Archinect - News

Dubai floats plan for new 400-gate airport terminal, the world's largest

2024-04-29T15:57:00-04:00

A design for what will become the world’s new largest-capacity airport terminal has been announced for Dubai by the Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Al Jazeera and other international outlets are reporting on the planned $35 billion development, which will take shape at the existing Al Maktoum International Airport with 400 total gates, five parallel runways, and a capacity for 260 million annual travelers — five times the size of Dubai's current international airport, according to the announcement.

Image: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum via X

Sheikh Mohammed also said there is a plan for a one-million-person satellite city to be developed alongside the new terminal, joined by a logistics hub for international carriers. Yahoo! Finance reported the vision will be realized "within ten years."

Speaking via his X account, the nation's ruler said, "We are building a new project for future generations, ensuring continuous and stable development for our children...

Historic flooding shuts down Dubai, Oman

2024-04-18T19:20:00-04:00

CNN is reporting on the chaotic situation in Dubai as record rainfalls this week have nearly incapacitated the metro, making for some unreal scenes at both its airport and city streets after about 10 inches fell in under 24 hours. Lightning and high winds have also caused damage to several structures.

Timelapse of massive storm in Dubai that caused a biblical flood.#DubaiFlooding #dubairain pic.twitter.com/31dhquZNjH
— BlueGreen Planet (@BluesWaltair) April 18, 2024

This is the largest amount of rain the region has received in 75 years. A lack of adequate floor prevention infrastructure has caused Copenhagen to adopt so-called "sponge city" concepts after a similarly devastating 2011 cloudburst event, and engineers and planners in the Middle East region may follow suit as such events are increasing due to climate change.

At least 18 people have been reported killed in the flooding thus far.

KPF completes Abu Dhabi airport inspired by undulating sand dunes

2024-02-13T11:58:00-05:00

Kohn Pedersen Fox has completed Terminal A of the Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Formerly named Abu Dhabi International, the new complex will serve up to 45 million passengers per year, doubling the airport’s previous capacity.

Image credit: Victor Romero

The design of the new terminal was informed by the country’s undulating desert sand dunes and the geometric patterns of Islamic heritage. Externally, the form was developed from a desire to provide shading for the interior without the use of external shading devices, which could be impacted by sand accumulation. Instead, the undulating form “drapes” over the facade, where high-performance glass is fritted in a graduated pattern to further mitigate solar glare.

Image credit: Victor Romero

As visitors approach the terminal, they are met with a 160-foot-tall, free-standing glazed facade, behind which sits a largely column-free departure hall. The hall’s supporting arc...

Burj Azizi, Dubai's future second-tallest tower, begins construction in the UAE

2024-01-22T15:27:00-05:00

The imminent start of construction of the Burj Azizi, a $1.5 billion new commercial high-rise in Dubai that’s billed to become the city’s second-tallest construction upon completion, has been announced in the United Arab Emirates by a prominent local developer named Azizi Developments.

The tower, which has yet to name an architect or specify its final height at topping out, will reportedly host a vertical mall, luxury residences, and an observation deck. Planned for 122 stories, it will rival the Lotte World Tower and China 117 Tower as one of just five structures in the world to be completed at over 120 stories in height. Its construction will take place not far from the record-holding Burj Khalifa on Sheikh Zayed Road, culminating in a new icon backers say is a gift to the city that has nurtured their business success over many years.

“This tower will be our legacy,” said the Chairman of the Azizi company, Mr. Mirwais Azizi. “With Dubai having given my family and I so much — safe...

Adjaye Associates completes Abrahamic Family House, a collection of religious spaces that ‘dissolves the notion of hierarchal difference’

2023-02-24T11:50:00-05:00

Adjaye Associates has completed their Abrahamic Family House project in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The development is comprised of three religious spaces: a mosque, a synagogue, and a church, all of which sit upon a secular visitor pavilion, with a mission of “nurturing the values of peaceful co-existence and acceptance among different beliefs, nationalities, and cultures.”

Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue. Photo credit: Dror Baldinger

Within each of the three places of worship, visitors will be able to observe religious services, listen to scriptures, and experience sacred rituals. The fourth sacred space will meanwhile serve as a center for people of all faiths, offering educational and event-based programming.

“As an architect, I want to create a building that starts to dissolve the notion of hierarchical difference — it should represent universality and totality — something higher, that enhances the richness of human life,” said David Adjaye about the interfaith complex, which is set to open in t...

The $5 billion Moon Dubai resort could soon welcome tourists and astronauts alike

2022-09-09T19:34:00-04:00

A lunar addition to Dubai’s burgeoning Space Age aesthetic may soon grace the city’s skyline thanks to a new tourist destination and astronaut training facility proposal by a Canadian venture called Moon World Resorts Inc.

Arabian Business has picked up details of the so-called Moon Dubai project, which is said to total 735 feet (224 meters) in height and will take around 48 months to complete once the final approval is given to designs first drawn up by the company’s co-founding architects Sandra G. Matthews and Michael R. Henderson.

Vaguely resembling the presence of Buckminster Fuller’s famed Expo 67 Pavilion or one of the forthcoming (reviled) MSG Spheres, the structure is being marketed as a shot in the arm for Dubai’s hospitality and entertainment industries and will be surrounded by a “lunar colony” that is expected to receive up to 2.5 million visitors annually. The designers stated that this number could easily swell to around 10 million. According to their proposal, the ma...

Encircling the Burj Khalifa high up in the sky, Dubai architects propose a massive 'gated community' megastructure

2022-08-19T12:03:00-04:00

Downtown Circle is made up of five levels and would sit on five points, or pillars, embedded into the ground. The massive span of the circle itself would be composed of two main rings held together by a continuous green belt named the Skypark which vertically connects the floors with each other creating a connected three-dimensional urban green eco-system.

The National mentions that the (supposedly) self-sustaining 550-meter-tall (1,804-foot) structure would include a tram system and incredible landscaped features such as swamps and a waterfall in and around its three-kilometer (1.86-mile) long tract. ZNera Space, the Dubai-based firm behind the proposal, mentioned it in terms of the NEOM project’s recently-announced 'The Line' megastructure, stating that its concept differs within an urban context, but that the radical design, which was thought up during the pandemic, "raises the discussion of what we can do better" in terms of agricultural production and social division.

"Our roles as architects is to come up with these ideas," co-founder Najmus Chowdry said. "We want people to comment on it, criticise it, to see how we can think about building topographies."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by ZNera (@znera.space)

One of Zaha Hadid's final designs opens in the UAE

2022-04-11T18:50:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has officially ushered in what it says will become a “new benchmark for future workplaces” in the form of a brand new high-tech headquarters for the sustainably-minded BEEAH Group in Sharjah, UAE.

Echoing the surrounding desert landscape, the design incorporates two interconnected dune-like structures that house the company’s main offices with a central courtyard and an oasis-like water feature in between to aid in the overall ventilation of the structures.

Image © Hufton+Crow

Lightly glazed facades made of glass with reinforced fiber panels reduce the need for artificial light in the hall. The new headquarters also comes equipped with a host of green innovations such as on-site water treatment and solar-charged Tesla battery packs and will strive for LEED Platinum standards and a net-zero emissions rating using materials taken primarily from local sources.

Image © Hufton+Crow

Much like the city it inhabits, BEEAH is trying ...

Dubai’s eye-shaped Museum of the Future opens to the public

2022-02-23T12:04:00-05:00

Dubai’s Museum of the Future has opened its doors to the public after nine years of design and construction. Designed by local studio Killa Design, the museum describes itself as a “living laboratory” showcasing exhibitions around the themes of science and technology.

Museum of the Future, a video tour of the exterior and interior

Image courtesy of Museum of the Future

Resting on a green plateau, the building’s distinctive parametrically-designed form is inspired by the human eye, which the team describes as representing knowledge and future vision. “The museum is the eye that sees tomorrow,” the team says. “The void in the heart of the structure represents the unknown that we seek to discover, as it is the future that we will reach.”

Image courtesy of Museum of the Future

The 77-meter-tall (252-foot-tall) building is clad with 1,024 stainless steel composite panels adorned with Arabic calligraphy. The inclusion of 1,024 panels was a conscious d...

Dabbagh Architects’ first mosque project gives an enlightening new spiritual resource to Dubai's Al Quoz district

2021-12-21T17:04:00-05:00

A bright new spiritual center is finally open in Al Quoz, the industrial heart of Dubai.

Dabbagh Architects is behind one of the first mosques in the Emirates ever designed by a female architect.

Photo: Gerry O’Leary

A masterwork of materiality and form, the newly-completed mosque evokes a sense of inner calm to its worshippers, offering a spiritual break from the materialism of the outside world as promoted in the Quran.

Sumaya Dabbagh is one of only a handful of Saudi women architects and is considered a leader in the Gulf region for her designs, which “place an emphasis on the intangible in architecture; seeking to create meaning and a sense of the poetic in order to form a connection with each building’s user.”

Photo: Gerry O’Leary

“At the end of each project, my hope is that the building will evoke the feelings and emotions that were envisioned at the outset,” the architect said in a statement. “There is a defining, magical moment when the building is born and claims a life of...

Santiago Calatrava-designed UAE and Qatar pavilions highlight Expo 2020 Dubai's grand opening

2021-10-01T15:23:00-04:00

Two neighboring Gulf states are taking center stage at the newly opened Expo 2020 Dubai thanks to a pair of pavilions from Santiago Calatrava.

The Spanish architect, who used to have an office in Doha, currently operates out of Dubai and said he was “thrilled” by the honor of being asked to design structures for the nations that he has come to view as a second home.

Qatar Pavilion © Palladium Photodesign - Oliver Schuh + Barbara Burg

Inspired by the crossed swords image embedded in the Qatari coat of arms, Calatrava’s curvilinear contribution uses the metaphor of a dhow to convey the movement and progress of a country eager to showcase its liberalized outlook to the world.

Qatar Pavilion © Palladium Photodesign - Oliver Schuh + Barbara Burg

The 960-square-meter (10,333-square-foot) structure plays host to immersive exhibitions that highlight the country’s history and ambitious 21st-century development goals.

UAE Pavilion © Palladium Photodesign - Oliver Schuh + Barbara Burg

Calatrava...

Gehry's Guggenheim Abu Dhabi gets a new opening date…again

2021-09-30T17:41:00-04:00

Frank Gehry has met with Emirati leader Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed in the UAE as the planned Guggenheim Abu Dhabi has announced yet another amended opening date for the second time in as many weeks, according to a press release.

The museum will now open in 2025, a year earlier than was previously announced by director Richard Armstrong at a press conference last week in Basel, Switzerland.

“It is truly thrilling to see this project enter into this new phase,” Gehry said in a statement. “I am immensely proud to work closely with our partners, DCT Abu Dhabi and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, to create a home for their ground-breaking cultural program. I hope that this building is embraced by the people of the UAE and that this work will endure as a landmark for the country for many years to come.”

Previously on Archinect: Opening of Gehry-designed Guggenheim Abu Dhabi announced for 2026. Image courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP

“As we move forward with our plans, it is crucial to re...

Opening of Gehry-designed Guggenheim Abu Dhabi announced for 2026

2021-09-21T17:06:00-04:00

The long-awaited Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will open in five years, said the institution’s director Richard Armstrong at a press briefing held today in Basel.

One of Frank Gehry’s most-anticipated projects to date, the $200 million Guggenheim Abu Dhabi satellite museum, has been pushed back numerous times over the years after being originally announced by Armstrong’s predecessor in July of 2006.

Armstrong’s tenure has been permeated by protests over the labor conditions of workers in the UAE. The new museum will complete the cultural segment of Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island, which includes Jean Nouvel's Louvre Abu Dhabi and a planned performing art center from Zaha Hadid.

