“Cultural identity in the UAE is a rich blend of traditional Arab, Islamic and contemporary elements.” (Dubai Culture and Arts Authority)
The ancient heritage of Arabian culture, strongly rooted on symbolic icons, ultimately inspired our conceptual approach.
CONCEPTUAL AND FUNCTIONAL ISSUES: The proposed emblem structure can be described as a metaphoric frozen portion of the continuum space-time, represented by two blended giant undulated tower-like "flames". One is intended to be dense (symbolically: the material space congealed) emerging as a sequence from a functional basis (podium). This unified cluster will be built in reinforced structural concrete with an apparent concrete finish cladding. The two-store podium contains the reception hall, the conference facilities, the childrens library and complementary operational spaces. The second, the highest one (160 meters tall), is intended to be ethereal (symbolically: the abstract time congealed). It will be built in a structural steel frame with a glass doubled skinned cladding. A set of interstitial computerized dynamic lighting effects will provide an unexpected show of harmony and beauty designed to respond to the temperature variations and wind movements, as well as to the ever-changing colors of Dubai citys sky at night scope. Both the tower-like "flames" contains sanitary, mechanical and technical facilities, vertical shafts, elevators and security staircases. Accessibility for handicapped people is full guaranteed at all functional levels of the complex. The gap between the towers supports two state-of-art vertical eolic turbines, activated by the local wind-force. The target is to produce the demanded green-energy source to supply the intelligent lighting effects from the computerized system. A metallic spherical structure with a glassed skin cladding (to about 85 meters high) is fixed in both vertical tower-like "flames" surfaces. It contains the café-bar facilities (about 150 m2), and will provide a climate controlled protected ambience with a dazzling view of the citys bay landscape (Arabian Gulf).Additional demanded functional spaces as the garage for 30 cars, technical and operational complimentary facilities, are located at basement levels at DMG 0,00m and DMG 2,50m.
The proposed Emblem Structure was plotted on the appropriated site, nearby the existing services building, therefore make it suitable to share eventual additional complementary services facilities. The vehicular and operational specific service fluxes, access the basement levels by the 6-Street board line, accordingly to the pre-established direction. The main general public access starts at the Zaabeel parks entrance gatehouse 6.Therefore, the pedestrian will achieve a dynamic perception of the proposed emblem tower, on a journey throughout the existing pedestrian network, up to the towers entrance hall at level DMG 5:00m.All construction phases of the proposed “Emblem Tower” are designed to fit gently on the slope of the site, basically stepped on 02 platform levels (DMG 2.50m, the basement access and DMG +5,00m, the public access).We are proposing a soft "live" iconic structure, able to minimize the impact on the local park environement while being noted at the whole urban scenario of Dubai