Dubai is the unofficial capital of the world of great architecture; be it towering commercial buildings, luxury resorts or multi-storeyed hotels and condominiums, there is no dearth of awe-striking buildings in Dubai. The hot, desert-like climate and terrain in Dubai is offset rather pleasantly by some of the world’s coolest constructions!

The Cloud

The Cloud Resort in Dubai resembles a cloud floating 300 meters above the ground, with slanting support beams that look like sheets of rain. A cloud if often construed as a place or an element where extreme imagination manifests itself. The Resort named after this very element is one of a series of Gulf region projects created by Nadim Karam - a Lebanese architect. It is a horizontal structure on an elevated platform - an antithesis to the sum of skyscrapers spread over the region. The Cloud appears to be a combination of a skyscraper and an island.

The Cloud isn’t just about beauty, imagination and luxury. Standing in the air, covering 20000m2 of landscape-in-the-sky, The Cloud comprises a lake, gardens, rotating bridges, spiralling walkways and terraces, an auditorium and sky-sports platform. The Cloud is approached on ground level from an esplanade with a pool reflecting a forest of inclined columns, and reaching up to the huge, translucent floating island. Access to the Cloud is gained through a few non-inclined tubular shafts, which double up as structural support.

IPad Tower

Omniyat Properties is all set to construct a 23-story luxury tower inspired by none other than Apple's iPod. Slated to be built in Business Bay, the "iPad residential tower" was scheduled to house more than 200 homes and office, and was "designed by Hong Kong-based architects James Law Cybertecture International." The high-rise will sit atop a docking station angled at six degrees to give the exact look of an iPod.

Upon completion, this tower will reach a height of 800+ meters. It is estimated as worth 3 billion Dirhams ($ 800 million) – the cost of its construction. The exterior is strikingly similar to a piece of circuit board, and the interior is reminiscent of the Jetsons on steroids. The ground floor will be filled with shops restaurants, and it will include an iClub with an aerobics section, lap pool, and Media Jacuzzi.