LOVE ME

LOVE ME is a monumental heart in mirror-polished stainless steel by the British sculptor Richard Hudson, installed on The Dubai Mall's Waterfront Promenade in 2019 (a smaller version had appeared in 2019's lead-up, but the permanent piece is the large one). It is no ordinary heart: the form is organic and asymmetric — swelling and voluptuous on one face, hollowed and scooped on the other — and finished to a flawless liquid-mirror sheen. At five metres tall and roughly as wide, 3.8 metres deep and weighing over 7,000 kilograms, it holds the plaza at real architectural scale rather than as a photo prop.

Its placement is the whole point. LOVE ME sits directly on the axis of the Burj Khalifa, at the opposite end of the promenade from the tower, and its curved mirror surface catches the world's tallest building and the sky and the crowd all at once — so the viewer, the fountain and the skyline fold into the sculpture in a single reflection. Critics have noted the visual kinship with Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate in Chicago; Hudson, whose abstract forms are often inspired by the female body, describes the heart as an all-encompassing symbol of love and peace, "an icon image that crosses all boundaries." It was the first of his public works commissioned in the region, part of Emaar's growing public-art programme.

On the Waterfront Promenade outside The Dubai Mall, on the lakeside between the mall and the Dubai Fountain, aligned with the Burj Khalifa. From inside the mall, head for the Waterfront/Fountain exit. Position yourself so the tower reflects on the curved surface; the classic shot uses the mirror rather than pointing away from it.