When Sheikh Rashid built it in 1979, far out in the desert beyond the city, people thought it was folly. At 39 storeys it was the tallest building in the Middle East and the first real skyscraper on the Arabian Peninsula — visible to ships at sea. The city eventually grew out to meet it.

It still anchors Dubai's exhibition and events industry (GITEX, countless trade shows) and appears on the AED 100 note. The proof-of-concept for everything taller that followed.