meters. It is not surprising that at such costs the cheapest hotel room costs $ 1,000 per night, and the most expensive one costs $ 28,000. This is a hotel for an elite audience, for which the interior design was designed.