Arabic

Dr. Yasser Elsheshtawy

Dept. of Architecture. UAE University

Cultural Networks: Abu Dhabi’s emergence as a global city

The Arab Gulf region in the past few years has clearly established economic dominance among its neighbors. It is now setting its sight on loftier aims – namely creating a cultural mecca that will replace the traditional centers of the Middle East. This is done through acquisition of major works of art and artefacts, the construction of museums designed by world-class architects, and the buying of brand names such as the Louvre and Guggenheim. Nowhere is this more evident than in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, which is at the moment constructing a cultural district on the Saadiyat Island. The development will contain museums designed by Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Tadao Ando and other world class architects. While other projects in the city had their eyes on their neighbors – evoking a 1001 nights fantasy – such as the Emirates Palace Hotel or the massive Zayed mosque – the cultural district relates to a larger global context, where art and museums are construed as lying on a cultural network. The proposed paper aims at discussing these developments focusing on the city of Abu Dhabi and the Saadiyat Island’s cultural district development. In the process I will elaborate on how the city’s morphology is transformed to respond to these global ambitions by creating a new waterfront