A Race to Be the Best: Architecture in Dubai

Dubai has the reputation for having some of the most cutting edge and tallest architecture in the world. A desert city, Dubai is located in the United Arab Emirates by the Persian Gulf and has been referred to as "Las Vegas on steroids." There is a population of 1.6 million people and an economy consisting of trade, manufacturing and financial services. Dubai is under constant construction with new projects that are trying to top the buildings that have just been finished. With all of this ambitious architecture taking place, Dubai has been considered to be a chaotic architectural mess considering that architects all over the world are contributing new buildings. Las Vegas is considered to be over-the-top but Dubai is working its way above that with the most amazing architecture out there. Dubai allows for unrestrained architectural expression and provides an atmosphere of creativity and ingenuity for the future of architecture.

Architectural thinkers and designers are always challenging and proposing new views and new ideas for what architecture can become. With an area like Dubai, there can finally be a place where these ideas can actually take physical and material form. There are many projects underway and the currently tallest one is the Burj Dubai, shown above. In the image it is obvious to see that this building towers way above the other skyscrapers below. As of now it is over 1,700 feet tall but is predicted to actually be 2,275 feet tall. The U.S Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles is only 1,018 feet high. It is hard to imagine a building twice the height of this to exist towering above all the others in Los Angeles but in Dubai, all things are made possible.

Even though the Burj Dubai is expected to be completed in 2009 as the tallest man-made structure in the world, there many other buildings that dare to challenge the Burj. Hyder Consulting from the United Kingdom is designing a skyscraper that is said to be double the height of the Burj. Another is from Kingdom Holding Company called the Mile High Tower which is proposed to be 5,250 feet high. Other tall buildings in Dubai include the Burj Mubarak Al-Kabir at 3,285 feet tall and the Al Burj 3,940 feet tall. Competition is always a healthy thing because it causes people to challenge the existing and to create the new. If these buildings are structurally sound and safe, there should not be a problem with these super-tall buildings. If anything, they should provide an amazing architectural experience unknown to anyone in the world, until they go to Dubai.

With all this construction to be the best in its time, it is reminiscent of New York skyscraper construction in the late 1920s. Back then the Chrysler Building used to be the tallest in the world until the Empire State Building surpassed it not so far away. This attitude of "one-upmanship" is creating not only the tallest but some of the most interesting sculptural architecture in the world all in the same place. Dubai is an "architectural sculpture park" made possible through the spacing out of all these architectural pieces along the edge of the desert. The image to the left is of the Aperion Hotel by Sybarite UK. It will be a 7-star hotel built on a man-made island off the coast of Dubai. It is a 606 feet tall arch-like structure with an estimated cost of $500 million. The hotel is more like a resort island that and island resort. The Aperion Hotel is only accessible through the means of a yacht or a helicopter. This projects is only a glimpse into all the phenomenal "sculptures" that sit along the edge of the Pursian Gulf. Designboom gives a quick overview of projects that are being built and ones that have been proposed for this "architectural zoo." More of these Dubian buildings can be found on World Architecture News, which has a list and descriptions of projects underway.

Dubai is located in Middle East where it is known for being a large source of oil. However an economy based on this non-renewable resource will be short-lived. Dubai strives to create an economy not dependent on oil. By creating such an astonishing tourist location, they hope to add tourism and business to their economy. But building a city that spans such a relatively large area combined with expected visitors and tourist had to be designed in a way that was not dependant on the car. Dubai is following the model of mixed-use buildings in an effort to become a more pedestrian friendly city. Each building in itself seems to be providing all the necessities for a visitor making it not necessary to go to other places. But when in Dubai, it would be hard to resist visiting the vast array of architecture. It is not only the building that are being designed but the streets and street building conditions are taken into high consideration in order to create comfortable places to walk. Dubai's goal as a city is to make a place that is "walkable, pleasant, and urbane." There are many architects that find Dubai just horrifying and unbearable because they consider it an architectural mess. Even if that may be so, it is more like an architectural jambalaya, where all these different things come together to create something special and amazing that this world has never known.