November 2017 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

Behold the “Dubai Frame,” a lavish, gilded adornment for the tourist mecca, business hub, and glistening pearl of of the Middle East, scheduled to open this month! The vanity project of the emir’s Emaar development company, designed by Mexican architect Fernando Donis, stands 50 stories high and is expected to attract two million visitors a year to gawk at the distant Dubai skyline. They say that cultures build their most outlandish monuments just before they tank, and this one perhaps exceeds in preposterousness the earlier humdinger known as the Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world. The fate of these pop-up desert metroplexes is tied to the declining oil wealth of the Arabian peninsula, and so the coming collapse of kingdoms and emirates is as plain as the moon and the stars. Wait for it….

Below, the Frame nearing the end of construction. (Yes, it’s for real!) Thanks to Derek Markovic for the nomination!