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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... View full entry
Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) has announced the launch of a digital twin project, a first-of-its-kind initiative for the emirate capital. The undertaking was unveiled during GITEX Technology Week, a tech and startup event held in the Dubai World Trade Center... View full entry
Foster + Partners recently cut the ribbon for the House of Wisdom in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The project is a modern library concept designed as a transparent, rectangular volume with a floating, cantilevered roof. A new cultural district has been developed in this emirate of... View full entry
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) recently signed an agreement with Aldar Properties PJSC, a leading real estate developer in Abu Dhabi, to begin construction on the first commercial Hyperloop system in the United Arab Emirates. Rendering of HyperloopTT station in UAE, in... View full entry
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 Guardian
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
Behemoth practice Foster + Partners have worked extensively on the Arabian Peninsula. Now, they’re looking to further their involvement in the region by opening a regional office in Dubai, where they’ve already built major projects including The Index as well as two Apple stores. Located in... View full entry
In a stunning move, seven Muslim countries—Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Yemen, and the Maldives—have severed ties to Qatar, a small nation of about 2.7 million people on the north-east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. The crisis underscores the deep divisions... View full entry
Dubai is set on getting its own hyperloop, and the Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One (formerly Hyperloop Technologies), in collaboration with BIG, is champing at the bit to make that a reality.The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority has agreed to review Hyperloop One’s feasibility study for a... View full entry
With 16 projects currently in the works in the Middle East-North Africa region, it's not really a surprise that Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has just opened an office in the Dubai Design District. As stated in the press release, the firm has 30 years worth of experience working in the region."A... View full entry
A very large 3D printer measuring 20 x 120 x 40 ft (6 x 36 x 12 m) did most of the work, printing the building by extruding a cement mixture layer by layer, in a similar method by which WinSun's 3D-printed homes were made (WinSun is involved in this project too). There were also some additional smaller mobile 3D-printers used too, however.
It took 17 days to print the basic building, but it then required finishing both internally and externally.
— Gizmag
How many people does it take to 3D print an office? Well, according to Arabian Business, "The labour involved in the printing process included one staff to monitor the function of the printer, in addition to a group of seven people to install the building components on site as well as a team of... View full entry
The UAE is currently in the first stage of a man-made mountain development project as the country mulls different approaches to maximising rainfall.
Experts from the US-based University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), which manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) are in the “detailed modelling study” phase, as per NCAR scientist and lead researcher Roelof Bruintjes.
— Abu Dhabi 2
For more attempts to geoengineer our way out of eco-trouble, check out some past articles:New satellite images show progress in China's island-building projectScientists Propose Using Lasers to Fight Global WarmingCan cloud-seeding clear Singapore's skies?Could scientists engineer... View full entry
In the near-future, Dubai Civil Defence officers may be zooming in on to the scene of building fires using futuristic personal jetpacks.
Designed by New Zealand-based Martin Aircraft Company, the jet-packs can be operated by a single pilot for 30 minutes at ranges of between 30 and 50 kilometres at altitudes of up to 3,000 feet.
The pilot stands on a platform in a 'pilot module' between two propeller engines, which look like large versions of those commonly found on civilian drones.
— Khaleej Times
I'm not sure when or how it happened, but apparently jet packs are a real thing now. On Tuesday, the Dubai Civil Defense service signed a deal with Martin Aircraft for the future delivery of jetpacks, training material, and spare parts. Dubai's towering skyline necessitates a degree of vertical... View full entry
The Gulf in the Middle East, the heartland of the global oil industry, will suffer heatwaves beyond the limit of human survival if climate change is unchecked, according to a new scientific study.
The extreme heatwaves will affect Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha and coastal cities in Iran as well as posing a deadly threat to millions of Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, when the religious festival falls in the summer.
— The Guardian
"The study shows the extreme heatwaves, more intense than anything ever experienced on Earth, would kick in after 2070 and that the hottest days of today would by then be a near-daily occurrence."Related:Luxury Anthropocene: Dubai gets its first private floating islandsIt's only August but humans... View full entry
