12 Y INTERNATIONALTHE NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

door, are grounded in the belief —accepted by most people today, itseems — that the only way to cre-ate a truly harmonious communi-ty, green or otherwise, is to cut itoff from the world at large.

Mr. Foster is the right man forthis kind of job. A lifelong techbuff who collaborated with Buck-minster Fuller, he talks about ar-chitecture in terms of high per-formance, as if his buildings weresports cars. And to some extenthis single-minded focus on thecraft of architecture — its techno-logical and material aspects —has been a convenient way ofavoiding trickier discussionsabout its social impact. (It’s hardto imagine Mr. Foster embroiledin the kind of public battles overmodern architecture that his for-mer partner, Richard Rogers, hasfought with the traditionalistPrince Charles in London.)

Not that Mr. Foster doesn’thave ideals. At Masdar, one aimwas to create an alternative tothe ugliness and inefficiency ofthe sort of development — subur-ban villas slathered in superficialIslamic-style décor, gargantuanair-conditioned malls — that hasbeen eating away the fabric ofMiddle Eastern cities for dec-ades.

He began with a meticulousstudy of old Arab settlements, in-cluding the ancient citadel ofAleppo in Syria and the mud-brick apartment towers of Shi-bam in Yemen, which date fromthe 16th century. “The point,” hesaid in an interview in New York,“was to go back and understandthe fundamentals,” how thesecommunities had been made liv-able in a region where the air canfeel as hot as 150 degrees.

Among the findings his officemade was that settlements wereoften built on high ground, notonly for defensive reasons butalso to take advantage of thestronger winds. Some also used

tall, hollow “wind towers” to fun-nel air down to street level. Andthe narrowness of the streets —which were almost always at anangle to the sun’s east-west tra-jectory, to maximize shade — ac-celerated airflow through thecity.

With the help of environmentalconsultants, Mr. Foster’s teamestimated that by combiningsuch approaches, they couldmake Masdar feel as much as 70degrees cooler. In so doing, theycould more than halve theamount of electricity needed torun the city. Of the power that isused, 90 percent is expected to besolar, and the rest generated byincinerating waste (which pro-duces far less carbon than pilingit up in dumps). The city itselfwill be treated as a kind of con-tinuing experiment, with re-searchers and engineers regular-ly analyzing its performance,fine-tuning as they go along.

But Mr. Foster’s most radicalmove was the way he dealt withone of the most vexing urban de-sign challenges of the past centu-ry: what to do with the car. Notonly did he close Masdar entirelyto combustion-engine vehicles,he buried their replacement —his network of electric cars — un-derneath the city. Then, to fur-ther reinforce the purity of his vi-sion, he located almost all of theheavy-duty service functions — a54-acre photovoltaic field and in-cineration and water treatmentplants — outside the city.

The result, Mr. Foster acknowl-edged, feels a bit like Disneyland.“Disneyland is attractive becauseall the service is below ground,”he said. “We do the same here —it is literally a walled city. Tradi-tional cars are stopped at theedges.”

Driving from downtown AbuDhabi, 20 miles away, you followa narrow road past an oil refineryand through desolate patches ofdesert before reaching the blankconcrete wall of Masdar and findthe city looming overhead. (Mr.Foster plans to camouflage theperiphery behind fountains andflora.) From there a road tunnelsthrough the base to a garage justunderneath the city’s edge.

Stepping out of this space intoone of the “Personal Rapid Tran-sit” stations brings to mind thesets designed by Harry Lange for“2001: A Space Odyssey.” You arein a large, dark hall facing a rowof white, pod-shaped cars linedup in rectangular glass bays.(The cars’ design was based on

Buckminster Fuller’s proposalfor a compact urban vehicle, theD-45, which helps explain theirsoftly contoured, timelessly fu-turistic silhouettes.) Daylightspills down a rough concrete wallbehind them, hinting at the lifeabove.

The first 13 cars of a proposedfleet of hundreds were being test-ed the day I visited, but as soon

as the system is up, within a fewweeks, a user will be able to stepinto a car and choose a destina-tion on an LCD screen. The carwill then silently pull into traffic,seeming to drive itself. (Thereare no cables or rails.)

It’s only as people arrive attheir destination that they willbecome aware of the degree towhich everything has been engi-

neered for high-function, low-consumption performance. Thestation’s elevators have beentucked discreetly out of sight toencourage use of a concrete stair-case that corkscrews to the sur-face. And on reaching the streets— which were pretty breezy theday I visited — the only way toget around is on foot. (This is notonly a matter of sustainability;Mr. Foster’s on-site partner, Aus-tin Relton, told me that obesityhas become a significant healthissue in this part of the Arabworld, largely because almost ev-eryone drives to avoid the heat.)

The buildings that have goneup so far come in two contrastingstyles. Laboratories devoted todeveloping new forms of sustain-able energy and affiliated withthe Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology are housed in bigconcrete structures that are cladin pillowlike panels of ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene, a super-strong translucent plastic thathas become fashionable in con-temporary architecture circlesfor its sleek look and durability.Inside, big open floor slabs aredesigned for maximum flexibility.

The residential buildings,which for now will mostly houseprofessors, students and theirfamilies, use a more traditionalarchitectural vocabulary. To con-form to Middle Eastern stand-ards of privacy, Mr. Foster cameup with an undulating facade ofconcrete latticework based on themashrabiya screens common inthe region. The latticeworkblocks direct sunlight andscreens interiors from view,while the curves make for angledviews to the outside, so thatapartment dwellers never lookdirectly into the windows of fac-ing buildings. Such concerns arealso reflected in the layout of theneighborhood. Like many MiddleEastern university campuses, itis segregated by sex, with womenand families living at one end andsingle men at the other. Each endhas a small public plaza, whichacts as its social heart.

