Burj Al Arab, the next history

The Burj al-Arab (Arabic: برج العرب, "Tower of the Arabs") is a luxury hotel in Dubai, the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates, and was briefly marketed as "the world's first seven-star hotel". It was designed by Tom Wright of WS Atkins PLC. At 321 m (1053 feet), it is the tallest building used exclusively as a hotel.^[1] It stands on an artificial island 280 m (919 feet) out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It is an iconic structure, designed to symbolize Dubai's urban transformation.

Construction

Construction of Burj al-Arab began in 1994. It was built to resemble the sail of a dhow, a type of Arabian vessel. Two "wings" spread in a V to form a vast "mast", while the space between them is enclosed in a massive atrium. Said architect Tom Wright, "The client wanted a building that would become an iconic or symbolic statement for Dubai; this is very similar to Sydney with its Opera House, or Paris with the Eiffel Tower. It needed to be a building that would become synonymous with the name of the country."^{[citations needed]}

Several features of the hotel required complex engineering feats to achieve. The hotel rests on an artificial island constructed 280 metres offshore. To secure a foundation, the builders drove 230 40-meter long concrete piles into the sand. The foundation is held in place not by bedrock, but by the friction of the sand and silt along the length of the piles.^[2]

Engineers created a surface layer of large rocks, which is circled with a concrete honey-comb pattern, which serves to protect the foundation from erosion. It took three years to reclaim the land from the sea, and less than three years to construct the building itself. The building contains over 70,000 cubic meters of concrete and 9,000 tons of steel.^[3]

The world's tallest atrium

Inside the building, the atrium is 180 meters (590 feet) tall. During the construction phase, to lower the interior temperature, the building was cooled by half-degree increments over a period of three to six months. This was to prevent large amounts of "condensation or in fact even a rain cloud from forming in the hotel during the period of construction." This task was accomplished by several cold air nozzles, which point down from the top of the ceiling, and blast a 1 meter cold air pocket down the inside of the sail. This creates a buffer zone, which controls the interior temperature without massive energy costs.^{[citations needed]}

The hotel cost $650 million to build.^[4]

Burj al-Arab characterizes itself as a "7-star" property, a designation considered by travel professionals to be hyperbole. All major travel guides and hotel rating systems have a 5-star maximum, which some hotels attempt to out-do by ascribing themselves "6-star" status. According to the hotel's official site, the Burj al Arab is a "5-star deluxe hotel".

Architecture

The Burj al Arab artificial island

Profile from the beach

The architect and engineering consultant for the project was Atkins, the UK's largest multidisciplinary consultancy. The hotel was built by South African construction contractor Murray & Roberts.^[5]

Exterior

The building design features a steel exoskeleton wrapped around a reinforced concrete tower. Notably the building is shaped like the sail of a dhow, with two "wings" spread in a V to form a vast "mast".

The space between the wings is enclosed by a Teflon-coated fibreglass sail, curving across the front of the building and creating an atrium inside. The sail is made of a material called Dyneon, spanning over 161,000 square feet, consists of two-layers, and is divided into twelve panels and installed vertically. The fabric is coated with DuPont Teflon to protect it from harsh desert heat, wind, and dirt; as a result, "the fabricators estimate that it will hold up for up to 50 years."^[6]

During the day, the white fabric allows a soft, milky light inside the hotel, whereas a clear glass front would produce blinding amounts of glare and a constantly increasing temperature. At night, both inside and outside, the fabric is lit by color-changing lights. During the period of mourning following the death of Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum in January 2006, the light show and some water features were turned off.

It is the world's tallest structure with a membrane façade and the world's tallest hotel (not including buildings with mixed use) and was the first 5-star hotel to surpass 1000 ft (305 m) in height.

There was a considerable controversy regarding the claim that the structure looks like a huge Christian cross when viewed while sailing into city. Some locals claim that this was an intentional move on the part of the British architects. This issue is more ironic when one considers that the Tower of the Arabs is widely considered to be Dubai’s most important landmark.

