mblog

Abu Dhabi, a pearl in the mouth of a very unstable oyster, wants to be the cultural center of the planet as well. The tourist metropolis is on the tip of a peninsula on the South of the Persian Gulf, and has been a booming business center and resort-like tourist destination since a chic sheik saw the potential to combine oil money, education and culture in the late 60’s. The city’s skyline is already an impressive array of modern architecture and planning, but the Cultural Foundation it setting the foundation to truly set their city apart from its Arab counterparts.

Progress has already begun on an international cultural center, with a Frank Gehry designed Guggenheim Museum, a desert Louvre (that will be more a cluster-like collection of differently sized building types directly by the sea), museums for classical art and performing arts centers among other state-of-the-art cultural facilities. Two 10-lane highways will connect Saadayat Island to the city and the airport, 29 proposed hotels, a marina for cruise ships and moneyed yacht-owners, all is planned for completion by 2018.

You have to wonder how can such a stable city, full of fashion, design, big business and resorts, exist in such a precarious location? Higher education, a lot of money, and friends in high places may afford you protection, but can it save you from atrocious architecture and inevitable resource devastation? In the struggle to mark as an influential nation of many values, you still have to be prepared to glitz it up and shake it like a show girl. If this is high culture, leave me at St. Sophia’s Cathedral choking on the dust of centuries.