USA2UAE.COM

Architecture is also a way for a place to project its identity — whether local, national or regional. Nowadays, however, traditional archetypes have been affected by an extraordinary phenomenon called globalisation.

The Arab world is experiencing unprecedented growth. Cities are the new focus. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Doha and Kuwait City are raising the architectural bar and investing in unique and exceptional building projects.

The Gulf region’s emerging model of the city is not only being admired by top architects and designers, it is also being replicated in other parts of the world. Dubai in particular has acquired a reputation for having an unmatched appetite to further navigate. It is quintessentially distinct; a trend setter and an inspiration to many. In that sense, international architectural firms have found in it an expanding and profitable market.

Employing one fourth of the world’s construction cranes, Dubai, it seems, never stops building. The city aspires to become a global trade and tourism hub on par with other major cities around the world. It also wants to function all year long or to borrow a famous slogan; it wants to be a city that never sleeps.

Having said that, the city with the highest number of “first place” entries in the Guinness Book of World Records is often criticised for having “outrageous projects that are “unsustainable”. Experts will say let’s get beyond the façade and get serious because Dubai is a serious city with mega projects in the works.

Much media focus has also been on the city’s “exploited immigrant workers”. The emirate is taking all measures it can to improve their living standards. On a different note, many see this place as too western in its building structures. Here one can argue that whether we like it or not, things are operating now within the realm of an intimately interconnected world bearing in mind that Western culture embodies strong forces of modernisation.

Weekend Review met some of the world’s top architects and designers and sought their opinion on development in the UAE. Most of them preferred to focus on Dubai.

They talked about the city’s identity with respect to its architecture, the overall artistic direction of the city and whether or not Arabic and Islamic architecture is on its way out.