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At 2,716.5 feet tall, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world.
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It is so high that people at the top and bottom of the building have different time signatures.
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The building “transcends Earth’s local temperature and climate,” author Stefan Al wrote in his new book, “Supertall.”
People on the upper floors of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, experience time differently than people on lower levels.
In a new book called “Supertall,” architect Stefan Al explored the world of skyscrapers and how they affect our way of life, including the impact the world’s tallest building has on its residents.
With a height of 828 meters or 2,716.5 feet, the Burj Khalifa is twice as high as the Empire State Building. It far exceeds the scale of anything built on Earth, Al wrote.
“I remember when I first went there and I had this old camera phone — I couldn’t even fit it into a single shot. I thought it was so bizarre that you can’t even fit a building in your camera lens,” Al said. to Insiders.
From the top of the Burj, people can see so far into the Arabian desert that they can see the sun set minutes after people on the ground watch it set, according to Al’s book. It affected the Muslim population in the building: Due to the perceived time difference, those living on the higher floors of the Burj have to wait a few extra minutes before breaking their fast at sunset.
“Dubai clergy have decided that residents above the 80th floor must wait another two minutes to end their Ramadan fast. And those above the 150th must wait another three,” Al wrote in his book.
The building also “transcends the local temperature and the Earth’s climate,” Al wrote. That’s because the Burj is so high that the top half occasionally rises above the clouds, making it unaffected by the rain pouring at its base.
At the top of the building, the temperature on the outside would also be 11 degrees Fahrenheit (6°C) cooler than on the ground, according to the book.
“Because the air gets cooler the higher you go, you can take advantage of that height difference by having less air conditioning on the upper floors because you can use that cooler air as an inlet,” Al told Insider.
“Supertall” was released on April 12 under the publisher WW Norton & Company.
Read the original article on Insider
