The Skyscraper Curse

Build the tallest skyscraper and enjoy the notoriety — because economic collapse is sure to follow.

Connect five football fields, end to end.

Stack 11 Statues of Liberty on each other, foot to crown.

Or put the Washington Monument on top of the Space Needle on top of the St. Louis Arch.

That’s what it would take to equal the height of the tallest building in the world — the Taipei 101 Skyscraper in Taiwan stands 101 stories and 1,667 feet high. The developers of this monument designed it with the expressed intent of eclipsing all other buildings in the world.

So not to be outdone, the Burj Dubai skyscraper is already being built in Dubai, and when it is completed in 2008 it will surpass Taipei 101 by more than 500 feet and stand taller than any man-made structure on the planet. It may poke nearby jets.

But come on — dream big? A Danish firm is attempting to shatter the record of the soon-to-be-low-rise Burj Dubai with plans for the Murjan Tower. This behemoth on the tiny island of Bahrain will be a 200-story, 3,350- foot skyscraper. That is double the height...