Drawn in the Sand

John Harris, Dubais Pioneering Modernist

152

Aerofilms Ltd

Makers I

One architect was responsible for Dubais initial strategy toward

modernism, from initial hospitals to envisioning the citys avenues of
growth. Working closely with Dubais ruler Sheikh Rashid, John Harris
developed a means of working that wedded Rashids ambitions with
an architecture both respected and respectful. Dubais development
has since escalated beyond the means of any one persons vision, and the
firm has adjusted to this complexity. John Harris firm still prospers
in Dubai as John R. Harris and Partners. His son, Mark Harris, helps
to convey his fathers story of working to create a city and its image for
the world. At the age of 88, John Harris lives in London with his wife
and partner, Jill Harris.

Aerial of Dubai Town toward Creek and Deira, circa 1958

Gulf Survey

AMO

153

Making Dubai
1939

Dubai Population: 21,000

1945

Having served as a Royal Engineer in the

British army, John Harris is released as
a prisoner of war in Hong Kong. Later he
would source the experience for his interest
in building in severe climates.1
1946

John Harris recommences studies at

Architectural Association in London, where
he meets his classmate and future wife,
Jill Rowe.
1951

The British Building Research Laboratories

pursues investigations into construction and
materials in desert climates. Harris is hired
to design the institutes station in Kuwait.
Makers I

1953

John Harris, in practice with Jill Harris,

wins the 300-entry design competition for
the Qatar State Hospital, sponsored by the
Royal Institute of British Architects.
1954

Halcrow receives its first contract to dredge

Dubai Creek, to ensure its navigability and
sustainability of harbor commerce.
1956

Dubais first concrete block house is built.2

1957

Christopher Meyer from the British surveying firm Widnell & Trollope visits Dubai.
He counts twelve Westerners and reports
there are the following Europeans in
Dubai:
Political Agent Tripp (on leave)
Asst.
Adams
Agency Admin. Gunston
B.P.
Jackson
I.P.C.
Kirkbridge and wife
Doctor
McAnliffe
Bank Manager King and two assts.
Agriculturist
Huntingdon
Police
Larrimer3
1957

John Harris opens an office in Tehran that

would remain open until the 1977 revolution.4
1958

Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum

becomes ruler of Dubai at the age of 30.
During a session in his Majlis, he delivers
his memorable aphorism, What is good for
the merchants, is good for Dubai.5
154

1959

John Harris meets Donald Hawley, British

Political Agent for the Trucial States

during the latters holiday in London. This
fortuitous contact leads to John Harris first
trip to Dubai to meet Sheikh Rashid, and
he is hired as Dubais first town planner.
Hawley will also ensure Harris is commissioned for a master plan of Abu Dhabi.
Harris is 38 years old.6
1960

The United Kingdom Board of Trade issues

Hints to Business Men Visiting the Persian
Gulf, which includes tips in culture, negotiations, and travel in the Arabian Peninsula.7
Sheikh Rashid forms an advisory
committee to approve and promote the
Harris master plan. The committee
includes Bill Duff (financial advisor to the
Ruler), Neville Allen of Halcrow and John
Harris. Political Agent Donald Hawley also
remains involved. Simultaneously Harris is
advising on hospital developments.1
Nelson Rockefeller announces plans for
a World Trade Center in New York City.
1961

Dubais first central water supply system to

accommodate 86,777 households is installed.
Halcrow receives instruction from the
Political Agent to begin implementation
work of Harris master plan.2
1962

Sheikh Rashid begins planning work on

Port Rashid. Halcrow study recommends
4 berths. Sheikh Rashid insists on 15.
Ambition trumps conventional wisdom.8
Harris submits master plan to Sheikh
Shakhbut of Abu Dhabi.
1963

Sheikh Rashids son-in-law, Ahmed bin Ali

Al Thani, Ruler of Qatar, funds Dubais
first bridge as a wedding present. Halcrow
designs the drawbridge. The two Dubais
are connected.
1965

First street lights are installed in city center.4

1968

Harris completes his first architectural project in Dubai: the expansion of Al Maktoum
Hospital, expanded from 38 to 106 beds.
Dubai Population: 59,000
Sheikh Rashid establishes the National
Bank of Dubai a key player in Dubais
future development. Harris designs two
branches. The Deira branch is the tallest
building in Dubai at seven stories.7
1969

