# Has Anyone Here Actually Visited the Burj Khalifa **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 13, 2011, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015 "2011-12-13T09:14:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BeaMyra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BeaMyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeaMyra)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/1 "2011-12-13T09:14:40Z")
I was just looking at a picture of this building in Dubai. > **[Burj Khalifa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Khalifa)** > > .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}25°11′50″N 55°16′27″E / 25.19722°N 55.27417°E / 25.19722; 55.27417 > The Burj Khalifa\[a\] (known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010) is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It i... The picture seems fake, as the building is just so huge compared to the surroundings. To anyone who’s visited the building in real life, does it seem that way? What’s it like going up inside of it? ---
**Author:** ![kombatminipig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5ac83/32.png) [@kombatminipig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kombatminipig)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/2 "2011-12-13T13:04:57Z")
What do you find fake about the pictures? The buildings in the background are all too far away to be of any reference, while the building in the foreground seems to be about fifteen stories. The Burj by comparison is about 200 counting the spire, so I would say that the picture gives an accurate feel of the thing. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/3 "2011-12-13T13:09:59Z")
I have and the view in the pic is certainly possible from the appropriate vantage point. it is a buoying which is 2.5 times taller ten the previous record holder and IIRC 4 times the Dubai record. ---
**Author:** ![BeaMyra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BeaMyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeaMyra)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/4 "2011-12-13T13:11:12Z")
It doesn’t look real from the way it just looks so big and tall. It’s looks like they cut out a picture of a building blew it up and stuck it on a skyline somewhere. I guess the proportionality of it, that throws me off. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/5 "2011-12-13T14:06:31Z")
I visited it with my daughter last year. It is completely insane. They have what they claim are the fastest elevators in the world, so you get to the observation deck in a minute or two. The observation deck actually isn’t that close to the top of the building (the Wikipedia link says it’s _only_ at around 1400 feet), but even so you are looking down on other skyscrapers from a great height. We posted some pictures from the observation deck on my wife’s Facebook page, and someone commented that it looked like the pictures were taken from a plane rather than from a building. [To pick an example from the intarwebs.](http://www.expatechodubai.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/view-from-Burj-Khalifa.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![beowulf573](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@beowulf573](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulf573)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/6 "2011-12-13T14:21:21Z")
It is impressive, though I’m not sure what the occupancy rate is. The base is connected to a very large mall, which is also impressive. [Here’s](http://www.flickr.com/photos/beowulf/5796867140/in/set-72157626882950838) a photo I took earlier this year. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/7 "2011-12-13T15:17:20Z")
That wiki picture makes it look like a CGI Tower of Lairness for some evil overlord type. Really … what is the big whoop about having the tallest building if it tips over in the damned sand and sinks? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/8 "2011-12-13T17:39:45Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > That wiki picture makes it look like a CGI Tower of Lairness for some evil overlord type. Really … what is the big whoop about having the tallest building if it tips over in the damned sand and sinks? If you have architects and engineers who can make such a tall building, you think they would not be able to channel into thousands of years of expertize and make a building that does not sink in to the sand.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/9 "2011-12-13T18:09:11Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > If you have architects and engineers who can make such a tall building, you think they would not be able to channel into thousands of years of expertize and make a building that does not sink in to the sand.:rolleyes: My understanding is that the firm that actually built it are sort of the go-to guys these days for super-tall buildings. It’s Samsung Construction, and they also built the Petronas Towers and Taipei 101. So they probably know what they are doing. ---
**Author:** ![TheUthaBrutha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@TheUthaBrutha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheUthaBrutha)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/10 "2011-12-14T00:07:21Z")
> [@beowulf573](#): > > It is impressive, though I’m not sure what the occupancy rate is. The base is connected to a very large mall, which is also impressive. [Here’s](http://www.flickr.com/photos/beowulf/5796867140/in/set-72157626882950838) a photo I took earlier this year. Dude that picture is absolutely amazing. If you look at it make sure you click the + sign and look at his picture in actual size. I see where the original poster says it looks fake. If you look at the pic in full size, it looks normal and then as you go up, it starts looking unreal as it goes up against the sky. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/11 "2011-12-14T00:34:38Z")
I do not think it is going to tip over into the sand and sink. However, I do think it is quite soon going to crumble into ruin because no-one will have any economic incentive to do routine maintenance on it. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/12 "2011-12-14T05:16:59Z")
It really is something to behold. Standing outside the mall and looking up at it is dizzying. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/13 "2011-12-14T12:59:34Z")
> [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](#): > > My understanding is that the firm that actually built it are sort of the go-to guys these days for super-tall buildings. It’s Samsung Construction, and they also built the Petronas Towers and Taipei 101. So they probably know what they are doing. That’s just the main contractor, the geotechnical engineer on record is Hyder Consulting out of the UK. The Structural engineers are SOM, specifically Bill Baker from Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/14 "2011-12-14T13:25:03Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I do not think it is going to tip over into the sand and sink. However, I do think it is quite soon going to crumble into ruin because no-one will have any economic incentive to do routine maintenance on it. That would make it even \*more \*awesome. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/15 "2011-12-14T14:06:28Z")
I’ve never been in it, but I’ve been near it in Dubai and, yeah, it’s a big frigging building. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/16 "2011-12-14T14:13:33Z")
And on the pedestal these words appear: ‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’ Nothing beside remains. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/17 "2011-12-14T16:22:35Z")
[Tom Cruise has, for Mission Impossible 4(amateur footage of him…on the outside of the building).](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErUYULiJXR0#t=35s) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-here-actually-visited-the-burj-khalifa/606015/18 "2011-12-14T16:25:23Z")
[Here is a wider shot of Cruise(I think) at the top.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWoDpMSKQOI&feature=related)