Art Lovers Places in Dubai

1010 Mural, Satwa

The German artist whose layered colour portals appear to open holes straight through the wall.

Dubai

18b Street Murals, Karama

Twenty-four murals above the 'handbag street' souk — 3D illusions, falcons and a floating green pickup, painted over one hot summer.

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 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

Alex Senna Murals, La Mer

Black-and-white silhouette figures reaching from shadow toward light — permanent works by the colour-blind Brazilian muralist.

Dubai

Apple Store Solar Wings

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

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

Ben Eine Typography, City Walk

Bold letterforms set high on a wall by the artist whose work a British prime minister gave to the White House.

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

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

Declaration by eL Seed

A 30-metre ribbon of bright pink Arabic calligraffiti outside Dubai Opera — a quote you can walk through and climb on.

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

Dubai Street Museum

Old Satwa's 2nd of December Street reborn as an open-air gallery — heritage murals by artists from five continents.

Dubai

Dubai Walls

Sixteen global street artists — Blek le Rat, D*Face, ROA, Vhils and more — turned City Walk into an open-air gallery, including a six-storey mural.

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

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

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

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

Shepard Fairey Murals, d3

Two facing walls by the artist behind Obama's 'Hope' poster — his first murals in the Middle East, a peace dove and a fist holding a flower.

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