Still, one wonders, despite thetechnical brilliance and the sensi-tivity to local norms, how aproject like Masdar can ever at-tain the richness and texture of areal city. Mr. Foster said the citywas intended to house a cross-section of society, from studentsto service workers. “It is notabout social exclusion,” he added.Eventually, a light-rail systemwill connect it to Abu Dhabi, andstreet life will undoubtedly get

livelier as the daytime populationgrows to a projected 90,000. (Al-though construction on a second,larger phase has already begun,the government-run developer,the Abu Dhabi Future EnergyCompany, refuses to give a com-pletion date for the city, sayingonly that it will grow at its ownpace.)

But the decision of who gets tolive and work in Masdar, as inany large-scale development, willbe outside the architect’s control.That will be decided, as always,by the landlord — in this case, thegovernment.

And even if it were to become aperfect little urban melting pot,Masdar would have only limitedrelevance to the world most peo-ple live in. Mr. Foster’s inspiredsynthesis of ancient and newtechnologies could well have ap-plications elsewhere; it should belooked at closely by other archi-tects. But no one would argue

that a city of a few million ormore can be organized with suchprecision, and his fantasy worldis only really possible as a metic-ulously planned community, builtfrom the ground up and of mod-est size.

What Masdar really repre-sents, in fact, is the crystalliza-tion of another global phenom-enon: the growing division of theworld into refined, high-end en-claves and vast formless ghettoswhere issues like sustainabilityhave little immediate relevance.Ever since the notion thatthoughtful planning could beused to improve the lot of human-kind died out, sometime in the1970s, both the megarich and theeducated middle classes have in-creasingly found solace by wall-ing themselves off inside a varie-ty of mini-utopias.

This has involved not only theproliferation of suburban gatedcommunities, but also the trans-formation of city centers inplaces like Paris and New Yorkinto playgrounds for tourists andthe rich. Masdar is the culmina-tion of this trend: a self-sufficientsociety, lifted on a pedestal andoutside the reach of most of theworld’s citizens.

M A S D A R

In Arabian Desert, a Sustainable City Rises, Walled and Lofty

PHOTOGRAPHS BY NIGEL YOUNG/FOSTER & PARTNERS

Top, a modern interpretation of the Arabian wind tower is usedto cool the plaza areas at the Masdar Institute of Science andTechnology. Above, the institute at dusk.

From Page 1

Promoters of Masdar, a city under construction near Abu

Dhabi, say that it will be the world’s first carbon-neutral

city. It will be home to a research institute focused on

renewable energy and sustainability, and eventually, if all

goes as planned, to various clean-technology

companies, and to a projected 45,000 residents and

another 45,000 commuters.

Phase 1 MASDAR INSTITUTE

The area being completed this fall has some design features common to the entire project.

Automated transportationMasdar will be using an

automated system of

electric vehicles, including

passenger cars and freight

trucks. The city’s ground

level was elevated 23 feet,

and the vehicles will operate

underneath.

Streets are laid out at

angles that optimize

shading. Long, narrow

parks catch and cool

the prevailing winds,

and assist in

ventilating the city.

Narrow streets allow

for some sunlight,

but overhangs

create shade

The surrounding

trees will help

mitigate windblown

dust and sand.

Photovoltaic panels

power the buildings and

provide shade to keep

roofs cooler.

The city is surrounded by

recreation areas, power generation

facillities, parking garages and

food production areas.

A light rail line will pass through the

center of Masdar, linking it to

downtown Abu Dhabi and providing

transport within the new city.

The wind tower funnels

wind to ventilate a public

square at its base. The

air is cooled with water

sprays.

Automated cars with

room for four adults.

A Sustainable City in the Desert

COURTYARD

STREET

Photovoltaic panels on Masdar

Headquarters, the city’s biggest office

building, are expected to produce more

energy than the building consumes. It is

scheduled to be finished in 2013.

Wind cones will

provide natural

ventilation and soft

daylight to the

building's interior.

Neighborhoods will have

distinct buildings and design

elements. Masdar Plaza, for

example, will have 54

sunshades that open and

close automatically at dawn

and dusk.

Sources: Renderings and photographs by Masdar, Foster & Partners (city plan and Masdar Institute), LAVA (Masdar Plaza and sunshades), Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture (Masdar Headquarters building), Zagato and 2getthere (automated car design) THE NEW YORK TIMES

Control panel

Max. speed

25 m.p.h.

Up to 98.5 feet in diameter

Photovoltaic

cells

12.5 feet

6.4 feet

SAUDIARABIA

OMANUNITED ARAB EMIRATES

IRAN

ArabianSea

Miles

Dubai

Arabian Gulf

CentralAbu Dhabi

Masdar

Miles 10

150

Abu Dhabi

SOLAR

FARM

APPROX.

1 MILE

Masdar Headquarters

MASDAR PLAZA

Complete this fall Under construction

MASDAR HEADQUARTERS

MASDAR

INSTITUTE

Computer

rendering of the

planned city

BLUEPRINTS FOR THE MIDEAST

Oil-Free on the Persian Gulf

Twenty miles fromAbu Dhabi, a squarecity literally rises.

This is the first in a series of arti-cles exploring how large-scale ur-ban projects are transformingparts of the Arab world.

ONLINE: A slide show withmore images of Masdar:

nytimes.com/design

C M Y K Yxxx,2010-09-26,A,012,Bs-4C,E1