Sometimes it takes an outsider to point out what is right before one's eyes. For the UAE, that person was acclaimed architect Rem Koolhaas and his message was that Dubai's architecture had escaped from what he dubbed its "architectural caricature" era and now reflected sophistication and authenticity.
It is easy for those of us who live here, whether Emirati or expatriate, to stop noticing the extraordinary nature of the UAE’s cities. Mr Koolhaas’s lecture at the American University of Sharjah served as a reaffirmation of what has been achieved so far and the optimistic trajectory of architecture here.
He is best known for the CCTV building in Beijing but his biggest project would have been Waterfront City development near Jebel Ali, intended to be home to 1.5 million people before it fell prey to economics in the recession. With or without his fingerprints on Dubai's built environment, his words affirm its promising direction.
