Every architectural accomplishment of the UAE — be it The Palm Jumeirah, Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Burj Khalifa or the Dubai Water Canal — has been a celebration of its ambitions and values.
When countries take decades to create an architectural assemblage, this 45-year-young nation has constructed a varied and impressive skyline, with the world’s tallest building as its crowning glory, in a matter of years.
With the UAE’s top ten tallest buildings featuring in the world’s top 36 high-rises, the country’s penchant for vertical structures is clear. By 2020, another one will come up, The Tower at Dubai Creek Harbour, which will rise 100m above Burj Khalifa, taking from it the title of the world’s tallest building. “The UAE has successfully employed the tall building as a centralising catalyst for urban development, as with the cases of Emirates Towers, Burj Khalifa, and the upcoming Tower,” says Jason Gabel, Communications Manager at Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which confers the title of the world’s tallest building.
For the past three years, UAE structures have been winning CTBUH’s Best Tall Building in the Middle East and Africa awards — Burj Mohammad Bin Rashid Tower in Abu Dhabi in 2015, Cayan Tower in Dubai in 2014 and Abu Dhabi Global Market Square in 2013.
Amid the glimmer of the tall glass buildings on the skyline, there is a smattering of the traditional light browns and yellows. The country has been proactive in preserving its heritage – from garnering Unesco World Heritage Site status for architectural remains in Al Ain to the restoration of historical buildings across the emirates, including Qasr Al Muwaiji in Al Ain and Al Fahidi Fort in Dubai. Guidelines are also in place to ensure use of its design heritage in public architecture. Yet modern architectural statements dwarf local aesthetics. Do we need more buildings in the traditional style?
“When we build for today, we need to be inspired by our traditional architecture’s language, values and aesthetics,” says Shatha Amin Ahmad Al Mullah, architect at the Architectural Heritage Department and Antiquities, Dubai Municipality. “It shouldn’t be a copy-paste exercise.”
Firas Hnoosh, Design Director at Dubai office of Perkins+Will, agrees. “For example, the openings and fenestration types used in traditional buildings were intended to reduce solar heat gain inside; the wind towers funnelled breeze into the interiors of houses; and local building materials provided thermal mass that would act as a thermal sink,” he says. “These technologies should be captured and reinterpreted in a contemporary way without direct replication.”
Shatha cites Masdar City, with its own type of wind towers and double facades, as the perfect example of such reinterpretation — a place inspired by local architecture but doesn’t look it. Al Bahar Towers in Abu Dhabi has gone a step further with its external shading system. The glass towers use the mashrabiya, a latticed screen, with movable panels that open and close according to the sun’s position to block out the harshest rays and offer indirect sunlight. This reduces cooling and lighting requirements. Such climate-responsive designs have been prompted by green building codes such as Estidama and Al Safat.
“Public bodies such as Dewa are leading the charge to build zero-energy buildings with its future head office in Dubai where all energy will be generated from renewable sources on-site,” says Hnoosh. “Bee’ah’s new headquarters in Sharjah, designed by Zaha Hadid architects, will operate from renewable energy sources and move towards zero waste.”
The vision and goals are in place. Now it’s just a matter of achieving them.