During visit to the Rulers Majlis, John

Harris witnesses the presentation of a jam

jar full of oil to Sheikh Rashid. Oil is

finally tapped. Full throttle with hospitals,
schools, and a more ambitious master plan.
John and Jill Harris lay a red carpet
from the sidewalk to their doorstep to
welcome Sheikh Rashid to their home
during his state visit to London. A striking
photo portrait of Sheikh Rashid hangs in
the Harris library.
1970

First tenants move into Tower One of New

York Citys World Trade Center, designed
by Minoru Yamasaki.
1971

Harris submits second and extended

master plan for Dubai.
The independent United Arab Emirates
is formed. British political and military
presence is reduced.
1972

1975

Construction of Dubai World Trade

Centre begins.
Dubai Population: 183,000
1976

1978

Harris design for the New Dubai Hospital

is completed. At 14 stories it is Dubais
tallest building for a matter of months. The
WTC begins to rise.
1979

Queen Elizabeth opens Dubais World

Trade Center, 39 stories and the tallest
building in the Middle East. Dubais
gateway to a new real estate era opens in
the direction of what will become Sheikh
Zayed Road.
1980

Dubai population: 210,000

Wall Street Journal raises speculation
whether Dubais Port Jebel Ali development,
estimated at $765 million ($2 billion in 2007)
is anything more that a pie in the sky.
Dubai remains ahead even of itself.10

1990

Sheikh Rashid dies at the age of 78. Dubai

mourns the loss of a great leader.
According to a current day Pakistani
cab driver who has been driving for 34 years,
Sheikh Zayed Road receives its first street
lights and guard rails, signifying its ascension
to becoming Dubais central artery.
2005

Dubai population: 1,135,000

Today

Having taken over from his father in 1997,

Mark Harris is based at John R. Harris and
Partners, London but visits Dubai office
frequently. Current projects in Dubai are
located in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, Festival
City, and Jumeirah Palm. Recent completed
projects include the first major theatre
and community arts center at Emirates
Mall, Dubai and a new English school
in Sharjah.

We would like to express our gratitude to

John, Jill and Mark Harris for sharing their
stories and observations with us. AMO
1. Interview with Mark Harris. August, 2006.
2. G abriel, Erhard, The Dubai Handbook. Dubai Petroleum
Company, 1987.
3. Meyer, Christopher, Visit to Dubai, August, 1957.
4. Morris, A.E.J., John R. Harris Architects. Hurtwood
Press, 1984
5. Wilson, Graeme, Rashids Legacy: The Genesis
of the Maktoum Family and the History of Dubai.
Media Prima, 2006.
6. Hawley, Donald, The Emirates: A Witness to a
Metamorphosis. Michael Russell Publishing, 2007.
7. UK Board of Trade, Hints to Business Men Visiting
the Persian Gulf. 1960.
8. Heard-Bey, Frauke, From Trucial States to United
Arab Emirates. Motivate Publishing, 2004
9. D ubai Word Trade Centre: 20 Years of Success.
Motivate Publishing, 1999.
10. V icker, Ray, Is Dry Dock in Dubai to be High and Dry
and Pie in the Sky? Wall Street Journal. May 6, 1980.

155

1981

Returning from graduate studies at Harvard

1985

Dubai population: 419,000

AMO

John Harris submits his third and final

version of the master plan to the Dubai
municipality, which takes over responsibility for planning manners.

1984

John R. Harris & Partners wins design

competition for HH the Rulers Diwan.
The design arguably reveals the first use
of the barjeel (wind tower) as a decorative
device to cover HVAC and other mechanical systems. The white estate stands
timelessly next to the rebuilt Bastakiyah
buildings. Dubai discovers preservation
as a modernist act.

Gulf Survey

Queen Elizabeth diverts her flight to refuel

in Dubai instead of Bahrain to witness
the new airport. The visit inspires Sheikh
Rashid to pursue a World Trade Center for
Dubai. John Harris is commissioned and
conducts a world tour to grasp a rising city/
market phenomenon.9

Graduate School of Design and work

experience with architect/developer John
Portman in Atlanta, Georgia, John Harris
son Mark Harris joins JRHP.

156

John R. Harris Architects archives

Makers I
Early Modernist insertions, Dubai circa 1960. Photo taken by John Harris aboard Royal Air Force airplane

Gulf Survey

AMO

157

John R. Harris Architects archives

Necessary Modernism

Rashid Hospital, Dubai. 1969

JRHPs second hospital for Dubai adds
another 400 beds to local healthcare.
Built in three years, the project is a
hasty response to newfound wealth.
The cupola arches serve as a band
shell at the buildings opening ceremony.

