Dubai and Saudi Arabia towers in time war to be world’s tallest

The race to the top has just gotten tighter, with two rising mega-towers in the Middle East battling to become the world’s tallest.

Construction has now begun on The Tower at Dubai Creek Harbor, a vast waterfront development, with completion scheduled for ahead of Dubai’s Expo 2020 world fair, which kicks off in October that year.

Piercing through a canopy of clouds, The Tower, at 3,045ft (928m), aims to take the title of world’s tallest tower, which the 2,723ft-tall (830m) Burj Khalifa, also in Dubai, has held since 2010.

But it’s got competition. The Jeddah Tower, in Saudi Arabia, is also slated to finish in 2020.

When completed, this gleaming vertical will be 236ft (72m) taller than Dubai’s creation.

If The Tower in Dubai wants the world title, even for a short time, it has to open its doors before the Jeddah Tower.

Ready, steady, go!

Both of these towers are feats in modern engineering.

The Tower, in Dubai, is being constructed by Emaar, the real estate giant also behind the Burj Khalifa, and will anchor the Dubai Creek development, serving – developers hope – as a magnet for tourists.

Designed by Swiss-Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava Valls, it will feature The Pinnacle Room – an observation point offering 360-degree views of the emirate – and public vertical gardens, while 18 to 20 floors have been reserved for homes, restaurants, shops and a boutique hotel.

If construction runs to schedule, this $1 billion tower will have been thrown up in just three years.

The Jeddah Tower, in Saudi Arabia, will have taken a little longer.

Construction on this graceful arrow to the sky began on April 1, 2013, and was originally slated for completion in 2018, but its opening date has already been pushed back twice. Constructing it will require about 5.7 million square feet of concrete and 80,000 tons of steel, according to the Saudi Gazette.

Bjarke Ingels Group

'The Eleventh' towers in New York will stand 300 and 400 feet tall on completion in 2019. The towers will join a growing field of twisted architecture that is making waves around the world.

The Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) recently released a comprehensive list of the world's twisting tall buildings that are either completed or under construction. From Shanghai to Dubai, CNN takes a look at these spectacular spiraled skyscrapers, as well as some of the other tallest buildings in the world.

Bjarke Ingels group

"The architecture draws inspiration from New York City's classic Modernist structures and cultural institutions," according to BIG. "The punched window openings are...a reference to the historic industrial buildings of the neighborhood and nearby Meatpacking District."

Bjarke Ingels group

The twisted design serves a practical purpose by allowing more expansive views of the adjacent Hudson River and lower Manhattan.

Bjarke Ingels group

The towers will join a growing field of twisted architecture that is making waves around the world.

JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Topping CTBUH's list in terms of height is Shanghai Tower, which twirls 632 meters (2,073 feet) into the sky.

Connie Zhou/courtesy gensler

Shanghai Tower is also the tallest building in China, and the second tallest skyscraper in the world after the famous Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Connie Zhou/courtesy gensler

Located in Shanghai's burgeoning Lujiazui financial district and designed by architects Marshall Strabala and Jun Xia from the firm Gensler, its twisted form accommodates strong typhoon winds. The tower was completed at the end of 2015.

via lakhta center press center

Although not yet completed, the second tallest twisted building on CTBUH's list is the Lakhta Center, a tower in St Petersburgh, Russia.

via lakhta center press center

Designed by British architect Tony Kettle in conjunction with Gorproject, the tower has a projected height of 462 meters (1,516 feet) and is due to be completed by the end of 2018.

KARIM SAHIB/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Completed in 2013 and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Cayan Tower soars 306 meters (1,005 feet) into the sky. It's the third tallest twisted tower in the world that's complete, according to CTBUH.

courtesy GORPROJECT

Inspired by the city's St Basil Cathedral and Russia's never completed Talin's Tower, the chief architect for design was Philip Nikandrov, from Gorproject.

JOHAN NILSSON/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

The world's first ever twisted tall building was the 190 meter (623 feet) Turning Torso, which was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and completed in 2005.

Iwan Baan/courtesy MAD Architects

Dubbed the 'Marilyn Monroe' towers by local residents due to its fluid, natural lines, Absolute World Towers was designed by MAD architects.

Tom Arban Photography Inc

Absolute World's two twisted towers stand at 176 meters (577 feet) and 158 meters (518 feet) tall.

istockphoto

Claiming the crown for the world's tallest building upon its completion in 2010, the Burj Khalifa stands a massive 198 meters (650 feet) above its nearest completed competitor.

image courtes of emaar / via aurecon group

However, the Burj Khalifa's 828 meter (2,717 feet) mark on Dubai's skyline may soon be eclipsed by a new mega-tall skyscraper.

image courtes of emaar / via aurecon group

Although not yet officially named, 'The Tower' at Dubai Creek Harbour will be 100m taller than the Burj Khalifa.

image courtes of emaar / via aurecon group

The Santiago Calatrava designed tower is expected to be completed in 2020 and will hold ten observation decks in its oval-shaped peak.

Jeddah Economic Company/Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

Also competing for the title of the world's tallest building is Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia. Designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the tower aims to break the 1 km (3,280 feet) threshold upon its expected completion in 2019. Such innovation doesn't come cheap - the building is expected to cost $1.23 billion.

Taking the race to even further extremes, a proposal for a tower double the height of the Burj Khalifa was unveiled In Feburary by Kohn Pefersen Fox Associates (KPF) and Leslie E Robertson Associates (LERA).

Kohn Pedersen Fox

The 1,600 meter -- one entire mile -- tower is part of a future city concept named "Next Tokyo 2045," which envisions a floating mega-city in Tokyo Bay.

