Khor Dubai: The Beginning of Dubai’s Architectural Diversity

On a typical afternoon, the Khor Dubai – also known as Dubai Creek – is bustling with boats carrying around 20 people at a time between the two waterfronts, Deira Dubai and Bur Dubai. Large boats, commonly referred to as dhows, deliver goods to the shores, and boxes are brought on trolleys into the deeper parts of the neighborhoods to the shops and businesses. It’s always busy, packed with people, and the air is filled with sounds and scents from the nearby souks – local wholesale markets; this is what’s considered to be the true heart of Dubai. While Dubai is synonymous with iconic projects such as the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world; the Palm Jumeirah, one of many manmade islands along the coast; and the Burj Al Arab, the first 7-star hotel, the emirate and second largest city in the UAE dates back to more humble beginnings. In 1590, a Venetian pearl merchant noted Dubai (or “Dibai” as it was noted in his writings) as a place of remarkable pearl quality.¹ The history of Dubai is intertwined from its early days with the story of trade, whether it was the trade of pearls, gold, rice, buildings materials or, as in the 1980s, electronics. Dubai’s built environment is the embodiment of a place of exchange and collaboration with other nations and regions around the world.  

The architecture along the Dubai Creek was both a facilitator as well as a backdrop to the trading activities taking place. Activities such as on- and off-loading, selling, packing, transporting, exchanging goods, receiving money, sharing memories from past trips, and hosting foreign guests and traders not only needed physical spaces but also an architectural aesthetic to narrate such a story. Architectural typologies such as markets, banks, hotels, office towers, or parking structures were built as infrastructure for the ever-growing trading hub Dubai. Looking at the shores of the Dubai Creek today, one may notice the streets lined with shops, small restaurants and cafeterias, and money exchange spaces leading deep into the urban fabric from the dhow docking stations. The combination of a beneficial geographical location and the foresight of the rulers at the time allowed Dubai to grow into a burgeoning trading hub. The Dubai Creek formed a natural harbor similar to that of many other cities along the Arabian Gulf coast but offered a longer and further inland protected area than any other city. This allowed for safe trade, recognized well beyond the shores of Dubai.² For example, many significant developments spearheaded by the late ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum, during the second half of the 20th century paved the way for Dubai to become a globally recognized trade and business center.  

When in 1979 Queen Elizabeth II opened the drydocks at Port Jebel Ali and the Dubai World Trade Center, Port Jebel Ali became the largest manmade port at the time and the World Trade Center the tallest tower in the region.³ It is no surprise that after a successful start to a booming economy built on trade, one of the major projects moving away from the Dubai Creek was a project that would further expand trade on an international level. The Dubai World Trade Center included spaces for fairs and product conventions in a purposefully built exhibition hall that was adjacent to a renowned international hotel, office building, and residential apartment blocks. Designed by British architect John Harris, the ensemble offered a new perspective on trade, inviting the world to Dubai while setting an example for how a “city within a city” could operate.⁴ Today, the World Trade Center stands at the entrance to one of the most iconic streets in Dubai, the Sheikh Zayed Road, which is lined with skyscrapers on both sides and soon will host the new Museum of the Future. The Sheikh Zayed Road, also known as the E11 highway, runs parallel to the Arabian Gulf coastline from the northern border with Oman through Abu Dhabi to the Saudi Arabia border and forms a major trading corridor for regional connections. 

Certainly, Dubai is not short of architectural highlights and offers architects, engineers, planners, and representatives of the creative industry a place for experimentation. The combination of Dubai being a port city and its willingness to explore and test new ways of development and construction has attracted many leading architects and planners around the world. The architecture in the second half of the 20th century is characterized by a significant influx of architects, engineers, and planners who, contrary to common belief, did not just build so-called modernist buildings but developed structures in close collaboration with the rulers that show a cultural and climatic sensitivity and contextual awareness not typical for most modernist buildings. With the further expansion of the economy to a global market in the 1990s, materials such as glass and aluminum were introduced. The construction industry to this day holds an important place in the UAE economy; Emirates Global Aluminum was the largest producer of “premium aluminum” in 2017.⁵ Contemporary construction methods have further contributed to the variety of architecture “styles.” The coexistence of buildings with concrete-laced facades next to glass skyscrapers, aluminum-clad office towers, and 3D-printed museum facades is a typical sight throughout Dubai. While many argue the architecture of Dubai lacks a specific character, it is precisely this multiplicity of influences and cultural representations that found shape in the built environment of Dubai. 

The mixed identity of Dubai’s architecture and urban development is the result of a collection of successful and beneficial circumstances supported by the visionary governance of the rulers at the time. The recognition of the supportive geography of this location, along with the openness to invest in future infrastructure and the foresight in various progressive commercial activities, allowed Dubai, much like the rest of the UAE, to truly become a place for experimentation and exploration of ideas. Trade not only shaped Dubai’s architectural typologies along the Dubai Creek, it moreover formed the foundation of many developments of the 21st century and continues to fuel the progress of the city. 

Written by Adina Hempel, Associate Professor and Director of the Zayed Institute for Architecture, Heritage and Arts at Zayed University/Dubai 

Footnotes

¹AlAssi, Eman. Khor Dubai, where the city started. Dubai: Dubai Municipality, 2014. 

²Heard-Bey, Frauke. From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates. Motivate Publishing Ltd, 2004.   

³Anonymous. "Dubai's economy: Growing up." The Economist, June 6, 2015. London Vol. 415, Iss. 894 

⁴Reisz, Todd. “How Dubai's World Trade Centre sold the city to the world.” The Guardian, May 16, 2016. London 

⁵Oxford Economics. “The impact of aluminum sector in the UAE economy.” Emirates Global Aluminum. December 2018.