Brusselssprout recently launched their new book, Dubai Graphic Encyclopedia Volumen 1. To consider compiling an encyclopedia (of any kind) in post-Wikipedia times is an exercise in emotional withdrawal. From a position of bewilderment and confusion, they choose to act by producing and employing another tool from the land of the naive and outdated, represented by encyclopedic work, devoid of all logic and meaning considering current cultural conditions and speed. What the first edition Dubai graphic and visual encyclopedia presents is a reality that acts as a counterpoint to all the excess of attempts to decipher and understand Dubai. Attempts that are mostly unable to uncover items that shed light on the question ‘What’s it all about’?

Photo by Flickr user: nelson ebelt - http://www.flickr.com/photos/nelsonebelt/

Recent years have seen an influx of skyscrapers completed, nearing construction, or proposed in Asia. Stimulated by an exponentially growing population and, therefore, thriving economy, Asia has contributed more soaring buildings to the world’s Supertall list than any other continents combined. With the completion of the world’s tallest building at 828 meters tall, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, comes the proposition of progressively more structures which aim to surpass the prior and ascend to the number one status.

More on skyscraper-mania in Asia after the break.

read more »

Rendering

Construction of Schweger Associated Architects‘ Dubai Pearl is continuing. The groundwork, foundations, basements and lower grounds floors of the four towers which form the central section of Phase 1 of the development is now complete. A total of 3.5 million man hours have so far been spent since work started on site and over 60,000 cubic meter of concrete has been poured on one of the largest construction projects still being developed in the UAE.

read more »

© Sid Siva

Architects: Studio M
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Interior Design: Studio M
Project area: 12,000 sqf
Photographs: Sid Silva

read more »

Courtesy of Rockwell Group

In Dubai, Rockwell Group has created an extension of the Nobu brand for the first Middle East location. The design is an evolution of many of the concepts developed for the flagship Nobu 57, such as the emphasis on craftsmanship, natural materials and storytelling. Large-scale computer generated woven panels surround the restaurant walls and ceiling, creating a fluid, curvilinear environment for dining. The textures and materials in this particular location were chosen to reflect the finely crafted cuisine and Nobu’s roots in the Japanese countryside, while also celebrating the Dubai beachfront context. David Rockwell, Founder and CEO of Rockwell Group, explained: “The context, landscape and history of this new restaurant brought about all sorts of new and exciting challenges. We had to think about its location not only in the Middle East, but also in Dubai as the epicenter of an ever-growing and flourishing environment for building, not to mention being more specifically in the larger-than-life Atlantis resort on Palm Jumeirah.”

Architect: Rockwell Group
Location: Atlantis The Palm, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai
Project Area: 11,500 sqf
Project Year: 2008
Photographs: Courtesy of Rockwell Group

read more »

Courtesy of Mekano

Karim Elnabawy, co founder of Mekano based in Alex, Egypt, has shared with us his design submission for the Land Art Generator Initiative. The design, located near the Ras al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary of Dubai looks at creating a layered energy system that creatively harnesses available resources as well as becoming an attraction to the landscape. Additional images and architects description after the break.

read more »

Courtesy of Cheungvogl

International architecture practice Cheungvogl shared with us one of their latest projects, Sheik-Zayed-Library, located in Dubai. More images and architect’s description after the break. read more »

Courtesy of ZEST Architecture

Barcelona-based ZEST Architecture shared with us their proposal for the Dubai Mosque Competition organized by Via Traffic. The mosque, called Ray of Light, has a groundbreaking concept allowing equal access to the prayer room for men and women with a metaphysical separation by means of light. See more images and architect’s description after the break. read more »

exterior

A few days ago we featured the finalist project designed by Brusselssprout for the Mosque Category for Design as Reform Competition in Dubai. Now we present you a shortlisted project designed by Daniel Andersson (FIN) & Christiane Flügel (GER).

You can see more images, drawings and description after the break.

read more »

Courtesy of Brusselssprout

Brusselssprout’s design “Mosque is More” was selected as finalist for the Mosque Category for Design as Reform Competition in Dubai. You can see more images, a video and architect’s description after the break. read more »

SADAR + VUGA’s submission for the Deluxe Serviced Apartment Tower in Burj Dubai district was shaped by the ambition and inclination of the developer, Damac Properties, to erect a unique residential building in the rapidly developing area by the Burj Dubai tower. The building would be distinguished by its architectural design and image; at the same time, it would serve as a model of a functioning and energy-efficient residential building at the beginning of the 21st century.

More images and full architect’s description after the break. read more »

Filmed by Philip Bloom over 5 days and nights, this beautiful video gives us another view of the amazing city of Dubai.

© SOM

With its final height kept as a secret until the last minute, we witnessed the incredible opening of the tallest building in the world.

