Just as England has its traditional symbols of cricket and double-decker buses so the UAE has its palms, pearls and falconry; just as London has Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square, so Abu Dhabi has Qasr Al Hosn and Al Ittihad Square.
Stranded between the lanes of traffic that dominate the stretch of Airport Road between Hamdan Street and the Corniche, Al Ittihad Square is an architectural statement of national identity that employs Emirati cultural symbols such as a traditional incense burner (mabakhir), coffee pot (dallah) and a conical palm-frond food cover (makkabah) on a monumental scale.
Even as recently as the last Qasr Al Hosn Festival, when the monuments underwent a makeover, the square was the stuff of tourist postcards, but now it sits surrounded by construction hoardings and signs announcing the “Al Ittihad Square Revitalisation Programme”. The details of the programme are yet to be made public but what is certain is that Al Ittihad Square is already missing one of its monuments, a giant cannon that once confronted the cars as they drove towards Abu Dhabi’s Corniche.
The cannon’s demolition is just one of the latest changes to a neighbourhood that for years represented the heart of the city.
Not only was the area the home of Abu Dhabi’s original souq, now in its third iteration as Foster + Partner’s World Trade Center Mall, but it also housed its first bus station, clock tower and one of the city’s most elaborate mosques, the many-minareted Al Fahimi.
Abu Dhabi is a palimpsest where the past is repeatedly overwritten by the present, and the area around Al Ittihad Square is one of the places where the traces of the city's history lie thickest and deepest. Those layers of Abu Dhabi's past are of interest to Yasser Elsheshtawy, associate professor of architecture at the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain and the editor and author of books such as Dubai: Behind an Urban Spectacle (2013) and The Evolving Arab City: Tradition, Modernity and Urban Development (2011).
For Elsheshtawy, the demolition of the Al Ittihad Square cannon is loaded with symbolic interest, although he does not mourn its passing. “The cannon may have nostalgia value for people. Maybe they associate it with a bygone era or with old Abu Dhabi, but the cannon … didn’t really contribute positively to the urban landscape.”
Elsheshtawy has recently made a study of the architectural symbols that have been used in the projection of Emirati identity at World Expos and biennales. “If you go back to the UAE’s first representation of itself, at the 1970 Osaka World Expo, you see a pavilion that was constructed in the shape of a traditional fort but it was very generic,” he explains. “That pattern continued up until Expo 2000 in Hanover, Germany, where the UAE built a replica of Al Jahili Fort.”
Elsheshtawy describes this direct reproduction of traditional objects and forms as a first step towards an increasingly mature Emirati architectural identity.
It’s an evolution he traces through pavilions such as those designed by Foster+Partners for the 2010 Shanghai Expo and the forthcoming 2015 Expo in Milan. “With Shanghai, things started to change and became a little more abstract, although there were still references to local elements. The pavilion was inspired by sand dunes and it was a further step towards cultural maturity and to the discussion of certain themes, and Milan takes this idea further with its references to the UAE’s waterways and its natural landscape.”
For Elsheshtawy, however, there is still some way to go before the UAE moves from a literal or metaphorical form of self-expression to the kind of abstraction and conceptualism that was displayed by pavilions such as Thomas Heatherwick’s for the UK in Shanghai.
“As Abu Dhabi is modernising and becoming more mature, it is becoming more selective in the symbols it is using,” the architect explains. “And perhaps the removal of the cannon can be understood as part of that.”
Elsheshtawy will be taking part tomorrow in a panel discussion to mark the publication of Modern Architecture in Abu Dhabi, 1968-1992, a guide to 30 of the capital's buildings that is the result of fieldwork, interviews and archival research by students from NYUAD.
The discussion is being moderated by Mo Ogrodnik, associate professor of film and new media and the principal investigator of FIND, the guide’s publisher. She will also be joined by Pascal Menoret, the guide’s editor, and Sherina Al Sowaidi, one of its contributors and authors.
The discussion will tackle the complex conservation issues facing Abu Dhabi and the factors that have helped shaped the city’s urban landscape. Perhaps even the fate of the overlooked and unloved Al Ittihad Square will be on the agenda.
• Modern Architecture in Abu Dhabi, 1968-1992, is on Sunday December 7 from 6.30pm at NYUAD. To register, visit nyuad.nyu.edu/en
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
Company%20Profile
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Results
STAGE
1 . Filippo Ganna (Ineos) - 0:13:56
2. Stefan Bissegger (Education-Nippo) - 0:00:14
3. Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) - 0:00:21
4. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) - 0:00:24
5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) - 0:00:30
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) - 4:00:05
2. Joao Almeida (QuickStep) - 0:00:05
3. Mattia Cattaneo (QuickStep) - 0:00:18
4. Chris Harper (Jumbo-Visma) - 0:00:33
5. Adam Yates (Ineos) - 0:00:39
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