“We think it should be five years from next week,” he said. “It looks like everything is coming together, so we can say something definitive. It has been a relatively long gestation.”

UAE awarded Golden Lion for Best Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Biennale

2021-08-30T15:45:00-04:00

The United Arab Emirates has been awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale. The pavilion, titled “Wetland,” was curated by Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto and demonstrates the potential of natural salt as an alternative to Portland cement.

“Prior to the pandemic, we started looking into sabkhas, a sturdy ecosystem of natural salt flats nascent to the United Arab Emirates,” the curators explained. “This inspired us to explore a renewable resource for construction, one that can replace Portland cement. The crystallisation of salt in the sabkhas offers a blueprint for an alternative to Portland cement, the production of which accounts for 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions.”

Philippines Pavilion. Photo: Andrea Avezzù

The pavilion was selected by an international jury composed of Kazuyo Sejima (president, Japan), Sandra Barclay (Peru), Lamia Joreige (Lebanon), Lesley Lokko (Ghana-Scotland), and Luca Molinari (Italy). In their ...

Adjaye Associates unveils design for the new Africa Institute campus in Sharjah

2021-07-28T20:01:00-04:00

A new academic center will transform the skyline of the UAE’s third-largest city thanks to a partnership between a renowned architect and an ascendent academic institution dedicated to the study of Africa in the Arab world.

Adjaye Associates has released its designs for the new Africa Institute campus in the city of Sharjah. The project was announced in September following a two-year collaboration between the firm and the Institute first established in 1976.

The 343,000-square-foot plan will provide a new home for the Institute’s academic programs, which focus on African culture, languages, and the African Diaspora. Five reddish concrete blocks form a program of interconnected outdoor courtyards cooled by large overhangs and bookended by a post office roundabout in the city’s Al Mankah neighborhood.

Per the architect: “The project contemplates how one lives and learns, stimulated by this region where the language of the cour...

UAE is making artificial rainstorms to mitigate intense heat

2021-07-23T17:55:00-04:00

With temperatures in Dubai regularly surpassing 115 degrees Fahrenheit, the government has decided to take control of the scorching weather. Scientists in the United Arab Emirates are making it rain — artificially — using electrical charges from drones to manipulate the weather and force rainfall across the desert nation. Meteorological officials released video footage this week showing a downpour over Ras al Khaimah, as well as several other regions.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by المركز الوطني للأرصاد (@officialuaeweather)

Called cloud seeding, this is a weather-modification technique that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds by artificially adding substances, called condensation nuclei, to the atmosphere. Given dwindling water sources, increasing temperatures, and a rising population, the United Arab Emirates hopes to regularly use this method to increase rainfall.

Based on research at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, scientists created the storms using drones, which jolted clouds with electricity, causing droplets in the clouds to clump together. The larger raindrops are then able to fall to the ground, instead of evaporating midair, which is what occurs to smaller droplets in such a hot climate.

In 2017, the researchers at the university received $1.5 million for use over three years from the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Scien...

Work halted on world's next tallest tower, Calatrava-designed Dubai Creek Harbour Tower

2020-12-09T13:59:00-05:00

Dubai largest listed developer Emaar Properties has halted new building work after a construction boom in recent years led to oversupply in the Gulf city, its chairman said on Monday. Dubai’s real estate market, where supply has outstripped demand for much of the past decade, has come under additional pressure this year from the coronavirus crisis.

"We as a group have stopped supply," said Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman of Dubai's largest developer Emaar Properties, after denying similar claims back in April.

The suspension includes work on the new Dubai Creek Harbour mega-development and its centerpiece, the Santiago Calatrava-designed Dubai Creek Harbour Tower which aims to take over the title of world's tallest building from the currently reigning Burj Khalifa — another Emaar property.

The ambitious project broke ground in 2016.

