MY Dubai - The City Sign by Apical Reform

Dubai-UAE: 12 October, 2017:   In January 2014 Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, launched the social media hashtag #MyDubai, inviting the Emirate's residents and visitors to write the social media biography of the city.
Since then, across the various social media platforms, countless pictures and videos have been shared using the metadata tag. Each post tells a unique story of the Dubai experience.

The progressive design studio Apical Reform visualises the Emirate's vibrant spirit and its emotional bond with residents and visitors through a new interactive public sculpture, inspired by and named after the social media movement.

Delivering a definitive image of Dubai to the world, ‘MY Dubai’ is the latest chapter in the established traditions of large-scale city sign sculptures evidenced in iconic cities across the world.

Located in the heart of Dubai Design District - the city’s purpose-built creative hub - the installation will interact with its surroundings and the people, offering photo-ops to visitors. It will also serve as a landmark for buskers and street performances.

Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi, COO, Dubai Design District says: "Dubai Design District is the gateway to creativity, innovation and the human experience. The MY Dubai City Sign is symbolic of the very personal connection that both residents and visitors have with the Emirate.  Having it placed in the heart of d3 not only underscores our community's culture, it is a nod to Dubai's leadership and their vision to create new, sustainable economies."

The design of the installation blends the innovative attitude of Dubai with its natural landscape. 

Each alphabet is extruded into the third dimension using stringent Parametric Design formulae. Then, each layer is composed by hand to represent the ripples on the surface of a sand dune.

“Dubai is an exciting blend of tradition and modernity, of the man-made and nature. We wanted to translate that into a visual that is rooted in the local context but has global appeal” says Amrish Patel, of Apical Reform, the studio behind this new city icon.

Manifested in a colour inspired by the UAE Flag, ‘MY Dubai’, the city sign is a new emblem of Dubai and a cherished part of the Emirate’s urban fabric.