10 Things you didn’t know about Dubai’s Burj Khalifa (With Pictures)

8. Designed by an American Firm and Built by a South Korean Company

While the Burj Khalifa resides in Dubai (with the original name being Burj Dubai before it was changed), the actual concept was designed by an American firm. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill’s Chicago-based engineers helped developed what is now called a “buttressed core,” which is a structural system that helps support the 160-plus floors in the building. The construction of the building was also done by a South Korean Company named Samsung Engineering and Construction.