The most defining element of Wasl Tower is its ceramic facade, developed by the architects at UNS as a full-height environmental system rather than a surface treatment. Thousands of terracotta fins wrap the building to form a continuous outer layer that filters sunlight and channels air movement across the envelope.
"In the Gulf, desalination is built with enough breathing room that losing one plant doesn't immediately show up at the tap," says Rabee Rustum, professor of water and environmental engineering at Heriot-Watt University Dubai.
Due to the airspace closure in Bahrain, Gulf Air's scheduled services to and from Bahrain International Airport remain temporarily suspended. The airline currently operates temporary commercial flights to and from Bahrain via King Fahad International Airport in Dammam.
The record-breaking Falcons Flight roller coaster starts out slow, but don't be fooled. Seconds into the ride at the new Six Flags Qiddiya City in Saudi Arabia, passengers are jolted into a high-speed journey that ascends mountainsides, passes through dark tunnels, and then does it all over again. The ride reaches a height of nearly 640 feet, lasts for nearly 3.5 minutes, and travels more than 2.6 miles.
Five bronze towers soar 400 feet above Saadiyat Island, the ever-expanding cultural district just off the coast of Abu Dhabi. The structures-which recall the wings of a falcon, a highly prized symbol in the United Arab Emirates-are the architectural signature of the Zayed National Museum, which opened in December. Two weeks before, another vastinstitution, the Natural History Museum, debuted. They will be followed later this year by the most ambitious of all-the late Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
