The Cloud is a speculative design for a resort city elevated 300 metres in the air above Dubai and supported on slanting legs resembling rain.

Designed by Nadim Karam of Lebanese architect Atelier Hapsitus, the concept was presented at the International Design Forum in Dubai last month.

We'll update this post with more information about the project soon. Update 18/06/07: below is some text about the project from Atelier Hapsitus, plus details of the new book about The Cloud:

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The Cloud, the Desert and the Arabian breeze

At the forefront of the few cities today experiencing exponential growth, Dubai is the ultimate city of mutation. Within its constantly-changing scenery and infinite growth-scale, Dubai needs a dream expressing its current transient phase. If cities can dream, does Dubai have a dream?

The Cloud of Dubai is one of a series of Gulf region projects created by Nadim Karam and Atelier Hapsitus. It is inspired by the nomads, whose lives were defined by the rigours of their relation to sun, water and sand, and whose travels followed the borderless movement of clouds. The Cloud is a trip, a playful adventure in the city. It is a horizontal presence on an elevated platform, an antithesis to the sum of skyscrapers spreading over the entire region. The Cloud is a dream, suspended between artificiality and reality.

Above: plan

Above: plan sketch

Above: section

An essentially sustainable project standing at a height of approximately 300 metres, the Cloud is a 20000m2 landscape-in-the-sky comprising a lake, gardens, rotating bridges, spiraling walkways and terraces, an auditorium and sky-sports platform. The Cloud is approached on ground level from an esplanade with a pool reflecting a forest of inclined columns reaching up to the huge, translucent floating island. Access to the Cloud is gained through a few non-inclined tubular shafts, which double as structural support. In collaboration with ARUP AGU (Advanced Geometry Unit), significantly creative technological solutions are being developed for its realization.

Published in May 2007 by Booth-Clibborn Editions, London, 2007, ‘The Cloud, the Desert and the Arabian Breeze’ by Nadim Karam & Atelier Hapsitus presents the Cloud through a narrative whose protagonist explores Dubai, seeking a dream for the city.