John R. Harris Architects archives

Al Maktoum Hospital, Dubai. 1968

Harris first building commission in
Dubai is the expansion of the barracksstyle Al Maktoum Hospital. With the
Qatar State Hospital and Al Maktoum
Hospital, Harris brand of modernism
would be not only advanced but also
humane. At the time the small hospital
serves a thousand-mile radius.

John R. Harris Architects archives

John R. Harris Architects archives

Makers I

Qatar State Hospital, later renamed

Rumailah Hospital. 1957
John Harris, together with his wife and former classmate
Jill Harris, completes a small commission for the Building
Research Laboratories in 1951. Though a fairly small building,
Harris would gain from the experience lucrative intelligence
about building in desert climates, which he displays in the
Qatar State Hospital design competition, one of a series
hosted by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
Beating out several hundred entries, the Harris scheme won
for its ability to integrate environmental conditions into the
design, as explained in the RIBA decision: Of all the designs
submitted this offers the best solution to the problem.
The ward units are particularly well planned to afford good
supervision and economy in working while they are sufficiently
compact for air conditioning without detriment to good
cross ventilation. The planning of single bed wards to avoid
sun and glare is ingenious.
The commissions size enables the Harrises to establish
an office. Beginning with the Qatar commission when he
was 34, Harris career would continue to grow in the Middle
East (among other places). Harris employs not a style but a
principle: modern materials to suit climate and culture.
Technology works with climate, without trying to conquer it.
During travels to Doha for the project, Jill Harris recalls
visiting the women while the men met about the project.
Introduced by the advisors wife, who is Irish and conversing
in fluent Arabic, Jill is the first person the Emirs wife meets
who speaks no Arabic.

National Bank of Dubai. 1969

Along the Creek, the bank is Dubais
first display of financial strength and
Harris first commercial building. At
7 stories, the buildings penthouse
provides views of the entire city. The
bank has been demolished.

158

John R. Harris Architects archives

John R. Harris Architects archives

John R. Harris Architects archives

John R. Harris Architects archives

John R. Harris Architects archives

AMO

Dubai Metropolitan Hotel. 1976

Its flat roofs and shaded facades have
since been edited.

Dubai Master Plan. 1971 (post-oil discovery)

Gulf Survey

Dubai Master Plan. 1959

John Harris meets Donald Hawley, British Political Agent in Dubai: I had met
[John Harris] by chance socially during my leave and he had expressed interest
in coming out when I told him of Dubais need for a Town Planner. I had put his
proposal to Sheikh Rashid who said he would like him to come out for discussions.
Professionalism and circumstance. After a conversation with Sheikh Rashid,
Harris is named plenipotentiary in town planning and surveying matters. British
government papers reveal that there had been discussions with more experienced
master planners Minoprio, Spencely and Macfarlane, but Sheikh Rashid chooses
otherwise.
With no planning experience, Harris develops Dubais first master plan, which
would guide Dubais development until the discovery of oil in 1969. The assignment
is at once daunting and terribly simple. Planning is not about vision, but about
modern necessity. Each proposal brings with it the question of where the funding
will come from.
Dubai has no paved roads (what roads there are can not accommodate
automobiles), and no utilities or modern ports of supply. Water is supplied by cans
brought by donkeys. First task: to order the first aerial surveys of Dubai. Then
the plan must address the most basic: a road system, land use zoning and the
determination of a town center.
The drawn plan reveals a resistance to severity where new roads respect
old city (houses in the way of roads are not even deleted in the plan!). The density
of Deira is minimally penetrated for automobile access, a capillary vein that widens
as quickly as it departs from density into open desert. Harris modern insertions
respect the formlessness as much as possible, graduating to Modernist grids once
open desert is reached. The old city remains as inchoate activity. The new is
zoned and rational. Dubai imports its first British roundabout.

[The New] Dubai Hospital. 1979

The Dubai Hospital at 12 storeys establishes yet another building height datum
for Dubai. At the opening ceremony, Sheikh Rashid enjoys the complexs endless
halls and doorways medicine and modernity. Project adds 665 beds to Dubais
healthcare system.

159

Makers I
160

World Trade Center under construction

AMO

161

John R. Harris Architects archives

Gulf Survey

John R. Harris Architects archives

Showcase for the World

Roundabout before World Trade Center

Watercolor by Alan Armitage shows the WTC-to-be
as an imminent shadow.

