Farouk El Gohary, Al Ibrahimi Tower (Saeed Al Kalili Building), 1989
On Electra Street, Al Ibrahimi Tower is a 16-storey building that stands out for its massive cylindrical volume. On the façade, the cubic modules in reinforced concrete, interlocked and repeated, determine a powerful chiaroscuro effect and suggest the concept evolutionary multiplication inspired by Metabolism.
Obeid Al-Mazru’i Building, late 80’s
A little further on, still on Electra Street, Obeid Al-Mazru'i Buildin, set among anonymous glass and aluminum panel buildings, is a cubic volume with a declared Brutalist-style structural grid. The concrete screens with large circular holes frame the balconies in a serial but playful pattern, creating a filter area between the intimacy of the home and the exterior overlooking the street and reinterpreting the traditional mashrabiyya in a modern key.
Hamdam Centre, 80’s
Deviating from Electra Street and walking down Hamdam Street, there is Hamdam Centre: a gigantic 1980s monoblock of several towers with a typical grey-beige colour evoking desert sand, connected by a commercial platform (among the first in downtown). This is where the iconic Burger King resides, where Sultan Al Ramahi remembers celebrating his first birthdays and which is still a place strongly experienced by the community.
Georgi Kolarov, Abu Dhabi Central bus station, 1989
Located on Sultan Bin Zayed The First Street, the mint-green, Brutalist-inspired sculptural complex with its massive volumes and imposing roof is one of the city's most recognised landmarks, still in full operation today.
Photo Pawel Pajor on Adobe Stock
Georgi Kolarov, Abu Dhabi Central bus station, 1989
Photo Pawel Pajor on Adobe Stock
Georgi Kolarov, Abu Dhabi Central bus station, 1989