Giant Statue in Dubai (The mother of all libraries?)

If it had been April the first, this would have been a perfect April fool, but this has won a competition and there is every chance that al hakawati (the storyteller) will stand in Zabeel Park, telling stories and moving his hands and head. Although the storyteller actually sounds he came from one of the many tales (sinbad, arabian nights etc) of the Middle East, seeing something like this in person, sounds absolutely ridiculously. And when I first saw it, I laughed out LOUD (LOL), literally. But, expect the unimaginable from Dubai, even if this is someone else's vision.



The "storyteller", a profession that goes way back in ancient arabic times and is still performed in parts of the arab world today. The statue will be a home of stories; a children’s library in its base and various spaces for performance and reading inside of the statue. Yes, at a time where we may see the end of the physical book, this will become the biggest library in the world.



The concept is that in every part of the park, small speakers will be set up so people can gather around them and listen to the statue when he recites stories; perhaps great legends from one thousand and one night, historical anecdotes from the city itself and future speculations, all this performed with an animated body language. It might be bizarre watching this huge mammoth move its arms and heads, but that's part of the plan.

The walls in the base are stairs on the outside which leads to the platform where the storyteller begins to rise. Windows punctuates various stairs for a bright indoor environment without any direct sunlight. The statue also has big rooms inside of it for reading, relaxing and other social activities. Each big room has its own theme, be it a gold room, a crystal cavern, a green room or a room full of fish tanks, or the night views of dubai.

Because of what Dubai has done, crazy has become the new normal, but this is ludicrous! That said, I'd love to see it in Zabeel Park - It would scare the crap out of me!

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Property Prices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Yesterday, Landmark released its much awaited q2 2009 report focusing on Dubai and Abu Dhabi, both on the rental and sales side. As was predicted, everything is down, but looking further into the data, Landmark have established some interesting trends.

Firstly, rental in Dubai is not as clear cut as perhaps the official rera data has stated. From the trends below, you can quite clearly see the differentials in decline, quarter on quarter in key areas.



There is mention of demand and supply, and with Dubai experiencing a decreasing population this year, Abu Dhabi is seeing the opposite with nohere to stay, and Dubai wont shrink so much, from a demand perspective. But there may be many more commuters in to Abu Dhabi that cant fathom being couped up sharing 3 to a bed.

The sales data and what is coming to market is also interesting and worth reading. In Abu Dhabi, proximity to the central business district is key - surprise surprise.

The Landmark Report PDF of Q2 2009 paper.
Dubai Rental Index
Dubai Price Index - Spreadsheet of January and April 2009 RERA data.