[Another Jake]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e194/GenGradPSU/Anara1.jpg
Urbanity.es (translated by google):

Anar the tower will have 125 floors and will reach a height of about 700 meters. Its sponsor is the signature emiratí Tameer. The design is the work of the British firm Atkins, who had previously achieved the projects of other buildings in Dubai (the tower "green" 400-meter lighthouse and Iris Bay, a project smaller).

This multi-use building will contain offices (including the headquarters of the promoter Tameer), shops, a luxury hotel with 250 rooms, 300 apartments and an art gallery exhibitions and auctions.

The building will contain an apartment that is expected to become the most expensive in the city of Dubai, with its own swimming pool in height and an exclusive elevator to the apartment.

The tower will emerge on a podium or atrium and will be raised in two bodies, united in the center of a large shaft of glass union.

The tower will be marked by gardens in height every 27 floors. These gardens will be located on a large platform that will unite the two nuclei of the tower around the shaft.

The tower will be topped by a large empty circle, in the center of which is located a glass capsule sustained by 3 arms and giving the appearance of being a large wind turbine. That capsule will contain a restaurant with panoramic views over the Sheik Zayed Road, the most important avenue of Dubai.

The Anar does (sic) not exceed the Burj Tower Dubai, but will undoubtedly be one of the buildings of the players busy skyline of Dubai, as well as the largest project of studying architecture Atkins.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e194/GenGradPSU/Anara5.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e194/GenGradPSU/Anara2.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e194/GenGradPSU/Anara4.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e194/GenGradPSU/Anara3.jpg

[M II A II R II K]

Now there's a project one can be excited about, hopefully this gets built.

[Rise To The Top]

Another bottle opener?

[NYC4Life]

In this hot desert, One can use a huge fan. Another amazing tower for Dubai.

[Tom In Chicago]

Another bottle opener?

That's pretty much what I was thinking. . .

. . .

[Ilex]

So who exactly is going to fill all these supertalls being built? I know that Dubai has tourism, but not even tourist destinations like Vegas or Paris need that much room.

I like the tower though. It's sexy. I just feel bad that it's being built in Dubai because it might not get the recognition or fame it deserves.

[Aleks]

I don't know... It's not as good as the Burj Dubai's design. It's actually not that good. But I like the hole with the "pod" in the middle. Cool feature... Now they just need to replace the pod with wind turbines..

[Zerton]

very conceptual. looks like something from a 50s scifi comic.

[Spocket]

I rather like the idea of Dubai getting a few towers in the same range as the Burj Dubai. It makes the BD look less out of place (or , at least, if built, that's what I figure the effect will be)

Still...I can't stop wondering the same thing that we've all been wondering for so long now. Who exactly is filling these towers ? I understand the principle of "Build it and they will come". Seems to be working so far but there has to be a limit. Dubai aims to be the New York of the Middle East and I have no doubt that it will become so. What's perplexing though is that there's only so much of a market to cater to so eventually these skyscrapers must become shells. I guess it's just a little worrying because Dubai is a rather arbitrary choice to become a world center. Nothing wrong with that but since that's the case, what happens when somebody with even more money and greater ambition comes along ?

I dunno. I hope Dubai plays out like its proponents are banking on but it seems like a very precarious line to walk until its position solidifies.

As for this particular skyscraper...not sure what to think of it just yet. I'd prefer to see it in the skyline and in context before coming to a judgement. Looks okay I guess but like I said...we'll see.

[Another Jake]

^ Dubai is becoming a world capital for the rich. There are plenty of rich people out there to "fill all these supertalls." PLENTY. People thought the Dubai Palms were foolish, but those lots and home are basically all sold even at their extreme price. The Burj Dubai was everyone's next vent and that is basically a profitable success. There are 6.5 billion people on this planet and there are few places as decadent as Dubai is becoming. They build it... and people come. I'm getting the impression that all this skepticism is camouflaged jealousy.

[Alliance]

Wow. Another uninspired, completely overdone, anti-architectural proposal for Dubai. Its almost...a TREND!

People thought the Dubai Palms were foolish, but those lots and home are basically all sold even at their extreme price.

No. They were mostly bought by flippers who want to turn around and sell them, not to live there. Besides, when its your 18th home (for people who actually bought them as places to go), you're not going to be living there more than a few weeks a year. I imagine its very dead.

