The Infinite Tower
Dubai Marina is an artificial canal city, carved along a two mile (3 km) stretch of Persian Gulf shoreline. When the entire development is complete, it will accommodate more than 120,000 people in residential towers and villas. It is located on Interchange 5 between Jebel Ali Port and the area which hosts Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, and the American University in Dubai. The first phase of this project has been completed. Upon completion, it is claimed to be the world’s largest manmade marina. The project has been developed by the real estate development firm Emaar Properties of the United Arab Emirates and designed by HO K Canada. Unlike other parts of Dubai, there is a publicly accessible foreshoreway around the marina and some sections of public oceanway along the beach with views to Palm Jumeriah. Dubai Marina will consist of high rise buildings, which are mainly clustered into a block, known as “Tallest Block in the world” with the majority of the skyscrapers ranges between 250 metres (820 ft) to 300 metres (984 ft), which includes Ocean Heights, Marina Pinnacle, Sulafa Tower and few are taller than 350 metres (1,148 ft) meters and 400 metres (1,312 ft), which includes Elite Residence, 23 Marina, Princess Tower, Marina 101, Marina 106, Damac Heights, and a supertall Pentominium, which rises to 516 metres (1,693 ft) meters.
Infinity Tower is a really interesting new skyscraper under construction. The visionary management of Cayan chose Skidmore Owings & Merrill, the world-renowned and award-winning architectural group to be their partners in this remarkable project. The tower will twist similar to the Turning Torso in Malmö, Sweden, and other recent projects in Doha and elsewhere, and will be the tallest to do so. However, unlike the Turning Torso, which is a series of cantilevered plates rotated about a straight structure, Infinity Tower’s much larger floor plates actually require the structure to be twisted as it raises from level to level. Each floor is rotated by 1.2˚ to achieve the full 90˚ spiral, creating the shape of a helix. Construction of the 330 m (1,080 ft) when completed it will have 73 stories and be the world’s tallest high rise building with a twist of 90˚. An earlier design was for a taller, darker tower 372 m (1,220 ft) tall with 93 floors.
The tower’s construction was on hold for a year and a half after the foundation site of the tower was flooded when the wall that held back the Dubai Marina was breached on 7 February 2007. Construction of Infinity tower was resumed in late 2008, and the tower was almost completed by January 2012. Making something new, something that goes beyond fashion or aesthetics begins with a unique vision born out of the heart of imagination, and brought to life by a rich partnership of creativity and experience. Imagine a tower whose unique “spiral” design embodies the boundless energies and ever-changing forms of desert, sea and winds that surround it. This extraordinary design will make Infinity a classic of 21st century architecture, a tribute to the power of design and the role it can play in our lives.
Infinity Tower
Customer: Cayan Real Estate Investment & Development
Architecture and design: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Location: Dubai, UAE
Purpose: The Housing
Height: 307 m
Number of floors: 73
Land area: 3026.5 sq. m
Total area: 111,483 sq. m
Start of construction: 2006
End of construction: 2012
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Materials provided by SOM