Don’t forget to visit Abu Dhabi too. I just recently visited that incredible place

Tips on Dubai: having been there twice (you can see a couple sculpture installations I’ve done there on my website:

http://www.publicsculpture.com/portfolio03.html

http://www.publicsculpture.com/portfolio06.html

Here’s my tips: don’t go looking for any real history. The place was essentially sand until to 60’s or so. And most of the architecture shows… it’s bad, ugly dirty. But then there’s the Dubai everyone sees in photos: the wet dreams of architecture students. A very small percentage is truly stunning, like the Burj Al Arab (the hotel that looks like a sail). To get in that place, you’ll need to stay there or make some connection, last time I was there, I had to pull a favor to get in… they were no longer allowing tourists. It’s worth the visit if you can get in. The Burj Dubai (burj just means “tower”) is impressive, it wasn’t fully built last I was there, but big enough at the time to truly DWARF even the tallest buildings already in place. Personally, I think it’s a really bad choice for the city architecturally, it ruins all the other architecture by diminishing them in size, it turns it into this weird feeling of a mini city.

One other note: the city has a really, really seedy underbelly if you barely scratch the surface. Virtually every single female hanging out alone at a bar is a prostitute. Las Vegas is a far more wholesome place, if you can believe it. If you aren’t the serious all-night party type, there’s really only a very limited amount of things you’ll find of interest. Any major city in the US has far more interesting things to see and do.

Feel free to email me with any questions you may have before you go…