A front on view of the Burj-al-Arab Hotel. The disk near the top of the tower is a helicopter landing pad.

Near the top of the building is a suspended helipad supported by cantilever. The helipad has featured some of the hotel's notable publicity events. Irish singer Ronan Keating shot his music video Iris on the helipad. In March 2004, professional golfer Tiger Woods hit several golf balls from the helipad into the Persian Gulf, while in February 2005, professional tennis players Roger Federer and Andre Agassi played an unranked game on the helipad, which was temporarily converted into a grass tennis court, at a height of 211 metres. The helipad has no borders or fences on the edges and if a player hit a winner the tennis balls would plunge down to the ground.^[7][8]

Interior

Looking down at the upper lobby

The interior was designed by Khuan Chew, Design Principal of KCA International. Other projects by Khuan Chew include, the Sultan of Brunei's Palace, Dubai International Airport, Jumeirah Beach Resort Development, Madinat Resort and much more.

The Burj al-Arab features the tallest atrium lobby in the world, at 180 meters (590 feet). The atrium is formed between the building's V-shaped span. The atrium dominates the interior of the hotel, and takes up over one-third of interior space. It can accommodate the Dubai World Trade Center building, which, at 38 stories, was the tallest building in Dubai from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s.

While the exterior of the Burj al Arab is expressed in terms of ultra-modern sculptural design, the interior guest space is a compilation of lavish and luxurious architectural styles from both the east and the west. The hotel boasts 8,000 square meters of 22-carat gold leaf and 24,000 square meters of 30 different types of marble.

The base of the atrium with water fountain

In the mezzanine lobby, a fountain creates a "three-dimensional Islamic star pattern."^[9] Pointed arches throughout, found in one of the hotel’s three restaurants, corridors between guest rooms, and at the top of the atrium recall a classic Arabian architectural design form.

Rooms and prices

One of the hotel suites

Despite its size, the Burj al-Arab holds only 28 double-storey floors which accommodate 202 bedroom suites. The smallest suite occupies an area of 169 square meters (1,819 square feet), and the largest one covers 780 square meters (8,396 square feet). It is one of the most expensive hotels in the world to stay in. The cost of staying in a suite begins at $1,000 per night and increases to over $15,000 per night; the Royal Suite is the most expensive, at $28,000 per night.^[10] Suites are around the same size as average houses, ranging in floor space from 1800 to 8400 square feet.

Suites feature design details that juxtapose east and west. White Tuscan columns and a spiral staircase covered in marble with a wrought-iron gold leaf railing show influence from classicism and art nouveau. Spa-like bathrooms are accented by mosaic tile patterns on the floors and walls, with Arabian-influenced geometries, which are also found elsewhere in the building.

Restaurants

One of its restaurants, Al Muntaha (Arabic meaning "Highest" or "Ultimate"), is located 200 metres above the Persian Gulf, offering a view of Dubai. It is supported by a full cantilever that extends 27 metres from either side of the mast, and is accessed by a panoramic elevator.

Another restaurant, the Al Mahara (Arabic "The Oyster"), which is accessed via a simulated submarine voyage, features a large seawater aquarium, holding roughly 35,000 cubic feet (over one million liters) of water. The tank, made of acrylic glass in order to reduce the magnification effect, is about 18 cm (7.5 inches) thick. The restaurant was also voted among the top ten best restaurants of the world by Condé Nast Traveler.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Over a period of 300 years, between 900 and 1200 AD, the Khmer empire produced some of the world's most magnificent architectural masterpieces on the northern shore of the Tonle Sap, near the present town of Siem Reap. Most are concentrated in an area approximately 15 miles east to west and 5 miles north to south, although the Angkor Archaeological Park which administers the area includes sites as far away as Kbal Spean, about 30 miles to the north. Some 72 major temples or other buildings dot the area.

