superglossy megaprojected hypermade-up pictures of dubai usually show perfectly dreamy blurred edges surrounding everything : mansions, hotels, skyscrapers… like the leading ladys’ porcelained faces in fifties flicks. but dubai is more lynchy. superluxury looks pretty boring up close, the palm is levittown on shrooms. intrigue and speculation sprout faster and taller than all those fugly buildings. Take the palm again. I heard (from a little bird) that nakheel recently edited the palm’s wiki, where citing an article in the daily telegraph some muck had come up:
controversy was engendered when it was revealed that after launching the project, nakheel increased the number of residential units on the island (with a concomitant reduction in the amount of physical space between individual properties) from the originally-announced 4500 (comprised of 2000 villas and 2500 apartments) to an estimated 8000 without recompense to those investors who had purchased early in the expectation of greater separation between properties.
other delicious tidbits like low quality construction, david beckham getting a big-time discount on his lot to promote the hoax and workers living in camps add to the whole noiresque feel of the new sunshine colossurbanism.
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