Sulla punta dell’edificio piu’ alto del mondo

 

Video dallo spire del Burj Dubai

Niente torre più alta del mondo per ora

di ETTORE LIVINI

TIRARE la cinghia, ormai, non basta più. E per far fronte alla crisi finanziaria più grave dal ’29, gli americani hanno preso il più drastico dei provvedimenti: restringere le case, autoriducendosi del 10% circa (per ora) lo spazio vitale. Per la prima volta in trent’anni la dimensione degli appartamenti negli Usa ha iniziato a diminuire. A giugno scorso la famigliola tipo a stelle e strisce abitava in 230 mq. di spazio, il 40% in più dei 162 del 1978. Oggi siamo già scesi a 210 metri. E il trend, assicura l’associazione dei costruttori nazionale, è destinato ad accelerare visto che a dicembre l’89% delle imprese edili nazionali, alle prese con una clientela sempre più sparagnina, aveva deciso di ridurre ancora la taglia nei nuovi edifici in costruzione.

World’s tallest building

The silvery steel-and-glass building’s final height is a secret. — PHOTO: REUTERS

DUBAI – THE developer of a Dubai skyscraper set to become the tallest building in the world says the rising tower now stands at a ‘new record height’ of 2,257 feet or 688 metres.

Emaar Properties says the skyscraper – know as Burj Dubai – now has ‘more than 160 storeys’.

Its exterior is almost done and work has started on the interior.

The company’s Monday statement gave no other details. The silvery steel-and-glass building’s final height is a secret.

Last summer, the developer announced the building surpassed Taiwan’s Taipei 101 which has dominated the global skyline at 1,667 feet or 508 meters since 2004.

In the four years of construction, Emaar twice postponed the skyscraper’s finish, now slated for September 2009. — AP

Oggi sono stato qui: che bello !

By Teo Cheng Wee

Henderson Waves (above), at a height of 36m, is Singapore’s highest pedestrian bridge. — ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM

THE wet morning on Saturday did not dampen the excitement of Telok Blangah resident Habib Ismail.

He was among 500 residents who watched Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong officially open two pedestrian bridges – Henderson Waves and Alexandra Arch.

With these bridges, Telok Blangah Hill Park is now linked to Mount Faber on one side and Kent Ridge Park on the other.

An avid walker, Mr Habib, 44, a father of two, then joined Mr Lee and the other residents on a tour of the bridges.

The bridges complete a 9km chain of greenery in the Southern Ridges, which consist primarily of three large hill parks – Mount Faber, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Kent Ridge Park.

Henderson Waves, at a height of 36m, is Singapore’s highest pedestrian bridge. A wave-shaped, steel-and-timber structure, it spans 274 metres across Henderson Road.

The other bridge is Alexandra Arch, which spans 80 m across Alexandra Road.

The parks were previously separated by roads and wooded vegetation. Now one can walk ridge-to-ridge, starting from Harbourfront MRT and ending at West Coast Park.

In 2002, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said it will link up parks in the Southern Ridges, as part of the Parks and Waterbodies and Identity Plan.

The project, which took two years to complete, cost the URA $25.5 million.

Apart from the two bridges, the Southern Ridges now also boast the Forest Walk, a 1.3km-long elevated walkway that cuts through secondary forest at Telok Blangah Hill Park; and Marang Trail, which links Harbourfront MRT to Mount Faber.

PM Lee also officiated the opening of the $13 million Horticulture Park – or HortPark for short.

With 20 theme gardens, HortPark is Southeast Asia’s first one-stop gardening and lifestyle hub.