Burj Dubai tops CN Tower

Canada has lost the record for having the world’s tallest freestanding structure. At 553-metres, the CN Tower in downtown Toronto has held the record for 30 years since it was completed in 1977.
However, on September 13, the developers of the Burj Dubai tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates reached 555 metres. It has surpassed Taipei 101 as the tallest building as well, and will have 150 “livable” levels.
The developers of the Burj Dubai, Emaar Properties, refuse to release what the final height of the Dubai tower will be when it is completed in 2009, but say it will be the tallest in the world in all four criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, based in Chicago. The tower is being designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago, and being built by Samsung Corporation of South Korea.
The CN Tower recently added an LED lighting show to highlight its architecture. The system reportedly can produce 16.7 million colours and an “infinite variety” of lighting effects, which are produced by an “intelligent” computer control system. During the months of September to November, however, the lighting show is muted so that it does not interfere with the flight paths of migrating birds.
The CN Tower’s structural designers were Nicolet Carrier Dressel & Associates.