DBOX

In December 2015, plans were unveiled for 1 Undershaft -- a 300 meter (984 feet) tall building that could become the City of London's tallest skyscraper.

DBOX

1 Undershaft will sit across the river from London's existing tallest building, The Shard, which sits 309 meters (1,013 feet) above London at its highest point.

Courtesy CIM Group

432 Park Avenue, the tallest all-residential tower in the western hemisphere, opened its doors in December 2015 and recently became the hundredth supertall building in the world. The 425.5 meter (1,396 feet) building was designed by Rafael Vinoly of SLCE Architects.

STAN HONDA/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Known as the "Freedom Tower," One World Trade Center stands on part of the site previously occupied by the Twin Towers. At 541 meters (1,776 feet) it's the highest building in the western hemisphere, and cost $3.9 billion according to Forbes. The building was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Taiwan Tourism

The first skyscraper to break the half-kilometer mark, Taipei 101 stands at 508 meters (1,667 feet) tall. Designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners to withstand the elements -- including typhoons, earthquakes and 216 km/h winds -- Taipei 101 utilizes a 660-tonne mass damper ball suspended from the 92nd floor, which sways to offset the movement of the building.

ChinaFotoPress/Getty Image

Construction of Shanghai's third supertall building took 11 years, but the skyscraper dubbed "The Bottle Opener" was met with critical praise and high-end residents when it was completed in 2008. At 492 meters (1,614 feet) tall, the Kohn Pederson Fox building's residents include the Park Hyatt Shanghai and offices for Ernst & Young, Morgan Stanley, and BNP Paribas.

ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Hong Kong's tallest building has 108 floors -- but walking around it, you'd get a different story. The city's tetraphobia -- the fear of the number four -- means floors with the number have been skipped and the 484 meter (1,588 feet) tall International Commerce Center is marketed as a 118-story skyscraper. The building was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox.

Goh Seng Chong/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The joint eighth highest completed skyscraper is still the tallest twin towers in the world at 451.9 meters (1,483 feet). Finished in 1996 and inaugurated in 1999, it's been the site of numerous hair-raising stunts. Felix Baumgartner set a then-BASE jump world record in 1999 by jumping off a window cleaning crane, and in 2009 Frenchman Alain Robert, known as "Spiderman," freeclimbed to the top of Tower Two without safety equipment -- and did so in under two hours. It was designed by Cesar Pelli.

Teddy Cross

Completed in March 2016, the Lotte World Tower is Seoul's first supertall skyscraper, and currently the sixth tallest building in the world. At 556 meters (1,824 feet) tall, the building was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates.

This $1.23 billion construction project is, however, already 40 floors off the ground, with 212 left to build – it’s undeniably farther along than the Dubai Tower.

But to think Dubai could finish first is not “as farfetched as it sounds”, according to Jason Gabel, communications manager for the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

“The Dubai project is an observation tower, and therefore won’t require nearly as much lead time as a full-blown skyscraper,” Gabel tells CNN. “2020 is a real possibility for completion.”

Because less than 50% of The Tower’s height is occupied by usable floor space, it is defined by the CTBUH as a “supported tower” rather than a “building”.

This technicality precludes The Tower from achieving the distinction of being the world’s tallest building. Rather, it would be the world’s tallest man-made structure, or tower, until the Jeddah Tower is completed.

The power of a skyline

Home to more than 65 highrises over 656 feet (200m) tall and counting, Dubai has become synonymous with futuristic skyscrapers, and has been a pioneer of this in the Middle East.

“Historically, no Middle Eastern country has come close to building skyscrapers at the rate and height of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but notable pockets of high-rise development are occurring in Qatar, Israel, and Saudi Arabia,” says Gabel. “The competitive situation we now see between Saudi Arabia and the UAE very unique.”

Dubai’s lofty intentions debuted in 1979, with the 39-story Dubai World Trade Center. It was the city’s first high rise, and the tallest building in the Middle East.

Subsequent iconic buildings, such as the Burj Khalifa and the Burj Al Arab, have given Dubai global notoriety.

“Height produces iconicity and visibility on a global stage,” says Gabel, explaining why Dubai has focused on building big. “Visibility is itself an asset that can have a positive impact on real estate valuation, investment flows, tourism numbers, and public identity.

“Put simply, structures like this are very expensive upfront, but the benefits of having the ‘tallest’ are often worth the trouble – as was the case with the Burj Khalifa.”  

Aric Chen, the design and architecture curator M+ visual culture museum in Hong Kong, tells CNN that for emerging economies a skyline can be a powerful communications tool.

“These soaring profiles are in many ways symbolic,” Chen tells CNN.

“Places like Dubai and, to some extent, places like China, are still trying to put themselves on the map and prove that they have arrived as modern global and technologically advanced nations.”

Testing the tower

The rapid speed at which Dubai can throw up a mega-tower has not, however, escaped criticism.

A series of fires in the past few years, including a blaze that tore through a luxury skyscraper on the Palm Jumeirah artificial island in Dubai this month – have called into question the quality of some towers, and their fire-proofing.

“Super tall buildings are not unproblematic and there are safety concerns,” says Chen.

Valls, however, is confident that The Tower will not succumb to such issues.

“Extensive studies were undertaken in preparation for the ground breaking, and the learning that we have gained from the experience will add to the knowledge base of mankind,” he said in a statement.

Developers have installed multiple damper and shock absorption systems throughout the building, to ensure its stability.

They also completed a series of wind tunnel, climate and seismic tests analyzing 12 scenarios across varying heights to check the behavior of the building under stressful conditions.

“We need to have a balanced and careful look at skyscrapers,” says Chen. “But they do serve to again push technologies, and push what’s possible.

“We can certainly learn from that experimentation.”