Dubai

Not content with boasting the world's tallest building, the world's largest mall and a host of other forward-thinking ventures that include flying taxis and firefighters with jetpacks, Dubai has now opened the deepest swimming pool in the world.

The UAE has outlined a vision to become just the fourth nation to land on the Moon by announcing plans to launch an Emirati-built rover by 2024, with mission planners hoping to gain a number of unique scientific insights about the natural satellite.

A pilot somehow managed to escape injury as his multirotor hoverbike suffered a barometer failure at a 100-foot altitude over concrete in a Dubai test. Bucking like a mechanical bull, the machine crashed to Earth and flipped over its rider.

Dubai is chock-full of impressive buildings, including the world's tallest, but even in that company the Opus stands out. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, this luxury hotel takes the form of a glass cube with an eight-story void at its center.

3D printing specialist Apis Cor has completed what it calls the world's largest 3D-printed building. Located in Dubai, the basic structure of the administrative building was constructed using just one 3D printer, though involvement of human builders was significant.

While it’s not quite a multirotor hoverbike, Dubai Police's Tesla Cybertruck will have no trouble turning a few heads while out patrolling the streets of the UAE’s most future-focused city, as revealed on Twitter this week.

The Global Grad Show is the world’s largest annual gathering of university design graduates, showing off their most innovative projects. New Atlas was at this year’s show to offer a glimpse at the most inventive ideas from the planet’s top students.

You could say that Dubai's leaders have their finger on the pulse of the city's architecture with this newly-unveiled supertall skyscraper, which incorporates the fingerprint of the Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai. Measuring 550 m (1,804 ft)-tall, work on the project is due to start immediately.

The carefully planned Dubai Sustainable City is a reminder that between the towering skyscrapers there is plenty of environmental awareness to be found. As cranes hover at its edges expanding its footprint piece by piece, New Atlas ventured into the desert to see it all from the inside out.

Following years of research and development, an accidental fire and rebuild, and around a month in the Dubai desert, Virginia Tech students have won the 2018 Solar Decathlon Middle East with the FutureHaus. The prefabricated modular home runs from solar power and was assembled in under two days.

​With experience putting together exhibitions around the world, Brendan McGetrick knows a good idea when he sees one. We sat down with the curator during Dubai Design Week to chat about the role of student design now and moving into the future.

​Opened last week, the Jameel Arts Centre is the latest impressive building to carry Dubai’s grand ambitions as a cultural destination for the Middle East. New Atlas swung by to check out the opening festivities.