What Would Happen If The Burj Khalifa Collapsed

All skyscrapers have to deal with the problem of wind, and the architects of the Burj Khalifa came up with a pretty ingenious way to keep the building upright in gusty conditions. According to Inquiries Journal, the tower is composed of several smaller stalk-like towers set around a central spire. This apparently wacky design actually serves the function of not allowing winds to form vortices, or powerful eddies of air currents that would buffet or damage the tower. Bill Baker, the building's chief structural engineer, called this process "confusing the wind." It basically just prevents the wind from being able to grab hold of the building.

Towers like Taipei 101, Citigroup Center in New York City, and the John Hancock Building in Boston use something called a tuned mass damper to reduce the effect of the wind, but it's not for structural soundness. This is a giant ball suspended at the top of the tower that swings in the opposite direction from the way the wind pushes the building in order to keep it from swaying and making the people inside sick or uneasy. Despite its innovative design, the Burj Khalifa still rocks back and forth about two meters at its very top. But don't worry. It won't collapse anytime soon.