About Burj Khalifa
Behind the number everyone knows there is an old reference. The design, by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), with Adrian Smith as chief architect, drew inspiration from the region's Islamic architecture, such as the spiral minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra. The tower opened on January 4, 2010 and stands 828 meters tall.
The observation decks are on two levels. At the Top occupies floors 124 and 125, at about 452 meters; SKY, on the 148th, reaches about 555. The appeal is not the record but the scale: from up there, the neighboring buildings turn into scale models.
