MVRDV Wins Design Competition for New Dubai Skyscraper

MVRDV won a design competition for a new 210.6-m-tall residential/hotel tower in downtown Dubai by successfully responding to the specification that the new skyscraper "achieve iconic presence without resorting to spectacle," the Council on Vertical Urbanism reports. Inaura, which will house a 101-room hotel and 105 apartments, distinguishes itself with a "single, unexpected architectural gesture: a luminous, jewel-like ovoid structure embedded within the high rise at roughly three-quarters of its height." The ovoid structure will house the Sky Lounge and club offering panoramic views of downtown Dubai. Below it, a four-story plinth will contain ground-floor lobbies and a restaurant, a three-story gym, a spa and an infinity pool atop the podium. The tower is being developed by Arada.