Building Dreams: The Expanding Modern Architecture and Design of Dubai

Ms. Webb

26 March 2009

Building Dreams: The Expanding Modern Architecture and Design of Dubai

Twenty years ago, Dubai was another quiet city in the Middle East with a population under 200,000 people. Dubai currently has a population of more than 1.5 million people. It has quickly become a “landmark for innovation,” with a skyline full of skyscrapers, and incredible architectural development. Dubai is filled with amazement, such as the world’s first underwater luxury hotel, an amusement park that will more than double the size of Walt Disney World Resort, the largest waterfront development in the world, and many more. (Dubai). Located in the United Arab Emirates on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf, “Dubai is the second largest Emirate after Abu Dhabi and is usually recognized as the ‘Pearl of the Persian Gulf’,”(Dubai). With construction projects such as skyscrapers, world-class hotels, amusement parks, and man made island communities, Dubai is well on its way to being the top tourist destination in the world.

Dubai’s economy is what enables the Emirate to continue to develop such expensive projects. Many people assume that Dubai’s wealth comes from their location in regards to much of the world’s oil supply but, in reality, “The city of Dubai gains higher returns from its tourism unlike many of the other Emirates, as revenue from oil only accounts for around 6% of Dubai’s gross domestic product. The city’s oil is decreasing by the year and therefore cannot be depended upon. That is partly the reason why there has been a construction boom in order to diversify its economy in the expansion of commercial and corporate activity.”(Dubai). Tourism is a huge market in Dubai, and they plan on keeping it that way, and to become the world’s top tourist destination. Dubai “…has rapidly changed into an investor’s playground with tourism rocketing sky high. Dubai city hopes to accommodate 15 million visitors in 2015.” (Dubai).

The chief construction project in Dubai today is the Burj Dubai. It is considered the tallest structure in the world, but because it isn’t completely finished, Taipei 101 in Taiwan is still officially considered the tallest skyscraper, but not for long. After completion this calendar year, the Burj Dubai will hold the record with a total height of 2684 feet, a shocking 1,017 feet taller than Taipei 101, its’ previous contender. Claims have been made that a person can see the tip of the spire from 60 miles away. Lead architect for the Burj Dubai, Adrian Smith, found inspiration for the design in the Hymenocallis flower, a plant that is widely cultivated in Dubai. This flower’s pedals are in the same arrangement as the base of the skyscraper. “’Sky Living’ is described as being able to travel to the world’s finest restaurants by elevator, have the world of commerce, cuisine, and entertainment at your feet, and a number of chefs and designers are all at work on their latest creations- all at your address,”(BurjDubai).

The Burj Al-Arab, which translates to “Arabian Tower”, is a luxury hotel owned by the Jumeirah international chain. Construction on this famous hotel began in 1994 and the hotel was open for business in 1999. Architect Tom Wills-Wright designed the Burj Al-Arab to look like a yacht’s sail. He chose this design to reflect upon Dubai’s fishing past. A 918-foot causeway, whose use is restricted to the hotel’s Rolls Royce fleet to shuttle guests and employees to and from the hotel in style, connects the hotel entrance on a man made island in the Persian Gulf to the shore of Dubai. The island not only supports the 1,053-foot tall building, but also three floors of basement, carved out of the ocean floor. The Burj Al-Arab is as structurally stunning on the inside as it is on the outside. “The atrium, which is 590 feet tall, could easily accommodate the Statue of Liberty,” (Boccia 194). Fountains in the atrium shoot water straight up one hundred feet every half hour. This is “…the world’s largest atrium and contains 86,111 square feet of 22-carat gold leaf,” (Christensen 14).

Sure to be one of the most interesting and original construction projects in Dubai, Hydropolis will be the world’s first luxury underwater hotel. “It will include three elements: the land station, where guests will be welcomed, the connecting tunnel, which will transport people by train to the main area of the hotel, and the 220 suites within the submarine leisure complex.” (Design-build network). Joachim Hauser, developer and designer of Hydropolis is thrilled about this project because of the belief that water is such an important part of life. Now will be the first time that people have lived comfortably underwater. “A high proportion of today's architectural marvels are materializing like fanciful mirages from the desert sands. We have come to expect extravagant enterprises to be mounted in the Middle East, and especially in Dubai.”(Design-build Network).

Pentominium is, yet another skyscraper in construction in Dubai, will be finished in 2012. It is said to elude a very sophisticated and luxurious lifestyle, shown in the tower’s slogan, “Pentominium- the defined height of luxury.” (Pentominium). This skyscraper has a very interesting design to combat high-speed winds on the balconies of one side. “Each apartment will occupy either an entire floor (6840 sq ft) or half a floor,”(Pentominium). The architecture of Pentominium is interesting because it has two different shaped sides that center around a shared core. “One side is a simple extrusion that reaches the full height of the building. The other side of the building is a staggered shape, altering apartments voids of sky gardens.” (Pentominium). Pentominium is on its path to becoming the tallest residential tower in the world. It will offer such amenities as a Davidoff inspired Cigar Lounge, an indoor pool with panoramic windows, the Sky Lounge business meeting area, and an outdoor observation deck that will feature breathtaking views of Dubai’s skyline, beaches and more.

Another incredible project underway in Dubai is Dubailand, which is an entertainment complex being built that will be the largest collection of theme parks in the world. Dubailand will contain a Dreamworks, Six Flags Dubai, Marvel Superheroes Park, a Legoland Park, and many more still in development. “Dubailand will be built on 3 billion square feet (107 miles²) at an estimated $20 billion price tag.  The site will include a purported 45 mega projects and 200 hundred other smaller projects.” (Dubai-Architecture). “Currently, the Walt Disney World Resort is the #1 tourist destination in the world.  Once fully completed, Dubailand will easily take over that title since it is expected to attract 200,000 visitors daily,” (Dubai-Architecture).