Expo 2020 Dubai: one-year postponement confirmed

2020-05-26T17:42:00-04:00

It's official: Expo 2020 Dubai will be postponed by one year. After the UAE government asked for a delay last month, a majority of the Bureau International des Expositions member states now voted in favor of the proposal, officially confirming the new start date of October 1, 2021 and end date of March 31, 2022.

Previously on Archinect: Adrian Smith+Gordon Gill unveils Al Wasl Plaza scheme for Dubai Expo 2020. Image: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture..

"We welcome the decision of BIE Member States to support the delay Expo 2020 Dubai by one year," said the Chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, in response to the BIE announcement. "We are thankful to Member States for their continued commitment to contributing to a World Expo in Dubai that will play a pivotal role in shaping our post-pandemic world at a time when it will be most needed."

Previously on Archinect: Asif Khan-designed portals for Expo 2020 Dubai create celestial gateway...

New photographs of Zaha Hadid's striking ME Dubai Hotel at the Opus

2020-05-06T15:38:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects just released spectacular photographs of the new ME Dubai hotel at the Opus, a high-rise steel and glass cube the studio designed with a dramatic 8-story void seemingly punched right through it.

The building, centrally located in the Burj Khalifa district near Downtown Dubai and Business Bay on the Dubai Water Canal, was the only hotel in which the late Zaha Hadid designed both the architecture as well as the interiors.

Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu

"Spanning 84,300 square metres (907,400 square feet), the Opus was designed as two separate towers that coalesce into a singular whole—taking the form of a cube," explains the project description. "The cube has been ‘eroded’ in its centre, creating a free-form void that is an important volume of the design in its own right. The two halves of the building on either side of the void are linked by a four-storey atrium at ground level and also connected by an asymmetric 38 metre wide, three-storey bridge 71 metres above the ...

New dates proposed for Expo 2020 Dubai

2020-04-06T21:17:00-04:00

The UAE has officially proposed that the World Expo 2020 Dubai be moved. They have put forward a potential start date of October 1, 2021, in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The request was made in a letter addressed to Dimitri S. Kerkentzes, secretary general of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE).

After hinting at a potential one-year delay of the Expo 2020 Dubai last week in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the UAE government has now reportedly proposed the new start date of October 1, 2021 and end date of March 31, 2022. The Bureau International des Expositions confirmed that it would be discussing the request at the upcoming BIE Executive Committee meeting on April 21.

Expo 2020 Dubai hinted at potential delay of the event in a message released on March 31

The central Al Wasl Plaza at the Dubai expo grounds was designed by Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture and is surrounded by major thematic pavilions envisioned by BIG, Foster + Partners, and Grimshaw. In charge of the expo site master plan were HOK, along with Populous and Arup. Asif Khan designed the Expo Entry Portals which were unveiled recently.

World's largest single-site solar project goes online in Abu Dhabi

2019-07-09T13:16:00-04:00

Abu Dhabi is claiming the title of the world's largest single-site solar project, having hit the go-button on the Noor Abu Dhabi project this week, with a reported capacity of 1.177 gigawatts, eclipsing Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park – for now at least. The United Arab Emirates doesn't have a great record when it comes to per-capita carbon footprint, but projects like this show that it's serious about addressing the issue head-on.

"According to the Abu Dhabi media office, the project has sufficient capacity to supply 90,000 people and is expected to reduce Abu Dhabi's CO2 emissions by one million metric tons, or the equivalent of removing 200,000 cars from the road," reports New Atlas.

Construction of Gehry's Guggenheim Abu Dhabi to commence 'soon'

2019-04-30T14:24:00-04:00

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is a project earmarked for the capital’s Saadiyat Island. The museum is being developed near the completed Louvre Abu Dhabi, as part of the emirate’s increased tourism marketing spend by $136 million over three years. The experimental, sculptural Guggenheim building, is the design of famed architect Frank Gehry.

"It's a big building, parts of it are quite complex and it should take a little bit of time to put together as it's also quite large," Richard Armstrong, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum, explains in a recent Euronews interview, assuring that the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Abu Dhabi was "on track and on budget."

