« Growing Tensions in Bolivia | Main | Castro’s Announcement »

For the "New Middle East" See this Floor Model

December 17, 2007 12:03 AM

Lara Setrakian, part of our recent expansion of reporters stationed around the globe, blogs:

With oil making so much money for the countries who pump it, Gulf Arab governments have the cash for ambitious building projects that pump up their skylines and add substance to their cities. The neat thing about a construction boom is that the blueprints provide a peek into the future, or at least one hopeful vision of the city to come.

Zoom in on Abu Dhabi. In what might be the most culturally enlightened use of oil money the city is constructing a series of iconic new buildings including the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a spin-off of the Paris institution. At the Emirates Palace, a 7-star hotel in the capital city, I got a look at eye-popping scale models of what's being built: centrally, a Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim that evokes beautifully stylized children's building blocks, the Louvre by Jean Nouvel whose interior looks like heaven on earth, and Zaha Hadid's futuristic concert hall that's an ultra-modern take on local plant life. (At right, the Guggenheim.)

The groundbreaking takes place on Saadiyat Island, just off the coast of Abu Dhabi and the first buildings open as soon as four years from now. In a global integrated effort the featured "starchitects" involved include an Iraqi (Hadid), a Frenchman (Nouvel), and a Jewish American (Gehry). (At left, the Zaha Hadid Concert Hall.)

The philosophy behind Saadiyat Island is partly 'if you build it, they will come' – they being high-end tourists from around the globe. But another stated motive is simply that people of the Middle East deserve fine art and concert venues as much as anyone else. With all the money to pay for it Abu Dhabi can import high art from the West and use it as an accelerator for developing contemporary Arab culture. Saadiyat Island could well make Abu Dhabi the cultural capital of the modern Middle East – a sign that the power balance within the Arab World has shifted away from traditional centers like Damascus, Baghdad, and Cairo to favor Gulf cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha. (At right, the future Louvre from the inside.)

Seeing such an ambitious long-term project in motion got me thinking: one could argue that the UAE is a reliable ally in the so-called "War on Terror" not just for its relations with the US (which are good), but because it is building monuments it will care to preserve for generations to come. Ambitious long-term construction means a country is committed to maintaining a stable environment free of extremist violence.

The island is not without its controversy. Lawmakers in France and puritanical art lovers worldwide were appalled that the Louvre would be willing to endorse a franchise, no matter what amount of money they'd earn from the project. Four years from now when the Abu Dhabi Louvre opens I will apply my own test of its worth: will its centerpiece be a second-string pick of Western art or the rich and ancient art of the Middle East?

A sidebar on Emirati wildlife and cuisine: a friend of mine snapped an adorable photo of two camels in the nearby desert. It made it all the more painful when I went to a local Moroccan desert, Shoo Fee Ma Fee, and saw camel kebabs on the menu. I stuck with the chicken tagine dish, but my buddy Jared had the camel. The picture on the right is is of him digging in.

In closing, I had to snap a shot of this sign at Amman's Queen Alia Airport. It's a reminder that Arab societies are socially stratified in the most bizarre ways. In Jordan you see it in a sign for 'super business class.' In Beirut you see it in concert ticket levels -- mezzanine, orchestra, VIP, or VVIP. For some in the Middle East you are where you sit.

December 17, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0)

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/433071/24338990

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference For the "New Middle East" See this Floor Model:

User Comments

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments: