The story begins with a competition in 1974 for the redevelopment of Dubai’s commercial centre, Deira, made possible by the recent discovery of oil. The Pietiläs proposal for the 5km coastline, which would use the main Khor Dubai creek as a waterway, along with the dredging of inlets to form lagoons and arteries, was based on the Grand Canal in Venice.
Ahmed and Rashid bin Shabib are both urbanists, and have tasked themselves over the last 10 years with advancing the urban identity of the contemporary Middle East.
As cities continuously take precedence in global economic and social development, cities in the Arab World play a pivotal role in translating and transmitting its hinter and urban regional scapes globally.
Their projects respond to this through three key disciplines; Research, Education, and Urbanism.As a result, both Ahmed & Rashid have been recognized for doing this through their nomination for the Agha Khan awards for architecture in 2010, 2018. They both are graduates from the University of Oxford in Urbanism.
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