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In the United Arab Emirates, host of this year’s United Nations summit, more and more architects are ditching glass skyscrapers and focusing on sustainability.
By Jenny Gross
Photographs via Katarina Premfors
Reporting from Dubai and Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates
Dubai is full of futuristic glass-enclosed skyscrapers. This is problematic, from a sustainability standpoint, in a city where temperatures exceed a hundred degrees Fahrenheit for several months of the year. The air conditioning can be so strong in summer that some people wear jackets and scarves indoors.
But a growing number of architects in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which recently hosted the United Nations climate summit, are now designing buildings more sustainably, the newest generation, but also reintroducing old structural techniques that made buildings habitable much earlier. There was air conditioning.
These strategies include orienting structures away from the sun, building according to the winds to increase natural ventilation, minimizing the use of glass and incorporating classical Islamic architecture to create shade, according to several Dubai-based architects who have worked in Dubai. the region.
“There used to be this obsession with glass skyscrapers in the last 15 years, which makes our city look like all of the other cities,” said AlZaina Lootah, an architect and researcher based in Dubai. Now, more new projects are incorporating traditional architecture. They use courtyards, terraces and narrow alleyways for shading and wind towers, pioneered by ancient Persians, to draw cool air to street level, she said.
Other strategies come with construction with thicker walls, which absorb heat during the day and release it at night, employing double facades and more energy-efficient building fabrics that reflect warmth.
Air-conditioning became widely available in the Emirates in the 1970s, not long after oil was discovered. The discovery of oil revolutionized life in the region and led to a construction boom within just a few decades, including the creation of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which is twice the height of the Empire State Building.
Developers commissioned buildings that were designed with little thought for the climate, using steel, concrete and glazed facades. Air-conditioning use surged: In 2022, the Emirates had the sixth-highest electricity consumption per capita worldwide, according to Statista, a market research company.
Increased reliance on energy-guzzling air-conditioners will only contribute to a cycle of mounting energy demand and worsening global warming, according to a United Nations report issued on Tuesday. That is especially true in the Middle East, one of the regions most affected by global warming.
There is a growing awareness of emerging temperatures in Dubai, the first city in the Middle East to earn platinum certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Cities program, administered by the U. S. Green Building Council, which evaluates buildings based on their design. emissions and energy efficiency. The city has 367 LEED-certified projects, according to the building council.
An example of an outdated, low-tech sustainable construction strategy is the use of shady spaces and narrow alleyways, which can be noticed in the alleyways surrounding Dubai’s foreign monetary hub. The Grand Mosque in the center, inaugurated in 2020, features perforated panels to imitate mashrabiyahs, the classic lattice screens used in Egypt for centuries for solar constructions.
Another example in the Emirates is the city of Masdar, on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, which is home to a university, apartments, and work buildings. British architecture firm Foster Partners combined high-tech design and old-fashioned structure practices, positioning the buildings in ways that allowed strong breezes to keep pedestrians cool, even in high temperatures. Parts of the city are elevated, the heights to take advantage of the more powerful winds, a practice used in other countries in the region for centuries.
Masdar City owns two net-zero buildings (meaning the greenhouse gases they produce are offset by other activities) and is building three more. It has a population of about 5,000, far less than it was designed for, and on Thursday morning it was quiet for field trip teams and some students.
Sustainable architecture has its limits in a city dominated by primary roads, heavy traffic, and levels of air pollutants that exceed healthy limits. And as temperatures in Dubai continue to rise due to global warming, there is a limit to the effectiveness of age-old practices.
“It was another time, but it was also another place,” said Todd Reisz, an architect and author of the e-book “Showpiece City: How Architecture Made Dubai. “
“The temperatures are higher, Mr Reisz. ” The trend of the winds changes, the water currents change. So, we can’t communicate about overall return, but perhaps we can communicate about how humans relate to the environment around them.
Rob Cooke, director of sustainability at Buro Happold, an engineering consultancy with clients in the Middle East, said there was a heightened awareness of the benefits of architectural techniques in keeping spaces cool and that almost all clients were looking for sustainable designs.
But sustainability is rarely a priority, he said, and for every green new build in Dubai, many designs largely forget about the weather. “I see this as a basic issue,” Dr. Cooke said. Skyscrapers offer perspectives of the city, but from time to time other people close their shutters due to the heat and direct sunlight.
Dubai has benefited from simple access to oil, which has helped the city weather the heat through the use of heavy air conditioning, Dr Cooke said. As temperatures continue to rise, buildings that don’t rely on classic passive cooling architecture will become more expensive. to operate. ” It’s actually a challenge when those bright assets and passives,” he said.
At the end of the day, though, it’s more than building sustainable, high-tech skyscrapers creating sustainable, walkable cities, Reisz said.
“What can we do with the generation and to what extent do we deserve to change the way we live?”He said.
Jenny Gross is a journalist for the Times of London and covers current affairs and issues. Learn more about Jenny Gross
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