Image: TDIC and Gehry Partners, LLP

Dubai's ruler leaves his mark on new supertall tower, Burj Jumeira

2019-02-06T13:58:00-05:00

Across Dubai myriad construction projects are underway in the lead up to World Expo 2020. But it turns out there's always room for one more. State-owned investment firm Dubai Holding has released details of a huge post-expo construction mega-project, which will include a 1,804 feet (550-meter) high tower -- taller than One World Trade Center in New York. The tower, called Burj Jumeira, is situated in the Al Sufouh area of Dubai close to the Burj Al Arab.

Image: Dubai Holding

It's been a few weeks since the last announcement of another megaproject in Dubai, so here's finally a new one: Burj Jumeira is envisioned to become an oval-shaped, 1,804 ft/550 m supertall skyscraper with a flamboyant facade that is covered in a digital display, enabling it to light up like its taller city neighbor, the Burj Khalifa.

Image: Dubai Holding

And if you ever wondered what the thumbprint of Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, looks like, well, the base of the tower is literally covered with it.

Image: Dubai Holding

Construction will begin immediately, with the first phase of the development to be delivered in 2023.

First phase of Zaha Hadid Architects' Aljada Central Hub will be complete in 2019

2018-10-05T14:28:00-04:00

Back in March, Zaha Hadid Architects emerged victorious in the competition to design the new Aljada Central Hub in Sharjah, UAE. Today, the firm announced that phase one of the $6.5 billion development is scheduled to be complete in the first quarter of 2019.

Rendering: Cosmoscube.

At a whopping 1.9 million square feet, the Central Hub's focal points are a large central plaza and public observation tower. The first phase of the Hub will include an outdoor cinema space for screenings and pop-ups, a food truck village, skate park, and family-friendly facilities.

The second and third phases of the project are expected to be finished by 2020 and 2022, respectively. These two phases will include the construction of: a 65,000 sq.ft. waterplay area, an “extreme” sports center, an 11-screen cinema, an adventure golf course, and a 340,000 sq.ft. community park that will have “hundreds of species of trees and plants” and numerous outdoor sports facilities — just to name...

Adrian Lahoud selected to curate inaugural Sharjah Architecture Triennial

2018-05-11T13:32:00-04:00

Sharjah is looking to transform the discussion around urban life with its new initiative, the Sharjah Architecture Triennial, which has announced the curator for its inaugural exhibition. Adrian Lahoud, dean of the School of Architecture at the Royal College of Art in London and a researcher on Arab cities, will curate the new initiative’s flagship event, to be held in November 2019.

Research work of RCA Architecture Dean Adrian Lahoud focuses primarily on urban spatial forms and large scale environmental change, particularly in the Arab world and Africa, making him a qualified candidate to establish this new triennial program for Sharjah, Dubai's neighbor and third largest city in the United Arab Emirates.

"I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to shape the inaugural edition of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial," Lahoud said, "and to find ways of supporting an emerging generation of architects, artists and scholars in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia."

Learn more about the Triennial here.

Controversial Dubai Frame opens to the public almost a decade after it was first designed

2018-01-02T14:40:00-05:00

But the building has proven controversial for other reasons. The 50-storey portal may be the tallest picture frame in the world, but its architect wants to add another title to the stats: for him, it is the biggest stolen building of all time. “They took my project, changed the design and built it without me,” says Fernando Donis, the Mexican architect whose frame proposal won an international competition in 2008 for a “tall emblem structure to promote the new face of Dubai”.

The controversial Dubai Frame opened to the public yesterday, finally offering tourists a 360-degree view of the city. While construction only began in 2013, the new 150 meter landmark has been a decade in the making, blighted by controversy surrounding its stolen design.

Beginning with a questionable competition organized by the elevator company Thyssen Krupp in conjunction with UIA, the Mexican architect Fernando Donis had originally won a $100,000 prize for his design. However, after Donis refused to sign the contract provided by the Dubai municipality that would have restricted his role in the project, the city hired Hyder Consulting and proceeded without him.

