Star Scraper

What is widely known is that the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building on the planet. Almost twice as tall as the Empire State Building, “starscraper” might be a better moniker for it than skyscraper. What is less known is that the Burj Khalifa was arguably inspired by a Frank Lloyd Wright design. On the left is a photograph of the Burj that I took last year. On the right is Wright’s 1956 sketch for The Illinois, which was to be one-mile high and contain 528 stories. Technically unfeasible at the time, it was, of course, never built. It did become, however, the supreme architectural standard for vertical outlandishness and neck-craning beauty. Flash forward to 2008, and there in Dubai lives Wright’s inspiration in all its crazy starcraping glory. I wonder what Mr. Wright would think of the engineering finally catching up to his imagination?