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After six days of glaring color — Armani himself featured watermelon red in his Emporio collection shown earlier in the week — it was a real surprise to see a show where the brightest shade was midnight blue. In his fashion notes, Armani said he drew inspiration for the collection from the Tuareg, the blue nomads of the desert, so called for the dark face covers worn by the men. The designer probably has desert on his mind since the opening of his luxury hotel in Dubai earlier this year. A dunned version was projected at the end of the runway.

Using Khan's Bundled Tube structural engineering principles, the building takes its strength from the combination of nine main structures arranged in a three by three grid that make up the impressive complex. It's a clever arrangement. All towers rise to 50-storeys, where the northeast and southwest buildings stop. The remaining seven towers continue to the 66th floor where the northeast and southwest structures end, and at 90-storeys, the north, south and east floors top out. The two remaining towers, the west and central towers, then stretch to 110 floors, the building's top. A similar system of bundled towers was used by SOM to construct the Burj Khalifa.

It's difficult to believe that a $1,000-a-night hotel designed by fashion designer Giorgio Armani in the world's tallest building could ever be considered understated. Yet in Dubai, where bars with multicolor fluorescent ceilings are considered classy, theArmani Hotel Dubai manages to fill that niche.

It may be tall, and it may be grand, but we don’t think the Burj Khalifa is worth boasting about. Even so, this towering blight on Dubai’s sustainable horizon took “project of the year” at the 3rd annual Middle East Architecture Award ceremony held in Dubai’s Park Hyatt on September 28th, 2010.

Emaar, which held a delayed board of director meeting yesterday, is looking to reduce its short-term debts with longer-term borrowing. At the end of June its total debts stood at AED9.2 billion, according to its financial statement, with AED5.2 billion due within the next year. The developer posted net profits of AED802 million for the second quarter, below analysts’ expectations, with half-year profits hitting AEDE1.656 billion.

Leading Middle Eastern public relations consultancy ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller has picked up the International Business Awards’ title of ‘PR Campaign of the Year’ for its 5-year campaign to launch the 828m tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The agency, along with winners from 28 nations, was honoured at a gala ceremony held in Istanbul on Monday.

Hundreds of architects, engineers and consultants packed out Dubai’s Park Hyatt last night for the third annual Middle East Architect awards. Projects from Saudi Arabia to Libya scooped awards, with Dubai’s Burj Khalifa winning project of the year and local firm X Architects winning both Best Boutique Firm and Best Principal, jointly awarded to founders Ahmed Al Ali and Farid Esmaeil.

Emaar Hospitality Group (EHG) has announced plans to open the “highest restaurant” in the world in January 2011. The restaurant will be called Atmosphere and will be located on the 122nd floor of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world and also home to the first ever Armani Hotel. EHG chief executive officer Marc Dardenne told HotelierMiddleEast.com that the outlet had the “bragging rights of being the highest restaurant in the world”.

Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) promised deploying its state of the art technical facilities and highly skilled personnel to provide any necessary support. Also, Dubai Studio City will be mobilizing its capability and expertise to give technical and logistic support to the team. Similarly, Emirates Airlines, Emaar, Burj Khalifa, Meydan, and several others of Dubai's captivating locations and landmarks will be on the ready to step up to support the film.

Starring Tom Cruise, the movie will begin shooting in the "next few weeks", according to a statement released by the Dubai media office. Among the possible locations are Burj Khalifa and Meydan. Other locations and companies such as Emirates Airline and Emaar have been placed on standby to assist with the film. The announcement comes after two months of meetings between the Hollywood studio, Paramount, and government officials.