A design for a bold new tower that, according to HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the UAE, will “be as great as the Burj Khalifa and Eiffel Tower,” has just been approved.

The still-unnamed building will sit along the Dubai Creek, with construction set to begin in a few months. Yesterday HH Sheikh Mohammed visited a display of six proposed designs for the building, and he chose the work of Spanish-Swiss ‘starchitect’ Santiago Calatrava Valls. Other designs by Valls include the Chicago Spire Tower, the Sharq Crossing in Doha, the Museum of Tomorrow in Brazil and the Peace Bridge in Canada.

This is what the bold new tower – which takes its inspiration from Islamic architecture – will look like:

dubai tower

The exact height of the building won’t be revealed until the opening day, but we do know it will be used as an observation tower and will sit in the middle of Emaar’s Dubai Creek Harbour development.

The building will be linked to Dubai Creek Harbour’s boardwalk, which will feature retail, dining and leisure options.

Here’s HH Sheikh Mohammed and Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar looking over the winning design: sheikh-moahmmed-tower-2

And an architectural model that gives you a further look at the building’s detail:

tower-architcctural

We’ll keep you updated on any more developments. What do you think it should be called?

Photos: Dubai Media Office

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