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Russia Challenges UAE Mega Projects with Crystal Island!
09 January, 2008

This really surprised me!! I didn't think the UAE/Gulf region would ever see any real competition to the spectacular Mega Projects being built in this area. And then  I heard about Crystal Island, the biggest building in the world. So massive that it will house an ENTIRE CITY within its walls! The architects for this Mega Project are Foster + Partners of London, the same architects who designed The Blue City, Oman.

Crystal Island will  have four times the floor space of the Pentagon in Washington D.C., more floor space than any other structure on Earth....this includes any stucture in the UAE of course. The building will stretch almost 1,500 feet into the sky and will be a multi-use structure. Crystal Island will include 900 apartments, 3,000 hotel rooms, business offices, a school for 500 students, a movie theater, a museum, a sports complex and loads of shops and restaurants....an entire city!

Crystal Island is located in Moscow only 7.5km from the Kremlin. Here is a quote from Norman Foster of Foster + Partners:

“Crystal Island is one of the world’s most ambitious building projects and it represents a milestone in the 40 year history of the practice. It is the largest single building in the world, creating a year-round destination for Moscow and a sustainable, dynamic new urban quarter. It is a paradigm of compact, mixed-use, sustainable city planning, with an innovative energy strategy and ‘smart’ skin which buffers against climate extremes.”

Well, Dubai and the rest of the UAE have a new challenge. They now have to develop a building bigger than Crystal Island. Somehow I don't think the UAE will allow Crystal Island to be the world's largest building for very long. As a matter of fact it would not surprise me if RIGHT NOW Emaar is not planning to outdo the Russians and create a building larger than Crystal Island!

See Crystal Island for yourself here:

http://www.fosterandpartners.com/News/324/Default.aspx

For more information on the UAE Mega Projects go to:

http://uaemegaprojects.blogspot.com

Posted by uaepro 21:00 | General | Comment(2) | Permalink

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