Ski Dubai is the one of the largest indoor ski resorts in the world, with an amazing 22,500 square meters of real snow maintained year round. It is attached to the Mall of the Emirates, which is one of the largest malls in the world. “Ski Dubai has five ski runs that vary in difficulty, height and gradient, the longest run being 400 meters with a fall of over 60 meters.” (SkiDxb). There is also a freestyle zone and a snow park, which is the largest indoor snow park in the world at 3,000 square meters. Because Dubai is located in a desert climate, the resort offers winter clothing for visitors who most likely don’t own winter gear. Snow gear would be highly unpractical due to the average low temperature of 50°F in Dubai yearly. The building that contains Ski Dubai is structurally twenty-five stories tall, and has a maximum capacity of about 1500 skiers and boarders. Ski Dubai makes real snow indoors by having the floor of the slopes insulated to keep the base at the optimal temperature. Many air conditioning units in the ceiling keep the inside at a freezing temperature of 25°F, and multiple snow guns connected to a chilled water supply are used to “…[C]reate a cloud of atomized liquid water.”(SkiDxb). When the water is released into the air, the snow guns sprinkle the cloud with tiny particles of hard ice that measure about 10 microns in diameter, less than one ten thousandth of an inch. Snow crystals form around the ice particles and fall out of the cloud, creating perfect snow indoors. Ski Dubai gives people who generally don’t see an outdoor snowfall in their hometown all year a chance to hit the slopes and have some fun.

There are currently two man-made island chains in the Arabian Gulf: the World Islands and the Palm Trilogy. The World Islands consist of 300 man made islands that make up the shape of the world’s continents, each varying in size from about six to twenty acres. Over 320 million cubic meters of sand were dredged from the sea to make these islands. A breakwater formation of rocks keeps the island safe from big waves by forcing the waves to break causing no damage when hitting the Islands, and also makes the outer spherical globe shape around the continents. Each Island varies in cost from fifteen to fifty million dollars and the owner is free to build any kind of house or property on their personal island. The islands can only be reached by boat or helicopter, guaranteeing a higher level of privacy and isolation.

The Palm Trilogy Islands consist of three different island structures connected to the shore of Dubai that were developed by Nakheel Properties, the same company that developed the World Islands. The Palm Trilogy includes the Palm Jumeirah, the Palm Jebel Ali, and the Palm Deira. “New Dutch dredging technology was used to create these massive man made islands.  They are the largest artificial islands in the world and can be seen from space,”(Dubai-Architecture). The Palm Jumeirah was the first project in the Palm Trilogy, and it was originally created to increase Dubai’s shoreline by 100%. Dubai wanted more beach space and this project added many beaches to Dubai by having the palm tree’s trunk and the crown’s seventeen fronds, or palm tree leaves, surrounded by sandy beaches. Today the Palm Jumeirah consists of an Atlantis resort of the same chain as the Atlantis in the Bahamas, a Trump International Hotel and Tower, as well as multiple marinas and many other hotels and villas. The Palm Jebel Ali is the second island in the Palm Trilogy, and it is located in Dubai’s famous waterfront and is still under construction. “It will feature an array of luxury hotels and water homes built on stilts that spell a poem written by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. There will also be beachside villas, shoreline apartments, dive sites and leisure activities.”(Nakheel). The Palm Deira, the final chapter of the Palm Trilogy, is still under construction today and when finished will house many waterfront communities and also offer many investment opportunities.

Architect David Fisher is the designer of the Dynamic Tower, one of the most ground breaking and unique buildings to be built in Dubai. This project is so revolutionary because each floor of the Dynamic Tower can rotate freely, completely changing the look of the building from the outside, as well as the view of Dubai from the inside. The Tower will have eighty floors, and will be approximately 1,380 feet tall. It will house twenty floors of office space, fifteen floors that will be operate as a luxury hotel, thirty-four floors of residential apartments, and the top ten floors will be luxury villas. The thick, immobile, concrete core of the Dynamic Tower will have a freight elevator that allows residents that own the luxury villas to park their car in a special room of their apartment. “The Dynamic Tower, the world's first building in motion, takes the concept of Green buildings to the next level, generating electricity for itself with a possible surplus for other nearby buildings, making it the first skyscraper designed to be entirely powered by wind and sun. With wind turbines fitted horizontally between each rotating floor, an 80-story building will have up to 79 wind turbine systems, making it a true Green power plant” (Dynamic Architecture).

Dubai is creating more and more skyscrapers, hotels, and other architectural marvels and will soon be the top tourism destination in the world. “Dubai's skyline is expanding and climbing higher virtually every day. Wherever you look there is one familiar sight: a crane hanging over the horizon. Industry experts cautiously estimate that 15 to 25 percent of the world's cranes are here,” (Gulf News). With speculation of such future projects as a skyscraper that will be 30% taller than the Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest hotel, a man-made island chain called “The Universe”, and many others, Dubai’s modern architecture and design will be attracting tourists for a long time to come.

Works Cited

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“Burj Cranes of Dubai.” Gulf News. Al Nisr Publishing LLC. 29 Mar 2009 .

Christensen, Shane. Frommer's Dubai. 1st . Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing, Inc. , 2006.

Davidson, Christopher M. Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success. Columbia University Press, 2008.

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