The Burj opens. The joint's not looking too perky

*This piece isn't about a building, but about the sensibility of Gothic High Tech. In buildings, in photos, in movies… in Los Angeles, Dubai, Las Vegas and of course the poster-child, Detroit.

*I bet you're not seeing a lot of empty skyscrapers in Shanghai right now, even though they overbuilt in Pudong like crazy. There's a big Gothic High Tech in China all right, but it's all crumbling stuff built by Communists… haunted buildings where the busy consumers sidle by and shudder.