Let’s be honest, Dubai has a knack for nabbing the world’s most iconic structures, slapping on a coat of gold, and making them twice as grand.
Not to point fingers, but the Dubai Fountains do seem a little like they took a dip in the Bellagio’s pool of ideas, and Ain Dubai surely gave the London Eye a run for its entry ticket money.
Which brings us neatly over to the newly-minted Las Vegas Sphere – a gigantic LED-clad orb that’s as subtle as a sledgehammer to a china shop.
It’s the latest showbiz attraction in ‘Sin City’, buzzing with 16K resolution screens on the outside, and a 4D experience that makes regular concert venues look like a kid’s music lessons.
And that’s where Dubai comes in.
While there hasn’t been any official tendering of the project (that we’re aware of), surely, it’s only a matter of time before the emirate decides to scoop up this shiny new toy and plop it on its golden sands. And knowing Dubai’s penchant for size (size does matter in the architectural playbook of Dubai), this Sphere will likely be twice the size of Vegas’.
Now, don’t get us wrong. Dubai’s architectural ambitions are as towering as the Burj Khalifa, and the city’s knack for taking something and making it grander is sort of like its hallmark.
In the whimsical race to have the world’s most iconic structures, Dubai isn’t just participating; it’s very far in front.
Dubai has the guts to look at the world’s wonders, nod appreciatively, and say, “We’ll take one of those, only bigger!” We can picture it now: The Dubai Sphere, shining like a second sun, beaming out across the city with an LED display that can probably be seen from Mars.
Of course, we can only speculate what’s next on the city’s architectural shopping list. But we’d say it’s only a matter of time before it’s plucked from the skies of Nevada and replanted, twice as grand, in the dunes of Dubai (or perhaps, in place of the Pearl?)