NEWS

You make the point that it was defined, this decade in architecture, it was defined on the vertical access by the World Trade Center's coming down and this enormous tower -- the Burj of Dubai, the Burj Khalifa, I guess now properly -- over in Dubai. And also on the horizontal by the devastation of Katrina. I mean, it goes all ways. We've had economic booms and busts in the past decade. We've had floods and terrorist attacks. We have had creation and destruction in all of their extremes. Those forces are reflected by the buildings around us.

The second hotel, located in Milan, is still on schedule to open in mid-2011. The first Giorgio Armani-designed hotel opened in the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai last April and Dardenne said he was pleased with the reception it had received. “These hotels you build them up over the years. I think, eventually, some people will come to Dubai just to stay at the hotel. It is bringing something new to Dubai and that has been very positive,” he added.

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.

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.

Around 307 property projects of the 980 registered projects in Dubai are expected to get completed in the due course, according to the Government of Dubai’s bond prospectus. Quoting Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) in the prospectus supplement on the London Stock Exchange, the government said of the total number of registered projects, 46 projects have been completed, while another 307 are expected to be completed in due course.

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.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi now blame Emaar MGF for the delay in getting the Village ready, reports 'Gulf News'. “The developer handed us the first 18 towers in time which are in top condition. We were handed over the rest of the 16 towers very late which has delayed our job," Kalmadi was quoted by Indian media as saying. Emaar MGF is a joint venture between the UAE's Emaar Properties and India's MGF Development.