Dubai Frame

The Dubai Frame in Zabeel Park is a giant golden frame symbolising a bridge between Dubai’s past and present. Two 150-metre towers are connected by a 93-metre glass bridge. The façade is clad in 15,000 m² of gold-coloured panels decorated with a pattern of interlocking rings inspired by the golden ratio. On the ground floor, an interactive museum brings old Dubai to life through 3D projections, holograms and scents. At the top, the Sky Deck offers 360-degree views and a 25-metre transparent floor, allowing visitors to walk as though suspended between earth and sky. The project was designed by Fernando Donis, winner of the 2009 ThyssenKrupp Elevator Architecture Award.

From the outside, the Dubai Frame looks like the perfect frame for a photograph of the entire city, as though Dubai could simply be placed inside a picture. In reality, no such viewpoint exists: something always obstructs the view, and the perfect image survives only in the imagination.