Sacre bleu!

For my favourite reader (she knows who she is), more on architecture.



This is what the Emirate of Abu Dhabi will get for its US$ 1.3 billion investment to bring a branch of the Louvre Museum to this corner of the Sandlands. The architect is Jean Nouvel, whose glorious Institut du Monde Arabe I used to pass on the bus every day when I lived in Paris.



A couple of videos which are not by any means 'off-message'. The first is a very pleasant animated photo sequence portraying Abu Dhabi as it is, set to music featuring Natacha Atlas.



And the next is a wonderfully over-the-top preview of the Dubai Waterfront development.