His Highness The Aga Khan, accompanied by Prince Rahim and Princess Zahra, met with the ruling families of Abu Dhabi and Dubai during his Golden Jubilee visit to the United Arab Emirates. The highlight of the visit was the opening of the new Ismaili Centre in Dubai, as well as the Dubai Park located just opposite.
Ismaili Centre Dubai is the fourth Ismaili Centre in the world and the first in the Middle East. The opening ceremony was attended by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum and His Highness Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al-Nahyan.
The Ismaili Centre is a domed structure inspired by the Fatimid architecture of old Egypt and Syria that emanates the spirit of Islam. The Centre was erected with the use of traditional materials. Its many domes were built by Kashmiri masons equipped with increasingly rare traditional construction skills.
The 13,000 square metres of land located in Dubai’s Oud Metha district was designed by Rami El Dahan and Soheir Farid of El Dahan & Farid Engineering Consultants from Cairo, Egypt. Adjacent to the Centre is also a 3,000 square meter park designed by a world renowned landscape architect Maher Stino, who also designed the 74-acre Azhar Park in Cairo - a project of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.