The principal temple, Angkor Wat, was built between 1112 and 1150 by Suryavarman II. With walls nearly one-half mile on each side, Angkor Wat portrays the Hindu cosmology with the central towers representing Mount Meru, home of the gods; the outer walls, the mountains enclosing the world; and the moat, the oceans beyond. The later capital of Angkor Thom, built after the Cham sack of 1177, has at its centre the Bayon. Construction of Angkor Thom coincided with a change from Hinduism to Mahayana Buddhism. Temples were altered to display images of the Buddha, and Angkor Wat briefly became a Buddhist shrine. A subsequent Hindu revival included a large-scale campaign of desecration of Buddhist images, before Theravada Buddhism14th century. became established from the

During the 15th century, nearly all of Angkor was abandoned after Siamese attacks, except Angkor Wat, which remained a shrine for Buddhist pilgrims. The great city and temples remained largely cloaked by the forest until the late 19th century when French archaeologists began a long restoration process. From 1907 to 1970 restoration of Angkor was under the direction of the Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient, which worked to clear away the forest, repair foundations, and install drains to protect the buildings from water damage. After the end of the civil war, work began again, and since 1993 it has been jointly co-ordinated by the French, Japanese and UNESCO through the International Co-ordinating Committee on the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC), while Cambodian work is carried out by the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA), created in 1995. The Some temples were carefully taken apart stone by stone and reassembled on concrete foundations. Since the end of the civil war, international tourism to Angkor has increased, posing additional conservation problems.

2001 saw the release of the movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, filmed on location at various Angkor sites. Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love, also incorporated scenes filmed at Angkor.

(From Wikipedia)

It's a Prambanan History

Prambanan, named after the village, is the biggest temple complex in Java. There are 224 temples in the complex; three of them, the main temples are Brahma Temple in the north, Vishnu Temple in the south, and the biggest among the three which lies between Brahma and Vishnu temples is Shiva Temple (47 meters high).

These three ancient masterpieces of Hindu architecture are locally referred to as Prambanan Temple or Lorojonggrang Temple. One of its appeals is the wealth of sculptural detail. The well known one is on the inner wall of the balustrade, the wonderfully vital and utterly engrossing Ramayana epic.

Perhaps one of the most majestic temples in the South-East Asia, Prambanan attracts many admirers each year from abroad. Situated about 15 kilometers from Yogyakarta, the top of the main shrine is visible from a great distance and rises high above the scattered ruins of the former temples.

History of Prambanan
An inscription that could be related to the Prambanan temples, was Siwaghra inscription (778 C / 856 M). The insription mentioned about inauguration a holy building for the God Civa. Then the name of king Jatiningrat (Rakai Pikatan) in which has to fight againts Balaputra, and after he won the war he gave the kingdom to Dyah Pitaloka (Rakai Kayu wangi 851-852). In that inscription was also detaily saod about the Hindusts holy building, as well as mentioning about Dwarapala.

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Holy Temple, Borobudur

Borobudur is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Indonesia. It is located in the province of Central Java, 40 kilometers (25mi) north-west of Yogyakarta. It is a Buddhist stupa related to the Mahayana tradition, and is the largest Buddhist monument on earth. It was built between 750 and 850 CE by the Javanese rulers of the Sailendra dynasties.
Viewed from above, Borobudur takes the form of a giant mandala, symbolically depicting the path of the bodhisattva from samsara to nirvana, through the story of Sudhana described in the Gandavyuha Sutra, a part of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Some scholars think that this massive monument is actually a gigantic textbook of Buddhism to help people to achieve enlightenment. To read this Buddhist textbook in stone requires a walk of more than two miles. The walls of the galleries are adorned with impressive reliefs illustrating the life of Buddha Shakyamuni and the principles of his teaching.
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Mecca, the holy city

Mecca, a holy land for the moslems.

There is a square building known as the Kaaba (Arabic for 'cube), where the moslems all over the world visit and do the worship.