Boasting breathtaking skylines of sail-shaped buildings, dancing towers, twisting skyscrapers, and even a tuning fork, the audacious architecture of Dubai makes the city a delight to visit for architects, designers, photographers, and travellers. I will never forget a conversation we overheard one day between a little boy and his father as Terence and I strolled by a construction site in Dubai. The Sheikh wanted an eye-catching icon as memorable and as easily reproducible as the Sydney Opera House or the Eiffel Tower.
With the Burj Al Arab, Dubai proved to the world that it was the place to create architectural marvels and miracles, that anything was possible, and if it was going to happen anywhere β if any extraordinary feats of engineering were to be achieved or seemingly impossible architectural challenges were to be overcome β then it was going to happen in Dubai.
Sheikh Mohammed envisaged metropolis like no other. The sprawling Disneyworld-cum-Las Vegas-style development of Dubailand, a theme-park-of-a-city that is slowly taking shape in the desert, featuring cities within cities, including Global Village, Dubai Outlet City, Dubai Sports City, and Motor City to name a few. In partnership with Nakheel, Koolhaas envisages that the new island-city will be an urban experiment like no other, with high towers clustered to shade the city from the fierce sun, planned mixed use developments to create a natural flow of street life day and night, bridges on all four sides, and shaded arcades.
One neighbourhood, Madinat Al Soor is primarily residential, inspired by historic Arab settlements, with an intricate web of clusters of buildings, shaded alleyways, and waterfront promenades, creating private and public spaces.
Iconic buildings include an enormous storey Sphere perched on the edge of the water and an storey coiling tower that evokes classical Arabic architecture and, like the World Trade Centre all those years ago, serves as a beacon for the entire city.
