In Shibam skyscrapers were a reality before these buildings were designed for other cities surrounded by sand, such as Dubai, Riyadh or The Line, the futuristic city being considered in Saudi Arabia. The vast majority were built in the sixteenth century with adobe, mud bricks baked in the sun, and reach heights of 20 or even 25 meters.
However, these buildings are very different from modern skyscrapers (apart from their height and the materials used): they were designed as single-family homes. Most have small floors, just 25 or 30 square meters, and each floor is designed to accommodate different rooms. The lowest floors were used as stables (today they are usually workshops or garages), the middle floors were used for kitchens, dining rooms and living rooms, and the highest floors as bedrooms.
To achieve such a great height with adobe walls and wooden pillars, the Shibam skyscrapers are trapezoidal in shape: they have a wide base and become narrower as the building rises. For maintenance the façades are periodically coated with mud to compensate for erosion caused by wind and rain.