Burj Al Arabi

Notwithstanding the blatant rip-off of the name of this building, I read the announcement of this project with a snigger that spread my drink all over the room. Had I not lived in Dubai for these last thirteen years, my reaction would been just plain disbelief. But now I know that anything can be attached to the end of the phrase 'a building in the shape of...'. So this one is 'a building in the shape of a UAE National man'. Except it clearly is no such thing. It's a very poor attempt at it. The real things are a bit rounder, their headresses much more flowing. I mean really, it's not going to win any architectural awards now is it? And it looks a little bit like a statue, which is haram. This comes hard on the heels of the replica of London's Parliament Clock Tower (the one that has the Big Ben clock at the top) being built near the Emirates Towers on Sheikh Zayed Road, and Falconcity of Wonders (buildings in the shape of The Eiffel Tower, The Taj Mahal, The Pyramids etc) being built in the desert somewhere. OK, I give in: we live in a theme park, what should we expect?