Architecturally Impressive Places in Dubai

Address Sky View — The Sky Bridge

A three-storey sky bridge slung 220 metres above Downtown, joining twin towers with a cantilevered glass Skywalk and infinity pool.

Dubai

Al Fahidi Wind Towers

Dubai's oldest neighbourhood, where coral-stone lanes are crowned with barjeel wind towers — air-conditioning from before electricity.

Dubai

Al Seef Promenade

Nearly two kilometres of Dubai Creek waterfront split in two — a re-aged heritage village on one side, glass-and-steel pavilions on the other.

Dubai

Al Wasl Plaza Dome

A 130-metre steel trellis dome at the heart of Expo City — the world's largest 360-degree projection surface, glowing translucent at night.

Dubai

Alif — The Mobility Pavilion

Foster + Partners' gleaming stainless-steel trefoil, with three cantilevered petals and the world's largest passenger lift.

Dubai

Apple Store Solar Wings

A Foster + Partners kinetic mashrabiya of 340 carbon-fibre rods that open at dusk toward the Burj Khalifa.

Dubai

Arabian Stallion, Gold Souk

A bronze Arabian horse guarding the south entrance of the Gold Souk — heritage counterpart to the camels up north.

Dubai

Bedouin Portrait by Vhils

A portrait of a Bedouin carved into the wall with hammer drills and chisels — not painted on, but cut out of the surface.

Dubai

Burj Khalifa

The world's tallest building and the world's largest LED screen

Dubai

Camel Family

Three life-size bronze camels resting under a starry dome — Donald Greig's welcome to the mall's Gold Souk.

Dubai

Cayan Tower Helix

The world's tallest 90-degree twisting tower when it opened — a helix by the architects of the Burj Khalifa.

Dubai

Chinatown, The Dubai Mall

The UAE's first Chinatown — a designed immersive district of moon gates, lantern streets and neon, by Kokaistudios.

Dubai

Concrete by OMA

Rem Koolhaas's first building in the UAE — four warehouses fused into a shape-shifting arts space with pivoting walls and a sprayed-concrete skin.

Dubai

Dubai Metro Station Shells

Golden shell-roofed stations across the city — Aedas's pearl-inspired canopies, a column-free steel form repeated as urban jewellery.

Dubai

Expo City Entry Portals

Asif Khan's 21-metre carbon-fibre gateways — a mashrabiya 'drawn in the sky', with vast doors thin and light enough to be opened by one person.

Dubai

Infinity Bridge

A 42-metre steel arch bent into the mathematical symbol for infinity, spanning Dubai Creek at its historic mouth.

Dubai

Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park

The UAE's first open-air sculpture park, wrapped around Jameel Arts Centre on the Creek — monumental works by international and Emirati artists.

Dubai

Jameel Arts Centre Desert Gardens

Seven courtyards by Anouk Vogel, each a different desert of the world — sculptural plants on pink terrazzo, some rescued and three centuries old.

Dubai

LOVE ME

Richard Hudson's five-metre mirror-polished heart, aligned so the Burj Khalifa lands on its surface.

Dubai

ME Dubai Lobby

Zaha Hadid's only fully self-designed hotel interior — a fluid white-and-gold lobby set directly beneath the Opus void.

Dubai

Madinat Jumeirah Bronze Horses

A herd of life-size bronze Arabian horses by Danie de Jager, galloping across the lawns of the Madinat Jumeirah resort.

Dubai

Meydan Bridge

An undulating wave of a bridge that dissolves after dark into an unbroken ribbon of royal-blue neon across the desert.

Dubai

Mohammed Bin Rashid Library

A seven-storey building in the shape of a rehal — the wooden book rest for the Quran — opened like a book above Dubai Creek.

Dubai

Neon City Light Installation

A three-storey kinetic light show of the Chinese zodiac by Jason Bruges Studio, at the heart of Chinatown.

Dubai

Souk Al Bahar

An Arabesque 'sailor's market' of stone arches and lanterns on Burj Lake, linked to Dubai Mall by a bridge with the best fountain view.

Dubai

Souk Madinat Jumeirah

A recreated Arabian town of wind towers, lantern-lit lanes and abra-plied canals, framing the Burj Al Arab across the water.

Dubai

Terra — The Sustainability Pavilion

Grimshaw's 130-metre solar canopy — a great steel tree that harvests its own energy and water, ringed by rotating 'Energy Trees'.

Dubai

The Fashion Catwalk

A kinetic LED "chandelier" of five choreographed rings above the Fashion Avenue atrium — with a runway that rises from the floor.

Dubai

The Waterfall (Human Waterfall)

A four-storey indoor cascade of diving figures — Dubai's pearl-diving past, cast in fibreglass and falling water.

Dubai

Treasury Dome, Gold Souk

A 25-metre projection dome that crowns the world's largest indoor gold souk with ever-changing multimedia.

Dubai

Wings of Mexico (Alas de México), Dubai

Jorge Marín's monumental bronze angel wings — stand between them and the Burj Khalifa frames the shot.

Dubai