Dubai's architectural failure

Big is not always beautiful. Architect claims Dubai failed by trying to recreate Tokyo skyscrapers. 360 Architecture, a Kansas-based practice, is currently working on three separate sports projects in Iraq. New York architect, Danny Forster, of Danny Forster Design Studio, claims Dubai made a big mistake in copying other cities that have high rise buildings. In a report by the Manila Bulletin, he said the most exciting thing for him is seeing buildings that are really, truly born out of their place. “Dubai is a city that had an opportunity, and rather than investigate their own history, their own culture, they tried to become Tokyo. They tried to become Shanghai. And I think that’s a huge mistake,” he said. “What’s most exciting for me is to see what I call site-specific buildings or buildings that relate to their place. A skyscraper in Kuwait City should and will be very different from a skyscraper in New York City because there are different ecological conditions. The sun is different. The winters are different. The skies are different, and most of all the people are different.” “Other cities can be helpful in terms of understanding the mistakes made or the strategies used, but ultimately, no other city has the same conditions that exist in a given city. So the most important research any city has to do lies within their own boundaries, I think all buildings, at their best, respond to a set of conditions. They respond to a set of economic conditions, environmental conditions, political conditions, and the best building arises out of that moment in time.” Dubai’s skyline is ranked number eight in the world, behind Sao Paulo and Seoul.