Lootah said the project is a complete glass, transparent structure resembling a huge window frame intended to highlight the attractions of the city so visitors can view the skyscrapers on Shaikh Zayed Road from one side — symbolising modern Dubai — while the other side of the frame will show the old Dubai landmarks of Deira, Umm Hurair and Karama.

“The electrical panoramic elevators will help visitors move through its facilities as if they are moving in the sky inside the glass frame,” — khaleejtimes.com

One expert in the UAE has estimated that 70% of the high-rise buildings there have panel facade cladding made of a combustible thermoplastic core held between two sheets of aluminium. — BBC News

Scientists and engineers from the Faculty of Ocean Engineering and Ship Technology at Gdansk University in Poland have teamed up with other Polish scientific and R&D institutions to come up with a landmark underwater hotel.

The Water Discus Underwater Hotel, as it is called, may not be the first but plans for the Dubai venue call for the biggest site of its kind. — DesignBuild Source

'[R]emember that a place like Dubai really emerged in the last 50 years. It was a sleepy, you know, Bedouin town half a century ago. And what you do is when you bring in the world’s, you know, most sophisticated architects and engineers, you can literally build anything, including a building of 140 or 150 stories. But designing a municipal network of sewage treatment is in some ways more complex. - KATE ASCHER — Boing Boing

Named after the sheikh, Mohammed bin Rashid city will aim to harness the tourism growth in Dubai -- Dubai's official statement estimated current tourism growth at 13 percent and retail sales growth at 25 percent annually.

The development plans for the new city are largely divided into four themes -- family tourism, retail, art galleries and a “unique area that will provide an integrated environment for entrepreneurship and innovation in the region.” — travel.cnn.com

It is believed 70 per cent of the buildings in the UAE have some form of facade cladding that has a combustible thermo-plastic core between two sheets of aluminium. — thenational.ae

In the future the wisest zone entrepreneurs will question this central feature and ask: Why enclave? What types of incentivized urbanism will actually benefit from physically segregated infrastructure—from being separate and even distant from the dense and dynamic central spaces of existing cities? Given that the zone is now generating its own urban programs — aspiring to be a city—what economic and technical benefits can result from constructing what is in effect a double or shadow of the city? — Places Journal

Seniors in the architecture major will have to abandon T-squares and straight edges for their latest project: designing water slides for the Wild Wadi Water Park in Dubai.

The students will enter their designs into a global architecture contest sponsored by the Jumeirah hotel chain, which owns the water park. — yaledailynews.com

Despite a handful of genuinely sustainable developments taking place in Dubai, the Emirate has an embarrassing reputation for realizing some of the world's most absurd "green" projects. Inhabitat has compiled a list of our favorite to poke fun at, including the world's tallest tennis court. — Inhabitat