Spy and Spy - an outside view to Heidelberg by an Insider

Born in Heidelberg 52 years ago, i spent app. 35 years in this town (Pfaffengrund and Boxberg), before I left Heidelberg to live in other parts of Europe and Asia. Frequently I come back, but mostly, for whatever reason, I do not stay longer then 3 - 5 days in the city.

politics and markets

it seems that the crisis of the world-economy does not stop. the european union is forced to support greece with a huge amount of money. one of the reason seems to be, as said by officials from europe, to prevent a domino-effect on other countries like spain, portugal or italy, which obviously also face serious economic problems. greece with 177 billions of debt's seems to be manageable, italy with 1.077 billions for sure not. the claim of 

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

Funds for Nakheel and Dubai World

Due to their outstanding contribution to the development of Dubai and the UAE, the Dubai-government decided on a USD 8 Billion injection for Nakheel, and USD 1,5 Billion for Dubai world. 

Many investors will be very happy to hear these news for the reason, they were invested in projects which are, due to the worldwide financial crisis, on hold. These projects will now be completed which creates more value to the Emirate at the same time. But it will not change the problem that there are as good as no new projects in the pipeline. On the other hand side it seems to be a good decision to finish running projects first, before turning to new developments. 

The "brand" Dubai was essentially driven by the implementation of the vision of its leaders, leading to a new urban development, which has not be seen in the world before. As far as the existing problems are under control the Emirate should not miss to turn back to its former strength which was, and still is, admired worldwide. For sure the principles have to change, but there are still a lot of challenges which can be tackled in the future leading to further successful, unique and worldwide outstanding urban developments.

Krisen und Konservative

die kleidervorschriften, speziell in den malls von dubai sind, schon seit einiger zeit, strenger geworden. jetzt wurde ein paerchen verurteilt (4 wochen haft, danach erfolgt die ausweisung), welches sich in einem restaurant gekuesst hat und dabei von einer emiratischen frau und ihren kleinen kindern beobachtet wurde. ein anderes paerchen wurde ebenfalls beim austausch eindeutiger sms "erwischt" (4 wochen haft), welche der ehemann der betroffenen beim scheidungsprozess in dubai als beweismaterial vorgelegt hatte.


es steht ausser frage, dass man als gast eines landes die moralischen und ethischen vorschriften einhalten und auf die befindlichkeiten der gastgeber ruecksicht nehmen sollte. interessant ist allerdings die frage was zur strikteren auslegung der hiesigen, geschriebenen und ungeschriebenen, gesetze gefuehrt hat und weiterhin fuehrt. ist es die alte weisheit, dass krise immer die konservativeren kraefte staerkt oder haengt es vielleicht damit zusammen, dass abu dhabi politischen druck auf dubai ausuebt um auslaendische, westliche, investoren und touristen nach abu dhabi zu locken indem man die gleichen vorschriften zukuenftig dort liberaler auslegt ?


man fuehlt sich etwas an die geschichte sharjah's erinnert, ein vor der finanziellen unterstuetzung von saudi arabien sehr liberales emirat. heute verfolgt sharjah eine konservative politik. es ist z.b. das einzige emirat in welchem alkohol weder verkauft noch getrunken werden darf. andererseits gilt sharjah heute als kulturzentrum der vae und veranstaltet alle 2 jahre eine der erfolgreichsten kunstbienalen weltweit.