State of Lux

In recent years, it has typically been the people of Dubai making the gratuitous displays of excess in the Gulf States. From the world’s largest shopping centre, to the world’s tallest building, to the world’s most expensive launch party, Dubai has certainly relished the opportunity to flaunt its wealth. Now that the coffers have run dry, the mantle appears to have been handed to Dubai’s older, wiser and somewhat wealthier brother, Abu Dhabi.

Testament to Abu Dhabi’s growing stature as the real powerhouse of the Gulf is the recently opened Yas Hotel, which boasts the world’s largest LED display. Created by Asymptote Architecture with lighting design by Arup, The 500-room luxury hotel is a wrapped with a sparkling shell composed of more than 5,300 diamond-shaped panels bristling with over 5,000 LED fixtures. The curvilinear field of lights is capable of running colour-changing light sequences and can even display low-res three-dimensional videos.

The Yas Hotel will surely not be to everyone’s taste. But nevertheless this is a hugely impressive and innovative project that we feel deserves a mention.