Following the opening of the world's tallest building in Dubai earlier this year, this week sees the completion of yet another iconic piece of architecture in the United Arab Emirates. The Capital Gate tower in Abu Dhabi has an 18-degree slope, prompting the Guinness World Records to name it the "furthest leaning man-made tower." The leaning tower of Pisa, by comparison, tilts just 4 degrees. The 35-story structure, designed by the British architecture firm Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall, will hold office space and a 5-star Hyatt hotel. Clearly you can't build anything in the UAE "unless it has a decent superlative attached," says Sam Potter at Kipp Report. "Biggest, best, tallest, most expensive." Why does the media keep giving coverage to these "increasingly preposterous PR ploys?" Perhaps because of the rich "symbolic potential" implicit in its "queasy" tilt, says Michael Silverberg at Metropolis Magazine. It's the "perfect metaphor for the teetering global real-estate market." Watch a CNN report on Capital Gate here:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Film reviews: ‘Send Help’ and ‘Private Life’Feature An office doormat is stranded alone with her awful boss and a frazzled therapist turns amateur murder investigator
-
Movies to watch in Februarythe week recommends Time travelers, multiverse hoppers and an Iraqi parable highlight this month’s offerings during the depths of winter
-
ICE’s facial scanning is the tip of the surveillance icebergIN THE SPOTLIGHT Federal troops are increasingly turning to high-tech tracking tools that push the boundaries of personal privacy
