"After the U.A.E. gained independence from the U.K. in 1971, its then-ruler, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, ordered that an entire block of the middle of the federal capital, Abu Dhabi, be spared skyscrapers and instead be made into a park and cultural center. The building, completed in 1981, is a work of art in itself, with Brutalist concrete columns offset with geometric tiles in a mid-century palette of mustard and cerulean blue. The Bauhaus-meets–Middle East style is the result of a global competition held to choose a lead architect. The winner was the Architects Collaborative, one of whose cofounders was the influential Modernist Walter Gropius." - John Arlidge
