Sustainability Extends Beyond Environmental Factors
By now, you've probably heard about the
opening of the Burj Khalifa (a.k.a. the tower formerly known as the Burj Dubai; a.k.a. the new World's Tallest Building by a Landslide). At 2,717 feet tall, this titan is a grand and overwhelming testament to extremes and excess. Consider the following building facts, which border on the lavishly absurd:
- It is as tall as stacking both former World Trade Center towers on top of each other.
- Its spire can be seen from 50 miles away--which would be the country of Iran.
- Its foundations drive 150 feet into the ground.
- Full occupancy will allow 60,000 people to be inside the building at the same time--literally a self-contained city.
- Air conditioning the building requires the equivalent of melting 12,500 tons of ice a day.
- Enough rebar was used in the building's construction to stretch a quarter of the way around the world.
- A base jump from 4/5ths of the way up the building (2,205 feet) still allows for over 20 seconds of freefall before the divers pull their parachutes.
Clearly, the Burj Khalifa is meant to showcase Dubai's wealth and prestige to the world. And yet, as L.A. Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne (among many others) points out, the timing could not have been worse. With the emirate having recently asked for a bailout from neighboring Abu Dhabi due to its economic recession and collapsing building bubble, this is hardly the time to make grand statements of material riches. And it's already showing--the building is currently empty, and there is no expectation as to when people will actually start living or working within the Burj's 200 stories of apartments, offices, and retail spaces. To no surprise of many, the Burj Khalifa will have an extremely tough time getting to a point of operation.
Clearly, all of this seems to state that the concept of sustainability is more vital now than ever before. And not just environmental sustainability (that AC tonnage is borderline laughable), but sustainability of all aspects, from financial to social to developmental. Consider the Burj Khalifa, which offers all the amenities one might ever want within one single structure ... this skyscraper is elegantly designed and is commendable on its own for its architectural aesthetics. But it rose in the middle of the desert, amidst a forest of similar monuments, in a land where islands resembling palm leaves or countries of the world were artificially created almost for mere show, as if to say "We are amazing. You will come to look at us and then stay here forever."
When Dubai's building boom began, it was a fest of one-upsmanship. Each developer competed to create something taller or flashier or more incredible-looking. Little regard was paid to urban development or social sustainability. Planting an infrastructure of actual grounded business and population seemed beside the point. This was Las Vegas Syndrome, only on the most potent steroids imaginable (and at least Las Vegas succeeds with tourism and established a service based structure that encouraged people to live there). Downtown Dubai was a city that looked like a dream but had no soul--no actual foundation that would ensure long term success. How pompous is it to assume that if something showy and extravagant was created, people would simply come? And stay? Well, when the world economy took a nosedive, businessmen fled, leaving behind a city of abandoned icons ... a city where luxury cars sit empty at airport parking garages, never to be reclaimed while skyscrapers sit empty over wide boulevards, their fates undetermined.
Hopefully, Dubai can recover and re-establish a framework that allows for a self-sustaining city. More recent projects had already begun to address environment and energy issues, and urban planning had begun to command more attention from designers, who were looking at a more integrated approach to cultivate a properly functioning city. But, of course, what many call "The Great Recession" has certainly derailed things. Worst-case scenario, Dubai becomes the architectural relic portrayed in many post-apocalyptic movies--a lifeless husk in the desert sands and the Burj Khalifa becomes its obelisk. In any case, we've already seen a lesson in the importance of factoring the full sustainable life cycle in any project, and responding with the proper gestures to ensure a true, sustainable success. If Dubai hasn't reached so fervently toward the skies, it may not have crashed down so violently.