<P> The tower was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), who also designed the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) in Chicago and the One World Trade Center in New York City . Burj Khalifa uses the bundled tube design of the Willis Tower, invented by Fazlur Rahman Khan . Proportionally, the design uses half the amount of steel used in the construction of the Empire State Building thanks to the tubular system . Dr. Khan's contributions to the design of tall buildings have had a profound impact on architecture and engineering . It would be difficult to find any worldwide practices in the design of tall buildings that have not been directly or indirectly influenced by his work . Its design is reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's vision for The Illinois, a mile - high skyscraper designed for Chicago, as well as Chicago's Lake Point Tower . According to Marshall Strabala, a SOM architect who worked on the building's design team, Burj Khalifa was designed based on the 73 floor Tower Palace Three, an all residential building in Seoul . In its early planning, Burj Khalifa was intended to be entirely residential . </P> <P> Subsequent to the original design by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Emaar Properties chose Hyder Consulting to be the supervising engineer with NORR Group Consultants International Ltd chosen to supervise the architecture of the project . Hyder was selected for their expertise in structural and MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) engineering . Hyder Consulting's role was to supervise construction, certify SOM's design, and be the engineer and architect of record to the UAE authorities . NORR's role was the supervision of all architectural components including on site supervision during construction and design of a 6 - storey addition to the Office Annex Building for architectural documentation . NORR was also responsible for the architectural integration drawings for the Armani Hotel included in the Tower . Emaar Properties also engaged GHD, an international multidisciplinary consulting firm, to act as an independent verification and testing authority for concrete and steelwork . </P> <P> The design is derived from Islamic architecture . As the tower rises from the flat desert base, there are 27 setbacks in a spiralling pattern, decreasing the cross section of the tower as it reaches toward the sky and creating convenient outdoor terraces . These setbacks are arranged and aligned in a way that minimizes vibration wind loading from eddy currents and vortices . At the top, the central core emerges and is sculpted to form a finishing spire . At its tallest point, the tower sways a total of 1.5 m (4.9 ft). </P> <P> As part of a study which reveals the unnecessary "vanity space" added to the top of the world's tallest buildings by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), it was revealed that without its 244 - metre spire, the 828 - metre Burj Khalifa would drop to a substantially smaller 585 - metre height without any reduction in usable space . As the report states, the spire "could be a skyscraper on its own". </P>

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