United Arab Emirates (UAE): Urban Landscape and Modern Heritage

In 1971, the six emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujaira and Umm al-Quwain confederated into the United Arab Emirates (UAE). One year later, the emirate of Ras al-Khaima also joined. Over the years, the urban and economic expansion of the different emirates developed with diverse speed and characteristics, setting up dissimilar and peculiar territorial structures. This collection of essays aims at presenting an overall view of the urban landscape and of the built heritage of the UAE, from the first significant buildings of the sixties to nowadays, focusing mostly on the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, more relevant for dimension of urban phenomena and recent history. Three essays investigate Dubai, particularly interesting and controversial case-study for complexity and dynamics of urban and territorial development. Ruben Garcia Rubio’s text presents the fundamental work of British architect John Harris, author of Dubai’s first masterplans and of the first iconic buildings and urban landmarks, amongst them the World Trade Centre, built in 1979. Tiziano Aglieri Rinella presents, through unpublished documentation coming from the archives of the Museum of Finnish Architecture, the visionary competition project by Reima and Raili Pietilä for the Deira Sea Corniche of 1974 in Dubai, which for the first time was proposing the construction of artificial islands and canals, anticipating what will be achieved only many years later. Cristiano Luchetti discusses the complex issues and contradictions of the disconnected urban and territorial structure of Dubai, presenting some interesting recent proposals that attempt a reversal of trend in its strategies of urban development. Juan Roldan is concerned with the mutable and dynamic urban landscape of the emirate of Sharjah, that is committed in the construction of its own regional identity. To conclude, Marco Sosa shows a method for the documentation of modern heritage in the UAE, considering buildings of historical, religious and cultural value, that changes according to the individual characteristics of each specific building.