An ambitious architectural design intended for Dubai in the pre-recession period could be making a comeback, according to the Guardian newspaper.
Modelled on what might happen to an ice cube left out in the summer midday sun, the Opus Tower was created by Zaha Hadid.
Planned for the centre of Business Bay, it is composed of two blocks, say the architects – and conceived as “a single cube eroded by a free-form void, which appears to ‘hover’ above ground level.”
A pixelated reflective facade makes it look solid by day, while by night, it “dematerialises, as light floods the void”.
The project was launched at the British Museum, when the model was dramatically revealed from the centre of a block of ice as it melted.
The Guardian comments: “It has since been on hold – although may soon return, its innards effortlessly transformed from offices to a luxury hotel.”