Product Description

Construction fever in the Gulf

The small emirates and states located on the Gulf, at the eastern edge of the Saudi Arabian peninsula, are building new cities in the desert at an astonishing rate, from Bahrain to Doha, and south to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Comprised of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain, the UAE is an oil-and-gas-rich region that has experienced an unparalleled architectural boom in recent years. With a dizzying array of ultra-modern towers popping up throughout the area, it's no surprise that the Gulf region has attracted many of the world's most prominent architects, including Tadao Ando, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, and Jean Nouvel, who are all designing groundbreaking projects for the ambitious Cultural District project on Saadiyat Island off the coast of Abu Dhabi. With these and many more remarkable, large-scale projects recently built or in progress, the Gulf emirates are perhaps today's top architectural hotspot.

Architects featured: AEDAS, Tadao Ando, Asymptote, Atkins, Behnisch Architects, Frank O. Gehry, Gensler, Zaha Hadid, HOK Sports, Kazuhiro Kojima, KPF, Greg Lynn, Jean Nouvel, OMA/Porsche Design, Oosterhuis NL, Carlos Ott, I.M. Pei, RNL, Hadi Simaan, SOM, Pei Zhu

TASCHEN's new architecture series brings a unique perspective to world architecture, highlighting architectural trends by country. Each book features 15 to 20 architects--from the firmly established to the up-and-coming--with the focus on how they have contributed to very recent architecture in the chosen nation. Entries include contact information and short biographies in addition to copiously illustrated descriptions of the architects' or firms' most significant recent projects. Crossing the globe from country to country, this new series celebrates the richly hued architectural personality of each nation or region featured.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #581176 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-01
• Original language: English, German, French
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 191 pages

About the Author
Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard University, and was editor-in-chief of the leading French art journal Connaissance des Arts for over two decades. He has published numerous articles and books on contemporary architecture, including TASCHEN's Architecture Now! series, Building a New Millennium, and monographs on Tadao Ando, Renzo Piano, Norman Foster, Richard Meier, and Álvaro Siza.

Customer Reviews

Good Descriptions, lacks many Iconic Projects
The book has a good overview of several different developers' projects within the Emirates. It reviews a variety of different architectural styles but I was slightly disappointed that it skips over many of the iconic supertall skyscrapers being developed within Dubai and Abu Dhabi. If you are considering buying this book because you saw and admired Dubai's tallest buildings, this is not the book for you. Rather, this book is aimed that those with an interest in individual and one-off style buildings. I would say that the book is best for people residing in the Emirates who have an interest in a wide variety of architectural styles that will be popping up around the Emirates and gulf in the next few years.

Great showcase of stunning architecture
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2W26JLLT74FPL I've always been fascinated by Dubai's architectural growth.

This book is a showcase of some of the finest and spectacular architecture in Emirates. 20 architects are featured, under them a few buildings.

Some of the buildings include Dancing Towers, Pentominium, Strata Towers, Burj Al Arab, Opus Office Tower, Manhal Oasis, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and many others.

It's hard to review an architecture book so I've included a video.

Here's the product description from the book jacket:

The small emirates and states located on the Gulf, at the eastern edge of the Saudi Arabian peninsula, are building new cities in the desert at an astonishing rate, from Bahrain to Doha, and south to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Comprised of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain, the UAE is an oil-and-gas-rich region that has experienced an unparalleled architectural boom in recent years. With a dizzying array of ultra-modern towers popping up throughout the area, it's no surprise that the Gulf region has attracted many of the world's most prominent architects, including Tadao Ando, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, and Jean Nouvel, who are all designing groundbreaking projects for the ambitious Cultural District project on Saadiyat Island off the coast of Abu Dhabi. With these and many more remarkable, large-scale projects recently built or in progress, the Gulf emirates are perhaps today's top architectural hotspot.

Great Book!
I know nothing about Architecture, but I love it.

I mean, I love watching nice buildings and knowing what's beyond them -who made them, how, etc.-.

So, this GREAT BOOK -as all Taschen publications- allows you to travel to the Emirates without even moving from the coziness of your living room.

If you like architecture you'll love it -and i you know, even more-.

A great book for those who like to know more about this fantastic paradise of zillion bucks buildings...