Dubai is the country famous for its numerous maniacal building projects. It houses the largest artificial island, as well as the tallest tower in the world. Dubai utilizes 15-25% of all the cranes in the world. It has the only ‘7 star’ and the most luxurious hotel in the world. It has the largest waterfront, the largest shopping mall, the largest indoor skiing facility in the world! Everything about this country derives from unbelievable grandeur that makes people wonder how far this madness can go on.

Here are several photographs of a street in Dubai dating from 1990 till 2008.



1990



2003



2008



I found it quite fascinating to find out that Dubai’s oil reserves are estimated to last till 2016-2020.

As a result, in the last 10 years Dubai’s leader, crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, introduced the country to the world, following the most ambitious plan of total reformation. His ideas of promoting Dubai as a country of trade and tourism are developing side by side with superior construction projects. Already now the country gets only 6% of its money from oil, as its moneymakers are industry-specific free zones throughout the city. Architecture became a marketing tool for Dubai. It is used to support one of the largest advertisement campaigns in the world: wonders of Dubai are discussed on the first pages of magazines and newspapers, they become "hot" subjects for blogs and tv shows.

In the era of technology architecture stops being purely the art of building. It challenges our perception and forces drastic changes to happen. Architect is no longer limited by the set of “three dimensions”, as he/she utilizes the power of invention to break established boundaries.





On Monday 7th December 2009 Virgin Galactic, part of the Virgin Group run by Richard Branson, unveiled SpaceShipTwo to the world at Mojave Spaceport, California. It is the world’s first commercial space craft, an improved version of SpaceShipOne. SpaceShipTwo is a mothership that lounges aircraft with 6 passengers and 2 pilots into the orbit for a two-and-half hour trip. Planned to start operating by 2010, the project includes another wonder: the first private spaceport in the world.





The New Mexico Spaceport Authority Building, commissioned by the Virgin Galactic from foster+partners, is intended to emphasize the mystery and thrill of travel for the first time space visitors.





The organic form of the terminal resembles a rise in the landscape. Using local materials and regional construction techniques, it is both sustainable and sensitive to its surroundings.


On top of the new construction, Spaceport America isn’t too far away from famed Roswell, NM, known for the recovery of a UFO. The proximity of the two space sites will help boost interest in southern New Mexico as tourists travel to see the historical spot as well as the future-forward space launch site.


Private spaceport was deliberately chosen to support the grand project. Just imagine that space tourists would have to board their space ship in some terminal in JFK... That probably wouldn't become the most thrilling experience and the pricey trip would lack mystery from its very beginning. Architecture in this case brings experience of space traveling to a different level: tourists loose the connection with the world reality from the moment they arrive at the terminal, isolated in the desert of New Mexico.