Photographer Ahmad Alnaji has captured the Ciel Dubai Marina, a supertall skyscraper by architecture studio NORR that was recently completed as the tallest hotel in the world.
Ciel Dubai Marina opened in November last year, rising 377 metres to beat the 356-metre-tall Gevora Hotel, also in Dubai, as the world's tallest hotel-only building.
Alnaji, founder of photography studio Sarab, was commissioned by NORR project lead Yahya Jan to capture the Ciel Dubai Marina as the architect "intended it to be seen".
"Jan wanted photos that are artistic yet don't deceive the viewer about the true design and elements of Ciel," Alnaji told Dezeen. "The photos are made to tell the story of a unique architectural icon."
Operated by IHG's Vignette Collection hotels, Ciel Dubai Marina contains 1,004 hotel rooms, eight cafes and restaurants, a spa, gym, and amenities for children.
Built atop a white-clad podium, the skyscraper has a tapering form that narrows at the top and bottom, with curved facades clad in cold-bent glass panels designed to reflect prevailing winds.
Evocative of the eye of a needle, an opening in the upper portion of the 82-storey skyscraper contains an infinity pool on the 76th floor overlooking the surrounding Dubai Marina.
The opening is bridged above by a publicly accessible observation deck, while below, a 300-metre-tall atrium split into a series of terraces forms the spine of the skyscraper.
"Inside, the architecture centres on a 300-metre atrium cut through the tower's core, holding vertically stacked, landscaped sky gardens with naturally ventilated terraces spaced through the height of the building," said Alnaji
"These are Jan's answer to vertical living, daylit communal voids that bring planting and shared space into a supertall hotel rather than stacking rooms alone."
Founded in 1938, NORR is an architecture, engineering and planning studio with offices in cities across Canada, the USA and the UK.
Other towering buildings that are set to be built in Dubai, a place famed for its skyscraper-heavy skyline, include a Mercedes-Benz-branded series of residential skyscrapers and MVRDV's plans for a skyscraper with a giant orb on its upper floors.
The photography is by Ahmad Alnaji.
