Burj Construction Update
Rem Koolhaas's Dubai Deathstar
We show a lot of proposals for buildings in Dubai, often draped in photovoltaics and covered in propellers, or twisting and turning, it is a Disneyland of architecture. Sometimes we think they are going a bit overboard, as they evolve from Disney to Lucas with buildings like OMA's Ras al Khaimah Convention and Exhibition Centre. We have used Picasso's bon mot, updated by Le Corbusier before: "Good architects borrow but great architects steal" but never was the homage so obvious. Architectspeak below the fold....
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Maktoum launches largest education foundation with $10b endowment
His Highness, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, today launched the 'Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation', a major initiative to promote human development and provide hope and opportunity by investing in education and knowledge-development in the region. His Highness, Sheikh Mohammed, made the announcement in a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum for the Middle East being held in Jordan.
[Dubai] The Lighthouse: An Innovative Green Skyscraper
The Lighthouse is another innovative green skyscraper to be constructed in Dubai. For energy generation, it will have three enormous 225 kilowatt wind turbines (29 meters in diameter), and 4000 photovoltaic panels on the south facing façade. To optimize performance and operational periods, the turbines have windward directional wind vanes or limited yaw.
The Skyscraper That Creates All Its Own Energy
"This skyscraper, to be built in Dubai, is called the Burj al-Taqa ('Energy Tower'), and it will produce 100% of its own power. The tower will have a huge (197 foot diameter) wind turbine on its roof, and arrays of solar cells that will total 161,459 square feet in size." more here
The Wheels On The Bus Go Round and Round...
I decided to catch a bus the other day. In Dubai that's a strange concept. Firstly white people are rarely seen standing at the bus stop and secondly, as a woman there are only four seats available to you. Confused? So am I.
You go to the bus stop and wait with all the other people. The bus pulls up and you go to get on and there are eight women sitting in the first four seats. These seats are designated for women only. How nice and polite I thought...how cavalier...how old fashioned...how weird.
However the bus was full and those seats were already occupied by other women so I kept walking down the aisle in the aim of standing up and holding on. People started looking at me and then a women yelled out to me that I had to get off the bus because it was full. I looked around and to my untrained eye the bus still had plenty of standing room. I followed this woman and got off the bus, blushing, because I felt I'd committed some sort of crime.
The kind lady explained to me that women are only allowed to sit in the first four rows and are not allowed to stand on the bus. So when the four seats are full, bad luck, you have to wait for another bus. Even if it's 45 degrees outside.
I looked around me, there were at least 15 women waiting. I stood there feeling like an idiot, then did what every Euro expat here does - hailed a taxi.
Visitor gets four-year term for drug possession
Dubai: A Greek police official will spend four years in jail for possessing 0.17 gram of marijuana and two promazepam capsules for personal use, ruled a court yesterday. [more]
Driving Rules
1. If your road map is more than a few weeks old, throw it out and get a new one.
2. If you are in Rashidiya and your map is one day old, then it is already obsolete.
3. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Dubai has it's own version of traffic rules, which can be summarized as "Hold on and pray!"
4. If it is your priority to cross, forget it and wait.
5. There is no such thing as a dangerous high-speed chase in Dubai . Everyone drives like that.
6. When you plan to get a new car, ask first about its acceleration from 80 to 160 Km/h (recommended: 3 seconds). Very important if you frequently use the Emirates Road
7. All directions start with Sheikh Zayed Road , which has no beginning and no end.
8. The morning rush hour is from 5:00 AM to 1:00 PM, The evening rush hour is from 1:00 PM to 10:00 PM .
9. Thursday's rush hour starts Wednesday morning.
10. If you slow down at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended and then given a ticket by the Dubai Police.
11. If you are the first one at the intersection, when the light turns green ignore the car honking behind you and count to five to avoid crashing into one of the cars running the red light in cross-traffic.
12. Construction on all main roads is a way of life and a permanent form of entertainment. (Sorry for the inconvenience)
13. All unfamiliar sights are explained by the phrase, "Oh, we must be in Sharjah!"
14. Car horns are actually toys for big boys.
15. Anyone in a Land Cruiser, Tuned Patrol, jeep or Mercedes with tinted windows has the right of way. Period!
16. If you are driving a Corolla, Sunny, or another small Japanese car, stay on the far right lane. No comment!
17. Most roads mysteriously change names as you cross intersections.
18. To ask directions, you must have good knowledge of Hindi/ Malayalam
19. A trip across town will take a minimum of four hours, although Sheikh Zayed Road has an unposted minimum speed of 150 Km/h.
20. It is sobering to realize that local Arabs are taught how to drive by Malyalyee.
21. 18 wheeler trucks are one of the fastest vehicles in Dubai ; they can do 120 Km/h on Hatta-Oman Road when fully loaded.
22. The minimum acceptable speed on the Emirates Road is 160 km/h. Anything less is considered downright sissy.
23. Al Khail Road is Dubai's daily version of NASCAR.
24. Dubai Autodrome has a new extension: The Emirates Road.
25. WELCOME TO THE UAE!
Dubai retailers worry over rising gold prices
Dubai retailers worry over rising gold prices
By Shakir Husain, Staff Reporter
Dubai: The emirate's gold industry fears consumer resistance to jewellery purchases if the precious metal crosses the $700 per ounce price threshold.
Dubai's jewellery sales volume last year was 108 tonnes and the industry is trying to achieve the same level this year amid anxiety over volatile gold prices, Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group (DGJG) vice-chairman Chandu Siroya said. [more]
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