[Lecom]

At first I thought it was a giant kickass wind turbine at the top, but seems like it's just another gimmicky folly.

[i_am_hydrogen]

...

http://i37.tinypic.com/2iqjvag.jpg
http://i37.tinypic.com/53kzg8.jpg
http://i35.tinypic.com/b54bgz.jpg

[NYC4Life]

Wow. Another uninspired, completely overdone, anti-architectural proposal for Dubai. Its almost...a TREND!



You just need to quit bashing every new tower that comes out of Dubai, or anywhere else for that matter. Towers are not designed and built based on your tastes or personal preferences, It if were, then we would see many Chicago Spires being built around the World.

[Another Jake]

What the heck does anti-architectural mean anyway? :koko:

[NYC4Life]

What the heck does anti-architectural mean anyway? :koko:


A tower with no Chicago Architecture?? :haha:

This Alliance dude is amazing.

[FrancoRey]

I like it, I just wish that giant turbine on top actually worked. How cool would that be? Then again, it would cause the upper floors of the building to constantly sway and hum as it turned. :rolleyes:

[peanut gallery]

Well, I'm not a fan.

Hoo-boy, I slay me.

[Rico Rommheim]

I like it. This Dubai-bashing has gotten quite transparent now.

[malec]

At first I thought it was a giant kickass wind turbine at the top, but seems like it's just another gimmicky folly.

That's what I thought too. By the way I think this is more like 650m and 140 floors. At least that's according to an article that interviewed the developer. 700m was quote on the website www.anaratower.com but has now been replaced with 600m+. Also I recon 125 floors of use and 140 including parking, mechanical floors, etc.

[photoLith]

Whoda thunk that 10 years ago Dubai would be the worlds first Sci Fi ish city.

[Starsky]

For all the people defending the new, ugly projects in Dubai...Guess what?

If these things were built in major American cities they would be getting 10x as much flack on these forums, *and rightly so*. It seems like they could make a building modeled after a pile of feces in Dubai and it would still have defenders.

[MolsonExport]

well, now that's an interesting design. another example of "build it, and they will come"?

[malec]

For all the people defending the new, ugly projects in Dubai...Guess what?

If these things were built in major American cities they would be getting 10x as much flack on these forums, *and rightly so*. It seems like they could make a building modeled after a pile of feces in Dubai and it would still have defenders.

Um no, I think the opposite. They'd get 10 times more praise :)

[northbay]

tacky

[Aleks]

malec is wayyyyy right.

[Xeelee]

Interesting.

[futuresooner]

Wow, now that's ugly.

Looks like a bottle opener met a personal, hand-held fan.

[CGII]

The front face of this building is a spoon. The lateral forces from wind will be astronomical. For the people who say 'all the Chicago people are just jealous!' you have to understand that the Chicago Spire is designed to disperse these loads whereas this tower just ignores that element of the equation in favour of something that looks cool.

Often times people bring into question these funky skyscrapers and say, 'well, this building in Dubai looks funky, and this building in NY or Chicago looks funky, so they are of the same quality,' which is a fallacy. The funky design of the Spire has clear structural and aerodynamic advantages whereas the buildings in Dubai are designed sculpturally, where the shape has little pertainence to the engineering.

And let's face it, the base of this building sucks. It looks terrible and has so little relation to the rest of the building (which is already a jumbled mess). And what's worse, it's on a giant interchange. If this building were being proposed for anywhere in America I'd be giving it even more flack because we have a much greater diligence when it comes to designing urban, reasonably scaled and well designed projects. I'm chalking this one up as another Dubai piece of flair with a few interesting ideas that fail to be fully realized or streamlined.

This 'Dubai School' of architecture is like 21st century Beaux Arts (minus the craftsmanship and diligence) where the idea is that if you slather a building in expressive, artistic form it gains architectural value. And we all know what happened to Beaux Arts.

[malec]

The front face of this building is a spoon. The lateral forces from wind will be astronomical.

Well if that's the case then when they do the detailed design that'll have to change.

This will probably not be built anyway.
The Dubai property market is undergoing a correction (crash?) and this time next year we'll be in a better position to say what will and what won't be built. :yes:

[Tom Servo]

And we all know what happened to Beaux Arts.

