New Spaces 09 EN

38 Sights and Scenes 3. Ecological Dreams from the 1,001 Nights The oil will dry up at some point. The United Arab Emirates are therefore preparing now for the future by promoting sustainable architecture Text: Petra Thorbrietz The fi rst step The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology will be powered exclusively by solar energy (above and above right). PHOTOGRAPHY: ROLAND HALBE, ARCHITECTURE: NIGEL YOUNG/FOSTER + PARTNERS The most beautiful Oriental dreams used to begin with simple clay. Bricks were formed by hand, hardened by the hot sun and used to build narrow, creatively formed houses — each man was his own architect. The architecture was simple but effi cient. Narrow alleys provided shade between the low roofs covered with palm leaves. The sides of the houses were covered with a mixture of fossilised coral and shell limestone — a material that retained little heat. The scarce drinking water came from rainwater collected in cisterns or from carefully guarded springs. The only available raw materials came from the desert, the air and the sea, and they were ideally suited to ensure survival in this extreme climate. In the winter, the nomads responded to the call of the desert and moved with their tents from one oasis to the next. It was a life straight out of the 1,001 Nights. One has to keep in mind the history of the people living along the Arabian Gulf to understand the changes taking place in the region today. The dominance of individual Arab tribes that went back for thousands of years was replaced in 1971 by the establishment of a world power: the United Arab Emirates, consisting of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah. Under the leadership of several sheikhs and backed by the oil boom, the region has caught up with the industrial nations in less than two generations. Its achievements include high-rise buildings made of steel and glass, six-lane highways, shopping malls, swimming pools and electric air conditioning systems. But no sooner was this prosperity achieved than its end already loomed. What will happen when the oil runs out? No other country has posed this question as radically.

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