GSD Alumni and Friends
Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc. website
Gary Johnson MAUD '78, Amy Finkel MArch '95
Mixed Use Development Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Designed for an international invitational competition, an elegant, 75-story tower becomes a "glass prism in a garden" for the Royal Family of Abu Dhabi. Adding to C7A's portfolio in the Middle East, which includes Kuwait's Scientific Center, this project represents a new model for creating a virtual city in the sky. Living, entertaining, working and shopping are vertically integrated within the site and surrounding urban context.
The 1,300,000 sf tower is conceived in plan as two cupped "hands" enclosing all uses and activities. They are grouped about a vertical column of atria spaces, extending internal life and animation from the ground to the sky. Multiple sky-garden lobbies, two stories in height, offer extraordinary "sky windows to the sea."
The building's exterior cladding is conceived as two diaphanous glass veils. The north facade, facing the Arabian Gulf, is clad in light green-tinted glass, with a subtle mirrored finish to optimize transparency. The south facade, facing the desert, uses a similar glazing system; however, it is protected by horizontal glass and aluminum shading screens. At night, the building glows like a shimmering vertical lantern set in a garden oasis.