Abu Dhabi’s popular Al Fay Park is named 2021’s World Landscape of the Year at the prestigious World Architecture Festival. Al Fay Park combines biological, environmental, and social design solutions for the desert metropolis and is a paradigm shift in how to create livable and sustainable cities. The iconic park is designed by Danish landscape starchitects SLA.
Al Fay Park, Abu Dhabi’s new urban biodiversity park, is not only a hugely popular place to play, meet and socialize for Abu Dhabians of all ages, gender, and social backgrounds. It is now also the World’s Best Landscape Architecture project. Such is the verdict by one of the world’s largest and most prestigious architectural awards, the World Architecture Festival, which named Al Fay Park ‘World Landscape of the Year’ during its awards ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal.
Photo © Philip Handforth
Out of more than 500 entries from around the world, Al Fay Park emerged victoriously. According to the awards super jury: “Al Fay Park is a thoughtful and intelligent response which takes into consideration pressing contemporary social and environmental issues. It is more over a delightful and biodiverse oasis in a dense desert city.” The landscape architects behind the park are the renowned Danish nature-based design studio SLA.
“Al Fay Park is a celebration of Abu Dhabi’s native nature and culture and a prime example of how to maximize climate action, increase life-quality, and radically improve the biodiversity of an entire city – all on a former sand site. Al Fay Park is specifically designed to provide both biological, environmental and social benefits to Abu Dhabi. The park is designed to reduce irrigation with 40 percent compared to conventional parks, while the planting attracts bees, pollinators, birds and animals. Lastly, the microclimate design provides the best possible social ecosystem for play, sports and leisure – making Al Fay Park both socially and climatically ‘the coolest place in town’,” says Rasmus Astrup, Design Principal and Partner in SLA. Source by SLA.
Photo © Philip Handforth
- Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Architect: SLA
- Area: 27500 m2
- Year: 2021
- Photographs: Philip Handforth, Courtesy of SLA
Photo © Philip Handforth 
Photo © Philip Handforth 
Photo © Philip Handforth 
Photo © Philip Handforth
