Very large building projects can take long enough that conditions change while they are under way. Building at record scale may call for a commitment that lasts beyond the first enthusiasm.

Wikipedia's current-events log for January 4, 2010, recorded that the Burj Khalifa opened to the public in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as the tallest structure ever built. BBC News reported the tower was revealed to be 828m (2,716ft) high, far taller than the previous record holder, Taipei 101.

The Timeline of Scale

A project of this size takes years to complete. Construction of the tower began in 2004 at the height of an economic boom. The opening ceremony was held 1,325 days after excavation work started, with some 6,000 guests attending.

In general, the gap between a project's start and its public debut can pose a challenge for large building projects. When a structure takes years to build, conditions around it may shift before the doors open.

Sustaining the Vision

Builders committing to record-breaking physical feats might need to design their operational and financial systems to survive cycles of economic change. A project begun in one set of conditions may be finished in another. This dynamic suggests that extreme engineering is as much a test of organizational endurance as it is of structural integrity.

Perhaps scale is measured not only in height but in the capacity to see a plan through changing conditions.

Sources

  • Systems Thinking
  • Product Thinking

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