The Burj Dubai, an engineering masterpiece designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM), was finally renamed Burj Khalifa in honor to Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruling sheik of Abu Dhabi who helped Dubai during the financial crisis with over US $25 billion.

The 828m tall structure established quite a distance from the Taipei 101, which used to hold the title for the tallest building in the world with 509m, that’s almost an extra 320m… almost like putting another skyscraper on top of the Taipei 101. This will secure its title for at least a few years.

For more on how the tallest building in the world is structured, you can read this interview with Bill Baker, engineer at SOM.

An amazing view of Dubai from the top of the tallest building in the world, which opens this Monday.

Seen at Gizmodo.

The tallest building in the world will be opened in just a few more days. This 2.3 gigapixel photo, composed of 381 images taken with a Canon 5D Mk II with a 400mm lens by bristolg, who posted a video to show the high level of detail of the image.

Update: Chas left a comment with a link to the actual photo so you can see the detail by yourself.

The ninjas at AMNP just featured this short video shot from the top of the Burj Dubai, designed by SOM, the tallest building in the world.

An interesting aerial view of Dubai, where you can see how long the shadow of this tower can get.

Graft Lab’s latest addition to Dubai, entitled Vertical Village, is a cluster of mix-use buildings that emphasize reducing solar gain and maximizing solar production.  The buildings are self-shaded on the northern side and on the east-west axis to reduce long-angle sun penetration.   Solar collectors on the south end automatically pivot to maximize solar-energy aggregation.   The multi-use building, which is expected to earn a LEED Gold Certificate, offers an appealing aesthetic which will easily make its mark 0n Dubai’s dynamic skyline.  The “futuristic” angular forms create a shared central space with large pools, while the compositional assemblage of the individual buildings form a cohesive whole.

More images after the break. read more »

Burj Dubai, © Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP, Rendering by Crystal CG

Curious about how the lobby for the world´s tallest building will look like? SOM shared with us some renderings of their design.

The building was designed by the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, who also designed the interiors for all the lobbies, public and common spaces for the tower. The design team is lead by Ms. Nada Andric (Associate Director with SOM) and reinterprets the region’s heritage in a contemporary way.

The materials used include glass, stainless steel, polished dark stones, Silver Travertine flooring, Venetian stucco walls, handmade rugs, and stone flooring. Commissioned local and international fine art pieces will be used to decorate these spaces.

I can´t wait to see actual images of this building completed, and see how both the structure and these interiors are materialized. The Burj Dubai is expected to be completed by December, 2009.

You can see some photos during the construction on our previous article.

More images after the break:

read more »

Maybe no other place on Earth has made more notice over the last few years than Dubai. From tall buildings to a houseboat, you can find all sort of architecture in this fantastic city. Enjoy our last Round Up of the week!

Jumeirah Gardens / SOM & Adrian Smith
It seems no one told Dubai about the financial crisis, as new projects keep being unveiled. This time, our green friends over Inhabitat tipped us on a mega development, owned by Maraas Holding: The Jumeirah Gardens. The master plan for this project was designed by SOM Chicago, and consists of a mixed-use development that incorporates low, medium, and high-density zones for business, residences (read more…)

Anara Tower by Atkins Design Studio
Well, here we have another skyscrapper in Dubai, this time in the shape of a giant wind turbine. When I saw this, i thought it had this turbine to generate eolic energy, but actually it’s a structure that holds a panoramic restaurant in the glass capsule at the top of the building, as you can see on the further images. The 2,15 feet (655m) tall tower includes a mixed use developement (read more…)

Houseboat / X-Architects
The fundamental structure of the floating home is created from two catamaran beams (for stability), stainless steel and glass. The layout of the structure, which is 20 meters by 6.7 meters, includes an upper deck containing a concealed kitchen, living room and an informal dining area. The Lower deck houses the bedrooms, bathroom and steering cabin. It also features a terrace (read more…)

The Origami / Kann Finch
This proposition reconsiders the stereotypical residential tower, in pursuit of a unique structuring of a new language, that the vertical organization of apartment living might allow. The formal constraints that the site demands are eroded to realize a rich expression of three dimensional image, surface and livability. The fundamental elements of the colonnaded street edges (read more…)

Al Rostamini Headquarters / MAD
The site for the Al Rostamini group headquarters is a long waterfront within the central business area of Dubai. Rather than creating a traditional big office block on this site, and severing the water from the public, we wanted to build something above it. Our concept is a thin slab, which hovers above the waterfront. This gives every office a view over the water, and frees up the ground level, allowing the public direct access to enjoy the waterfront (read more…)

Canadian-based ACDF Architects have designed an International Financial Center for Dubai (DIFC).  The DIFC draws inspiration from geographical and geological properties to create a structure that becomes a natural extension of the site.  ACDF Architects work to link the architecture with the region to “give the impression that the building takes root from these natural components instead of simply being an imposing object on the DIFC properties.”

More about the project after the break. read more »