Recent pic of Burj Dubai...

[Archivist]

I found Deira and the Dubai Creek area to be only mildly active - enough street life, to be sure, but not so much that it was really interesting. My pictures here more or less confirm how I recalled it, major streets were quite busy but on the sidestreets life trickled away quickly and there seemed not that many people and lots of locked doors. I did think that the fact that the sides of Dubai creek are still an improvised small scale port, open to all, was pretty cool though.

The Bastakia area of restored buildings was gorgeous - but on the day I visited, I seemed almost alone in it. I didn't mind, I wandered around quite happily in that state.

 

[shumoon]

there seems to be a problem with the earth's curvature in dubai. they should let more oil out to deflate that bulge.

Modern Ghost Town in the making.

What will happen once the oil runs out?

Uh, no. I'm arguing against building stuff like indoor ski slopes in the desert to attract massive international tourism as a means to safeguard the Dubaian economy against running out of oil. But maybe I'm the only one who doesn't see the logic in this shift.

Please see my other post on Dubai and oil:
http://www.urbantoronto.ca/showpost.php?p=210635&postcount=14

Not all Persian Gulf emirates have huge petroleum industries. Bahrain makes its money from banking. Even the widest panorama shots of Dubai on this forum show no oil rigs. I guess people stereotype Dubai as being this emirate swimming in oil when it's not, and really never was. The reason Dubai has diversified is because it had to. With little oil, Dubai was forced to try making money with other things like airports, harbours, tourism and real estate. Oil wealth may have provided original the seed money, but Dubai has moved beyond petroleum.

 

[Whoaccio]

As much as I find the bulk of Dubai's architecture to be trite and artificial, I was recently looking through a catalog of projects under development. This one below caught my eye as actually an outstanding piece of architecture. Designed by Rem Koolhaas and Reinier de Graff. Toronto should try to copy this as soon as possible.

 

[khris]

It's a ripoff of the death star!

 

[detroitbootybass]

It's a ripoff of the death star!

That's what I thought too!

 

[wyliepoon]

Six things that resemble the Death Star

Hotel Full Moon project, Azerbaijan

Belarus National Library

*****

Honourable mention: Core Pacific City (The Living Mall), Taipei

 

[Irishmonk]

It's a ripoff of the death star!

I wonder if that's Haliburton's new headquarters? Dick Cheney will feel right at home.

 

[theowne]

Probably about as idiotic as indoor hockey, tennis, track and field, curling, skating, etc.

Isn't there something more outdoorsy about skiing compared to these other sports? It would be like indoor hiking.

 

[Hydrogen]

I thought so, too. I just assumed that hills and mountains were things you found outside, whereas hockey and curling rinks, tennis courts and running tracks were things built by people.

 

[grey]

Hotel Full Moon project, Azerbaijan

That's no moon!