The Al Otaiba Tower rises from the Abu Dhabi skyline as a slim, rectangular prism defined by its distinct grid of recessed windows and sharp, clean corners. Commissioned by the Al Otaiba family, one of the emirate's most prominent merchant…
Late Modernist Architecture
I've designed this walk to showcase the striking 1970s and 80s concrete and glass towers that defined Abu Dhabi's first futuristic skyline before the turn of the millennium.
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1. Al Otaiba Tower
2. Saeed Obaid al Mazroui building
The Saeed Obaid al Mazroui building stands out with its distinctively angled, stepped facade, which slices sharply against the skyline of the Central Business District. This structure serves as a marker of the city's mid-twentieth-century…
3. Al-Ibrahimi Building
The Al-Ibrahimi building displays a series of layered, protruding balconies that create a stepped silhouette against the Abu Dhabi skyline. It was designed by architect Michael A. Akl and completed in the early nineteen eighties to provide…
4. Hamdan Shopping Center
The Hamdan Shopping Center features a distinctive, long, tiered facade painted in a pale, sandy yellow that spans nearly an entire city block. Built in the early nineteen eighties, it served as one of the first modern indoor retail spaces…
5. Hanging Garden Tower
The Hanging Garden Tower features a grid of cascading, cantilevered balconies that hold thick planters against the glass facade. Designed by the architecture firm Dewan, the building aims to integrate living greenery into a vertical office…
6. Harib Bin Sultan Building
The Harib Bin Sultan Building stands out for its weathered, mid-century concrete facade, a sharp contrast to the shimmering glass skyscrapers that define the modern Abu Dhabi skyline. Built during the nineteen seventies, this structure…