Tall order

Its crushing national debt and recessionary economy didn&rsquot get in the way of Dubai&rsquos big celebration last month the opening of a 2,717-foot skyscraper &mdash the world&rsquos tallest &mdash on January 4. Or maybe reality did taint the dream a little because, on the night of the opening, Burj Dubai was abruptly renamed Burj Khalifa, after the president of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Clearly, an acknowledgement of the UAE&rsquos $10 billion bailout of Dubai. But Emaar Properties, which is behind the Burj Khalifa, is very upbeat. It has even tied up with Giorgio Armani to develop hotels, in cities like New York, London and Tokyo. The first Armani hotel opens at the Khalifa on March 18.

Meanwhile, the Burj Khalifa stands alone it has the highest swimming pool, and the highest mosque it is said to have used enough glass to cover 17 football fields, and aluminium that would weigh as much as five A380 airplanes. Apparently, if you were to lay out the gaskets it uses end-to-end, it would cover the length from Dubai to Damascus. The building has 206 floors the 124th floor houses &lsquoAt the Top&rsquo, the world&rsquos highest observatory.