Water

© Vincent Appel

One of the infrastructural layers of Dubai is the extensive irrigation. Where ever there is anything green in Dubai there are water lines. Even lining the highways which wander off into the desert for kilometers are irrigated trees and plant life. I imagined this was to prevent sand dunes from migrating across the roads, but my driver assured me that the only reason there is anything green anywhere in Dubai is to make the place more attractive to tourists.
© Vincent Appel

There was a particularly interesting studio at Cornell in the Fall of 2007 run by Dana Cupkova and Kevin Pratt which explored the potential political dimension of desalinated water and public space in Dubai.

http://www.aap.cornell.edu/aap/arch/programs/barch-4to5-req-f07.cfm

© Vincent Appel