...it spread like wildfire and influenced the direction of millions of buildings around the world, spreading itself like the plague? :sly:

[CGII]

...it spread like wildfire and influenced the direction of millions of buildings around the world, spreading itself like the plague? :sly:

Well, for the most part, it died. I know you'll say 'no' and then bring up a list of counterexamples but you have to admit that in the long run the Chicago school won out, even if around the world it has been watered down or butchered.

[M.K.]

It seems those exaustors in restaurant kitchens or even in some toilets, to put out the bad odor. A big ventilator pod in our room.

[rockyi]

Striking design for a science fiction movies special effects but a complete waste of materials in real life.

[VivaLFuego]

Towers are not designed and built based on your tastes or personal preferences,

Yeah, generally towers are proposed with at least some semblence of being based in economic reality as well as structural reality per CGII's excellent post above (including, fair enough, Burj Dubai on both counts - an ambitious tower of ego, but still fully grounded in reality), but this tower is clearly an insane pipe dream.

[murdoc9]

got to agree Fuego, I give this one exactly .06% chance of actually being built. The market is falling apart right now and everyone knows its coming. Think South Florida right now, but even more overbuilt. The gov't will try and prop the market up as much as it can, but we'll see prices at about $.30 on the dollar in 2 years.

Too bad though, I actually do like this design, but this will be one of those wouldn't it have been cool type projects.

[malec]

^^ True, but I don't think it's that overbuilt. Miraculously all those apartments in the marina are actually starting to get filled. For example in the jumeirah beach residence all the restaurants and stuff at the bottom of the developments have loads of people in them now according to what people who live there say.

About your last sentence I agree 100%. Same applies to Nakheel Tower, Jumeirah Gardens development, Dubai waterfront, etc...

[murdoc9]

:previous: I hope you're right about it not being that overbuilt, I definitely don't want to see a crash there. I keep reading about tales of the average condo changing hands 18 times before move in and of that activity slowing down. I also know a great deal of office space was being taken up by companies coming in to develop new real estate - it kind of felt like a pyramid scheme in a way.

In its similarity to South Florida, I think the overall fundamentals of the market are great. Unfortunately, the supply came in all at once and now there's going to be a glut until the market catches up.

[Duffstuff129]

I must say that I'm not a fan (see the subtle referential humor?) of this building's design. ZING!

[peanut gallery]

Hey, hey, hey! Someone already made that joke on the previous page. ;)

[malec]

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/539377-tameer-axes-half-its-workforce

I think we can maybe move this to never built. :)

[malec]

From Imre:

08/December/2008

Anara site, Hard Rock Cafe is still there , Palm Hotel already removed

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/4888/imresolt14wd8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/5704/imresolt15qe6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/7040/imresolt17nv9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/2881/imresolt19ke7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Nowhereman1280]

I hope this thing is dead, its quite possibly the ugliest building I've seen since the first version of Al-Burj...

[malec]

Also this is 655m high according to www.ctbuh.org

[malec]

I hope this thing is dead, its quite possibly the ugliest building I've seen since the first version of Al-Burj...

Probably most likely it is (I know this next site requires subscription but the title says a good bit anyway :))
http://www.meed.com/news/2008/12/tameer_shelves_plan_for_anara_tower_headquarters.html

Other things to know are Sama Dubai (the guys building dubai towers) are only going to build the dubai towers doha, another small project in bahrain and some of the lagoons in dubai. I think dubai towers dubai probably cancelled.

Also who work with the signature towers project say it's not going ahead.

Basically the only places where massive towers are coming up are SZR and the tallest block in the marina. I think eventually almost everything else will be cancelled. 2 other projects of interest are Nakheel Tower and The Lighthouse. I bet nakheel tower will be cancelled soon enough as well, the lighthouse might just get built but who knows.

[Flo Flo]

I thought the work had begun on "Dubai Towers Dubai"....?:shrug:

[malec]

Changed to never built since it was confirmed this was cancelled.

[koval95]

like the way it flows, and beautiful blue windows just seal the deal!

[JDRCRASH]

One supertall down, dozens more to go.

[Namelessmofo]

This building was gorgeous, majestic (in a futuristic sense) and epic in every way imaginable. I do not comprehend peoples disdain for such a beautifully unique work of art. I place emphasis on the word unique here, because in order to appreciate its style one must appreciate that which is not commonly thought of in skyscraper design. Think outside the box is my approach to skyscrapers.

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

:yuck: i really dont like the design at the top it reminds me of a giant fan