Though Donis would've liked to have been involved in the construction process, according to the Guardian, he is still very pleased to see his design actualized. You can check out this interview we conducted back in 2015 in which he discussed the controversy to find out more.

MVRDV reveals “Pixel” mixed-use scheme for their first UAE project

2017-12-11T19:14:00-05:00

MVRDV will be making their mark in the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi with a new project called “Pixel”. The mixed-use project will be part of the 18-hectare Makers District development near the Saadiyat Island cultural hub.

The 76,000 m2 Pixel development will have seven mid-rise, relatively slim towers along the perimeter of the plot, as a response to local sun and wind conditions and to maximize views of the waterfront and landscape. The “mini-towers”, as MVRDV describes, will surround a central public plaza that is accessible from all directions of the plot.

Image © MVRDV.

The towers will incorporate retail, office, co-working, and community spaces on the lower levels, with the smallest commercial spaces at 50 m2 specifically for young start-ups and entrepreneurs. The upper levels will offer 480 apartment units of various types and sizes to fit different lifestyles. “All of the towers' façades combine concrete with luminous ceramics on the inside, a...

BIG to design UAE's $136M Mars Science City that replicates life on Mars

2017-09-27T13:57:00-04:00

The Mars Science City structure will be the most sophisticated building the world, and will incorporate a realistic simulation environment replicating the conditions on the surface of Mars. A team of Emirati scientists, engineers and designers, led by a team from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre and Dubai Municipality, will carry out the project, in cooperation with internationally renowned architects Bjarke Ingels.

The United Arab Emirates is set to begin work on a $136M project to build a city stimulating conditions of life on Mars. The project is a part of the country's Mars by 2117 strategy, launched earlier this year by HH Sheikh Mohammed, in which the Gulf state seeks to lead the global scientific race to take people to Mars.

The Mars Science City will stand as a prototype for the first human settlement on Mars. Plans involve the creation of a 1.9 millions square-foot simulation city, consisting of several domes, complete with laboratories for food and water, walls created using sand from the Emirati desert, and a museum that displays humanity’s greatest space achievements. The project will utilize 3D printed technology as well as heat and radiation insulation to imitate the red planet’s terrain and harsh environment.

"The UAE seeks to establish international efforts to develop technologies that benefit humankind, and that establish the foundation of a better future for more generations ...

Jean Nouvel rejects accusations of exploitation at Louvre Abu Dhabi

2017-09-25T15:31:00-04:00

The French architect Jean Nouvel has defended his Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi, a massive domed complex that opens in November, from accusations it was built by exploited and abused migrant workers. [...] In an interview as the finishing touches are put to the colossal construction, the architect dismissed accusations over exploited workers as an “old question” and insisted conditions for those building the museum were better than for some employed in Europe.

"A 2015 a Human Rights Watch report," The Guardian explains, "suggested migrants working on the Louvre museum and neighbouring Guggenheim, part of a £18bn 'cultural hub' on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, were subjected to conditions amounting to forced labour including summary arrest and deportation if they complained."

Nouvel insists on having inspected the workers living quarters at the beginning of the project, resulting in no concerns: "We saw no problem."

Widespread human rights abuses of migrant laborers building the Gulf region's megaprojects have repeatedly been reported over the past years.

New photos of Louvre Abu Dhabi appear on Twitter

2017-08-23T21:01:00-04:00

Mr Pouille posted pictures of the museum's exterior, including its 7,000-tonne dome, which shelters many of the museum's gallery spaces while creating a microclimate for its internal plaza areas. They also show the Louvre Abu Dhabi's concrete beach, whose steps have been designed to act as an amphitheater-like public gathering space and viewing platform, just opposite the main museum complex.

Ludovic Pouille, the social media-savvy French ambassador to the UAE, has posted photos from his recent visit of Jean Nouvel-designed Louvre Abu Dhabi on Twitter.

The opening of the museum is projected to take place later this year.