Commemorating Dubai’s record-breaking skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa sundial adds a new icon to the long Islamic legacy of architectural instruments.

Set amidst the water park, its cantilevered form corresponds to the latitude of Dubai, creating a monumental gnomon to record solar time. An oblong aperture permits the sun’s rays to pierce the cool interior before passing through a ring of fretted numerals to project the hours upon the square beneath. Here the two-tone paving becomes a calendar, tracing the sun’s analemma as it weaves back and forth across the sky. Harnessing the sun whilst offering refuge from its heat, this piece creates a focal point from which the Burj Khalifa may be admired.

 

Client: EMAAR