Page 39 - Bespoke_the_chic_and_the_cool

WITH A CAPACITY
FOR AN
ASTONISHING
40,000
WORSHIPPERS,
THE SHEIKH ZAYED
GRAND MOSQUE
MAIN PRAYER HALL
IS DOMINATED
BY ONE OF THE
WORLD’S LARGEST
CHANDELIERS
–10 METRES IN
DIAMETER, 15
METRES IN HEIGHT
AND WEIGHING
TWELVE TONNES.

most like a mirage of silhouettes of buildings stance from the center. Moreover, it is the desert
that defy gravity behind a blanket of sand raised that has made her one of the richest cities on the
by the wind. One example is the Tower of the Ca- planet thanks to oil the Rub ‘al-Khali, “the empty
pital Gare by RMJM architects: 35 glass and steel quarter”, the Empty Quarter, as the British explo-
floors that rise straight up and then bend over rer Sir Wilfred Thesiger called it in 1959. And then
and screwed into a spiral, just as the high dunes there is the sea, border and look to the future, to
of the desert, changing shape due to the wind. the world. You can admire it walking along the
Ambitious and refined, ultra-modern and tradi- eight kilometers Corniche, with its Mediterra-
tional, the capital of the United Arab Emirates is nean atmosphere, edged with palm trees, cafes
also this, the call of the desert, an integral part of and restaurants. Overlooking the Gulf also the
its history and the Bedouin tradition, revived by majestic Emirates Palace Hotel, five-star luxury
spending a memorable evening in the midst of hotel in the Arabic style for a thousand and one
the dunes nell’Arabian Night Village, a short di- night dreams. Icon of Abu Dhabi, is developed

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