Dubai Preps for Opening of World's Tallest Building

Six years in the making, the Burj Dubai skyscraper opens Monday with the United Arab Emirates' fortunes in flux and the boom times that launched the world's tallest building a distant memory. Designed by American Adrian Smith, the Burj Dubai—the name means simply "Dubai Tower"—is 2,683 feet and 160 stories tall, with a nightclub on the 143rd floor and residences as high as the 108th.

Developer Emaar Properties says the project is sold out despite the recession but won't say who's bought in, citing confidentiality, the Telegraph reports. "As super-tall buildings go, the Burj Dubai is elegant," writes Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne. "But the hyper-confident Dubai that Smith's tower was designed to mark and call global attention to is already dead."
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