Overview | On January 4, Dubai officially became the home of the world’s tallest building. What does the Burj Khalifa represent and mean for Dubai? In this lesson, students consider the culture and landscape of Dubai and the significance of the Burj Khalifa. Then, depending on the activities you choose, they further investigate Dubai and its people, or research and critique buildings that are familiar to them, reflecting on their local or national significance.
Materials | Computers with Internet access and projectors, and technology tools depending on choice of activity: presentation software such as PowerPoint, word-processing software, notebooks, pens, digital cameras, a video camera
Warm-up | Before students enter, post around the room images from the slide shows “Dubai on a Budget”, “Weekend in Dubai” and “Opulent Dubai”. (You may wish to include some descriptive elements from the captions to explain what the photos are depicting; for example, with this photo, you may want to include a note indicating that it is an entryway to a hotel spa “with flowing strands of neon that resemble seaweed dangling from the ceiling.”)
After they have viewed the photographs, ask them to guess where and when the photos were taken, and what clues they are drawing on to make their guesses. Then reveal that they are of Dubai, taken in 2005, 2007 and early 2008. Ask, too, what impressions they have of Dubai based solely on these photos.
Next, read aloud the first five paragraphs of the 2007 travel article “Seeking the Real in a Desert City Known for its Artifice.” Ask: What has happened in the global economy since then? Do you think Dubai has changed since this article was written?
For context, prompt students to draw on their own knowledge of local construction and business ventures from the middle of the ’00s (such as shopping centers, movie theaters, downtown revitalization projects, office complexes, etc.), to inform their speculations about Dubai. Ask: What is the status of local development today? Do you think there are any parallels between our local and national economy and Dubai? Why or why not?
End the warm-up by showing students this image of the Burj Khalifa, which opened on Monday in Dubai and is now the world’s tallest building. Ask: Is this an indication that Dubai’s economy is healthy? Why or why not?
Related | In “Dubai Opens a Tower to Beat All,” Landon Thomas Jr. states that opening celebration and early success of the Burj Khalifa is by no means an indication of Dubai’s current economic health:
Just one month after a close brush with bankruptcy, Dubai celebrated the opening of the world’s tallest building on Monday — a rocket-shaped edifice that soars 2,717 feet and has views that reach 60 miles.
The glittering celebration may have been an attempt by Dubai’s ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, to shift the focus from Dubai’s current economic troubles to a future filled with more promise.
All the same, the tower’s success by no means signals a recovery in Dubai’s beaten-down real estate market, where prices have collapsed by as much as 50 percent and many developers are having trouble finding occupants for their buildings.
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