Because it exists.

From the Wikipedia: Burj Khalifa.

Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At its highest point, it is 2,717 feet tall, just shy of 1000 feet higher than the next tallest building in the world. By architectural detail (ie not including antennae), it more than twice the height of the Empire State Building. Burj Khalifa is named for UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who lent support to the project when the economy went south. It is a mixed-use building, with a hotel, residences and corporate suites.

The building opened on Jan. 4, 2010. When it did, it became the tallest skyscraper ever built, the tallest structure ever built, the tallest extant structure, the tallest freestanding structure, the building with the most floors and the building with the highest occupied floor — the 160th. Burj Khalifa can boast the world’s highest mosque, the world’s highest swimming pool, the world’s highest nightclub, the world’s highest restaurant, and, I like to imagine, the world’s highest guy, a bit lost and just sort of stumbling around all like, “bro, this is a really tall building.”

The Wikipedia says Burj Khalifa was built “to put Dubai on the map with something really sensational,” and that makes sense. Obviously this and this and this weren’t going to cut it.

The tower was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, which is basically the Yankees of architectural firms. It is reminiscent of The Illinois, a mile-high building proposed for Chicago by Frank Lloyd Wright when he was an old-ass man and everyone figured he had lost his mind. Its design is also supposedly derived from elements of Islamic architecture and inspired by the Hymenocallis flower. Basically, Burj Khalifa is a prism through which you can see pretty much anything you want; that’s what happens when you build something so tall the human eyes and brain can’t really process it. (I assume. Man, I really need to get to Dubai.)

Obviously a building of this magnitude requires quite a feat of window-washing. Burj Khalifa has a horizontal track at levels 40, 73 and 109 that holds a bucket machine that moves horizontally and vertically. There are $8 million worth of Australian robots to clean to top 27 tiers and the glass spire. It takes 36 workers three-to-four months to clear the entire facade of Burj Khalifa.

Outside Burj Khalifa is a fountain that shoots water 490 feet into the air. There was a sweet fireworks show when Burj Khalifa opened. People like to BASE jump off Burj Khalifa.