JWM - Volume 3, Issue 3 - (Page 56)

Differing PersPectives Above: The oversized walk-through fish tank in the Dubai Mall is one of its many wonders. At right: The view from atop the Burj Khalifa (top) and The Pavilion (bottom), a part-café, part-gallery venue that attracts a hip mix of expats and locals. D ubai five years ago was like the tin man,” says Delia milner, a long-term resident of the city. “Shiny, impressive, but lacking a heart.” we are sprawled on an immaculate lawn in Burj Park, a verdant haven at the center of the city’s new Downtown district, an area, i am quickly learning, which is finally providing that muchneeded heart. the temperature is a perfect 80ºF; local residents are zipping around on sleek rental bikes while tourists opt for the bicycle rickshaws; a dedicated “art bus” is ferrying people between galleries; and behind us, attendees of a free poweryoga class are twisting themselves into impressively complex shapes on the grass. oh, and just in front of us is the world’s tallest building. at 828 meters high, the Burj Khalifa is undeniably the show pony of Dubai. completed in january 2010 in the middle of the global financial storm, it represented the city’s determination (or stubbornness) to continue its extravagant growth J WM MAGAZINE 56 when the going got tough. it is the cornerstone around which Downtown, a mix of low-rise sandstone buildings and slick modern towers, has been built. From the Burj’s ‘at the top’ viewing deck on its 124th floor, you can get an extraordinary view over the city, as well as out across the vast desert at its back and the arabian Gulf at its front. The Search for a cenTer Ever since Dubai boomed upward over the last decade, it has struggled to find its center both literally and figuratively. the city’s rapid expansion was too much for the traditional centers of Deira and Bur Dubai: clogged with traffic, they became inaccessible to all but the most determined. meanwhile, 12-lane highway Sheikh Zayed road split the skyscraper district in two, denying its citizens a manhattan-esque area to stroll around in neck-cricking awe. New areas such as the artificial archipelago Palm jumeirah and the marina were too exclusive and too touristy to claim the title. and then along came Downtown. j w m a r r i o t t. c o m http://www.JWMARRIOTT.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JWM - Volume 3, Issue 3

JWM - Summer 2013
Table of Contents
JW Experts
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
Distinctive Products, People, Ideas & Style
A Quiet Place
Powering Down
Sonoma
Industrial Arts
The Portal
Downtown Dreaming
Sky High
Greens Revolution
Rethinking the Bored Room
JW Experience
My Passion

JWM - Volume 3, Issue 3