Before every city became a place, it was nowhere. With all due respect to the challenge of city-building from scratch, it’s quite easy to build something out of nothing. The real challenge lies in building a destination, or a place where people will want to live and experience a number of different attractions.

When Abu Dhabi-based real estate developer Imkan Properties wanted to create a place for creative, entrepreneurial millennials, they sought out the services of MVRDV and BIG, two well known European architecture firms, as well as those of the local firm Dewan Architects. When completed in 2020, the sprawling mid-rise tower project, officially referred to as “Pixel,” will be a 161,000-square-foot mixed-use development that houses shops, offices, coworking spaces, and art studios on its first three floors, with 480 apartment units built into the upper ones. Imkan Properties hopes that Pixel, which will make up part of a new ?soulful place? in the city called Makers District, will help turn the neighborhood into ?the new beating heart of Abu Dhabi.?
Many places attempt to transform large sections of their cityscapes overnight, but few are as deeply committed to quality as those in the Persian Gulf. In cities like Abu Dhabi, it’s either go big or invest in somebody who is going big. To understand the confidence this city has in making a destination out of almost nothing, consider its history.
Although Abu Dhabi has existed since about the thir...