Rain of Light

On April 15th, several students from "building construction class" visited the Mock-up dome of Jean Nouvel's Museum Project in Abu Dhabi / Saadiyat Island. The group have been invited by the Abu Dhabi developing group "TDIC", which is responsible for the whole development of Saadiyat Island.

When entering the Dome it was highly interesting to see, that the concept of Nouvel, which he showed very impressing in his renderings for the project, works in the 1:1 scale as perfect as in the drawings. The light, an integral part of Nouvel's idea, penetrates the skin of the Dome and creates an unique light-atmosphere, which can only be found in this country, due to the almost slightly sandy air. The game of light and shadow on the groundfloor, created by this penetration, is marvelous to see, especially its spatial and geometrical changing due to the move of the sun.

The PR text describes it and the mock-up above:

"A key design element of the Louvre Abu Dhabi will be its great dome, 180 meters (almost 600 feet) in diameter, floating above a cluster of buildings and waterways. Perforated by interlaced patterns, the dome will let a diffused light filter magically into the spaces below. The prototype, 6 meters (approximately 20 feet) in diameter, is being used to test the play of light and shadows on the site prior to fabrication of the final structure"

New Al Manakh

The follow-up issue of Al-Manakh was launched. 140 authors contributed to the book with interviews, analyses, infographics, reports etc. There are 4 main-chapters :

- Crises and Crises

  deals with the economic crisis and the reaction of the Gulf

- Vision

  deals with the planing of the region in several fields for the future

- Cohabitation

  deals with the culture and its integration into cities and the dynamics of urban living

- Export Gulf

  deals how the Gulf is exporting products such as urban models, social, political and economic influence.

The book looks into the last 2 years in this region, the height of the boom - the depth of the crash.  The impact of the international financial crisis on the Gulf has changed the world’s perspective of the region. But the real dynamics are much more complex than generally perceived. In documenting the crucial transformations in the Gulf, Al Manakh: Gulf Continued develops a new, deeply researched and nuanced viewpoint on the tenacious growth of the Gulf region.

The publishers are :

- Archis        www.archis.org

- OMA/AMO www.oma.eu

- PinkTank   www.pinktank.ae 

- NAi            www.nai.nl

www.almanakh.org

Masdar City

Due to the efforts of my colleague and friend, Dr. Jihad Awad, some students and faculty members had the chance to visit “Masdar City” in Abu Dhabi. Masdar is under construction at the moment, the goal is to create a “zero carbon city”. The introduction to the project was given by Juergen Happ, a german architect and partner of the british office “Foster + Partners”.

                                          Student's group

The first project as a result of the Masdar Initiative is a new six million square meter sustainable development that uses the traditional planning principals of a walled city like the city of Shibam in Yemen, together with existing technologies, to achieve  a carbon neutral  and zero  waste  community.  Masdar responds to the urban identity of 

                                           Top: Shibam , Masdar City

Abu Dhabi while offering a sustainable urban blueprint for the future. Launched in 2007, it is an ambitious project that will attract the highest levels of international expertise and commerce, providing a mixed-use, high-density city. The programe