Stepping off a water taxi into the heart of Venice for the first time is an unforgettable experience. The narrow alleys, the romantic bridges over busy canals, the gondolas and grand villas teetering over the water all speak of centuries-old history. Given, however, that it would be possible to fit its tallest building – the famous bell tower in St Mark’s Square – in Burj Al Arab’s atrium alone, this at first seems a strange location for a celebration of the UAE’s architectural history.
But for the next five months, the Venice Architecture Biennale is in town. Anyone who is anyone in the world of building is here. And, for the first time, so is the UAE, presenting a national pavilion to stand alongside the best on the planet.
Still, it’s with a certain sense of trepidation that we stroll along the canal to Arsenale – the ancient shipyard and armoury, and one of two main sites around which the biennale is based. The 14th version of this international exhibition is a curious hybrid of art and history, culture and architecture – a bizarrely brilliant coming together of the world’s weird, wonderful and, yes, sometimes overambitious architects and designers. In the Giardini’s central pavilion, an immaculately dressed Venetian peers, baffled, at a space dedicated to the history of the humble lavatory, dubbed by some visitors “the toilet room”. Elsewhere, there’s a collection of staircases and a celebration of 1960s Italian discotheques. It’s a fantastical celebration of construction in all its forms.
Role of the UAE
How does the UAE fit into this magical melange? After all, the curator of the biennale Rem Koolhaas – one of the most important architects working in the field today – requested that all the participating countries followed the theme “absorbing modernity 1914-2014”. Just to put that in some kind of context, the master plan for Dubai wasn’t drawn up until 1960.
But, rather brilliantly, the UAE pavilion confounds expectations. For its debut, one might expect a flash, brash space in keeping with many people’s preconceptions of Dubai. But inside a cool, dark room there’s barely any recognition of, say, the Burj Khalifa. The content is hidden behind thick black walls referencing traditional courtyard living – and there is another layer after that: pull-out drawers that really do tell the story of 100 years of the UAE’s architectural history.
“Nearly everyone looks for the Burj Khalifa first,” says Adina Hempel, who has been in charge of research for the national pavilion project. “And that’s fine,” she adds, pointing to the one immediate reference to it on an intriguing illustrated timeline of building in the UAE. “But we’re here in Venice to break apart those preconceptions. We want to show the history, starting with the tradition of arish and coral stone houses and emphasising that they influenced the modern buildings of the 1970s and 1980s. The UAE is a fast-growing country attracting fabulous international architecture, but it’s not a place that has just ‘happened’ in the past 10 years.”
Fascinating story
This sense of a story is key to the UAE pavilion. We happen upon a Swiss architect, Brigitta Schild, who tells us that she had no other “reference to the UAE other than the Burj Khalifa” before she spent time at the biennale.
“What fascinated me was the pre-oil story and how the creation of these big cities has caused issues which, more often than not, were solved with real vision. And the work that’s been done on how memories and buildings interlink is really interesting. We have centuries of iconic buildings in Europe, of course, so what happens when you don’t have that to fall back on?”
And while other national pavilions tend to have a relatively fluid movement of people (except the Thailand room, which is, curiously, almost entirely dark), the UAE effort encourages people to stop, think and perhaps learn something. Pulling out one of the drawers featuring a family photograph album of children by the National Houses of the 1980s, the German architect David Kasparek tells us he loves the “muted, reflective and very personal” atmosphere of the pavilion.
Wilhelm Warning, a Munich-based broadcast journalist, agrees. “Maybe all we know in Germany is that the UAE has a lot of money and builds whatever it wants. But it’s a deeper story than that,” he admits. “It’s interesting to see this development of the Emirates from a cultural and architectural perspective, and realise that there’s a proudness, richness and heritage that goes back much further than perhaps a European would think.”
The right balance
Walking around the other national pavilions in Arsenale, it feels like the curator Michele Bambling’s team have pitched the balance between history and art just right. There is a big crowd based at Estonia’s overly tricksy pavilion exploring public spaces, with projections and digital imagery – although this may be because they’re handing out fantastic cake and drinks: even the most assiduously dressed Venetian architect is beginning to wilt in the late spring heat.
Bahrain’s effort is similarly popular: its circular, library-like space selecting 100 buildings across the Arab world is quite the talking point, although not as immediately eager to please as the entrance to Chile’s pavilion. A garishly decorated family apartment, complete with pink walls and photos of children, seems incredibly realistic – until you find out it actually is a woman’s living room, transported across the Atlantic. It’s like a brilliant living history museum.
The UAE pavilion may not have that same sense of merriment, but for Bambling, there is a real sense of satisfaction that her initial idea is engaging people.
“It’s wonderful to see, in the flesh, this idea we’ve been working on for so long,” she says, with a mixture of pride and relief. “Even the way the light falls across the space, for me, represents the layering of memories we have wanted to capture. Every drawer has a story and what I like is that it’s not narrated by me, but by someone who directly experienced these changes and developments in the UAE. There’s this sense of wonder in UAE architecture and I hope we’ve captured some of that.”
Cultural connection
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s not hard to find people with a connection to the UAE flocking to the pavilion, too. “You don’t always appreciate the buildings you see every day in Abu Dhabi,” notes the personal trainer Penny Howarth, gazing at a picture of the bus station. “This just makes you think what an amazing story it has been, how this place has made its mark.”
“It tells an emotional story – about nation-building, but about everyday people, too,” adds the architect Sandra Piesik.
But if anyone should be emotional, it’s Deborah Bentley. The first UAE National Pavilion has been a truly collaborative experience and the architecture professor at Abu Dhabi University worked with her students on a drawer that focuses on the Volcano Fountain, Abu Dhabi’s famous landmark demolished in 2004. It’s only a small part of the pavilion, but it says everything about its attention to detail.
“Buildings in the UAE can be so transient, demolished too easily,” says Bentley. “And with that, people’s memories disappear. So the class had a look at conservation – which is part of a wider conversation both in this pavilion and the UAE as a whole – and our students really dedicated themselves to finding and creating archive material. When you lose those buildings you run the risk of losing your identity.
“So to see it here ...” she tails off. “Well, I’m close to tears actually.”
artslife@thenational.ae
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Adina Hampel’s name and referred to her as Anna Hampel.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
Results
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,600m; Winner: RB Kings Bay, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: AF Ensito, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash
8pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m; Winner: AF Sourouh, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
8.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Baaher, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
9pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Mootahady, Antonio Fresu, Eric Lemartinel
9.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Dubai Canal, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
10pm: Al Ain Cup – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Harrab, Bernardo Pinheiro, Majed Al Jahouri
Generational responses to the pandemic
Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:
Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.
Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.
Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
2.0
Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
SPECS
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MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
Dubai Rugby Sevens, December 5 -7
World Sevens Series Pools
A – Fiji, France, Argentina, Japan
B – United States, Australia, Scotland, Ireland
C – New Zealand, Samoa, Canada, Wales
D – South Africa, England, Spain, Kenya
Honeymoonish
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ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)
Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15
Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)
Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
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