First, there was the Burj Khalifa. “Great,” we all said. “Dubai is building the world’s tallest building. Good for them.”
Then, there was the announcement about the world’s largest airport. And the plans for the world’s tallest twin towers. And the world’s largest Mall, and the world’s largest “subsea tourism site”. Downtown, the world’s largest choreographed fountain display spurts thousands of gallons of water into the air ten times a day.
And now, a Dubai building has been awarded the accolade of “world’s largest vertical maze” by that revered and important body, the Guinness World Records (tagline: “officially amazing”). The maze has a surface area of 3,947.22 square metres, sits on the face of the 55-story Maze Tower building, and was completed in January 2012.
There are a few problems with this newest “World’s Largest” label. First, the competition can’t be very fierce – we’re not sure anyone has even tried to build the world’s biggest vertical maze before. Also, a vertical maze is almost entirely pointless, because you can’t even walk through it.
Here is an immensely depressing picture of the property company’s chairman (right) clutching his certificate from Guinness:
And here’s the maze itself, lit up by night in all its pointless glory:
Dubai now holds over 100 Guinnness World Records. Round of applause for Dubai, everyone.
Images: Guinness World Records.