Mercedes-Benzes places unites automotive and architecture

Marking its first venture into the real estate market, Mercedes-Benz has collaborated with Dubai-based developers Binghatti to reveal a new branded icon for the city. Merging the creative worlds of automotive and architecture, Mercedes-Benz Places will rise 341 meters (1,118 feet) above the city with a distinctive elliptical silhouette to deliver a holistic and curated luxury living experience interwoven with the German car company’s design DNA across all facets — from architecture and interiors to sustainability initiatives and infrastructure. For CEO and Architect Muhammad BinGhatti, the collaboration celebrates Mercedes-Benz’s century-long heritage in mobility as an architectural landmark, guided primarily by its core philosophy of ‘sensual purity’. ‘The art of sensual purity is a rooted philosophy for Mercedes-Benz as an idea of amalgamating two dichotomous notions, when emotion and rationale come together to form something that is highly iconic,’ he shares at the project unveiling.

The hyper-tower’s minimalist, sinuous curves thus recall the flowing lines characteristic of a host of ultra-modern Mercedes-Benz cars, including the futuristic Vision One-Eleven and the Concept CLA Class, against the backdrop of the city as an emblem of the brand. Within, the architectural interiors pay homage to those of the automotive industry through a futuristic lens. The concept embraces poetically drawn lines and materials such as natural stone, fluted travertine, walnut veneer, and satin chrome finishing that fuse the innovations of German car engineering and nod to notions of rationality in design as posed by the Bauhaus in the early 1900s.

With no shortage of luxury, monumental structures already reshaping Dubai, and other residential projects recently unveiled by leading automotive brands worldwide, Mercedes-Benz Places differentiates itself by homing in on sustainability initiatives embodying the inherent values of both collaborating partners. ‘We strategically aligned the project with the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 which aspires to achieve a reduction of 600,000 kg of carbon emissions a year,’ notes BinGhatti. This, united with Mercedes-Benz’s Ambition 2039 to become entirely CO2 neutral, unfolds most prominently across the rear elevation, entirely integrated with photovoltaic panels spanning an area of 75 thousand square feet. This feature, artfully punctuated by a repeated pattern composed of Mercedes-Benz’s classic three-pointed star logo will generate energy to charge up to 40 electric vehicles on site per day, translating to an aggregate of 20 thousand kilometers of carbon free trips.