John R. Harris Architects archives

John R. Harris Architects archives

Makers I
Dubai Hilton Hotel. 1979
As part of the World Trade Center complex, JRHP designs
Dubais first Hilton Hotel. The design minimizes the amount
of glazing to control solar glare. The end result does not
please the client so much since it also reduces views. It has
been torn down for the World Trade Center expansion plan.

John R. Harris Architects archives

John Harris presents Sheikh Rashid with the first

proposal for the World Trade Center. 1973
Harris recalls how he was introduced to the Dubais World
Trade Center project: I was leaving Dubai and flying back to
London. My suitcase had been placed on the sparkling new
hoist at Dubais international airport and sent down to the
loader below. At that moment a hand rested on my shoulder
and a voice said: Sheikh Rashid wants to see you. I explained
about my luggage, but of course my suitcase went one way,
and I went the other.
Even before the iconic World Trade Center of New York
City is fully occupied, Sheikh Rashid already plans for such
a concept for Dubai. Upon viewing Harris first model for the
project, he simply states it needs to be higher, much higher
than Dubais 3- to 5-story skyline.
Growing gradually after each review, a 34-story project
is finally approved. However when construction reaches
8 stories, Sheikh Rashid asks for a revision 5 additional
floors. With a rapid response to fulfill the demand, the final
building is completed at 39 stories.

162

Top of World Trade Center Tower

View looks toward the Creeks lagoon and the Maktoum
familys Zabeel Palace.

John R. Harris Architects archives

WTC Opening Ceremony. 1979

Harris joins Sheikh Rashid and Queen Elizabeth
for the festivities.

Dubai International Airport Magazine

Dubai International Airport Magazine. Autumn 1989

Oil is finally discovered in 1969. Sheikh Rashid shares
the excitement with Harris, and visions of greater ambition
begin: hospitals, schools, public works. Revenues ensured,
Harris introduces a bolder scheme. Oil wealth will generate
commerce, population, and even more investment. Harris
establishes the guidelines that would ensure Dubai as a
smooth auto mobile city. Road networks naturally follow the
coastline, but also open up to development toward Abu Dhabi.
The plan foresees potential traffic congestion over
the creek, introducing two bridges and a tunnel to connect
Dubais two sides. Dubais future growth is measured
surprisingly well, but even its optimism does not match
Dubais actual growth. Industrial areas, once deemed to
be on the outskirts, are reassigned as mixed use and health
years after the plans submission.
As of 1985 planners name Dubai a well-functioning
automobile-adequate city. A well-calculated road system
could silence any argument for the need of a mass transit
system. Because of its ability to absorb the growing
population, planners place the city in the echelon of cities
who have realized their master plans. Harris 1971 plan can
be mostly credited for this foresight, and for already identifying
the WTC site, which at the time was far into the desert but
would become the gateway to Dubais new economy. Enough
green to soften the desert, enough traffic to generate urbanity,
enough roadways to invite the world, the WTC sits infallibly
on a highway interchange, a symbol of a once easy, rational
relationship among humans, roadways, and buildings.
A fragile equilibrium that would last a brief moment.

AMO

John R. Harris Architects archives

Sheikh Rashid and Harris at WTC site

Gulf Survey

John R. Harris Architects archives

Site visit at the World Trade Center

I established a special relationship of trust with Sheikh
Rashid, responds Harris to the question why he stayed
in Dubai for so long. He felt that the people had a genuine
affection for the sheikh.

163

John R. Harris Architects archives

John R. Harris Architects archives

John R. Harris Architects archives

Harris Catalogue

Finance Ministry, Doha. 1957

John R. Harris Architects archives

Abu Dhabi Master Plan, palace and

government center. 1962

John R. Harris Architects archives

National Grundlays Bank, Oman.

1968

John R. Harris Architects archives

Makers I

John R. Harris Architects archives

Building Research Laboratories,

Kuwait. 1952

164

Al Itehad School, Dubai. 1975

John R. Harris Architects archives

John R. Harris Architects archives

Sulaibikhat Hospital, Kuwait. 1969

American Ambassadors Residence,

Abu Dhabi. 1977

Harris buildings
presented on stamps
from Qatar, Oman,
and Dubai.
Architecture as an
instrument for social
progress.

John R. Harris Architects archives

Gulf Survey

Rulers Diwan, Dubai

John R. Harris & Partners

AMO

Wafi City, Dubai. Commenced in 1984 by John R. Harris and Partners and further developed by others.

165

166

John R. Harris Architects archives

Makers I
The World Trade Center Apartments, the World Trade Center, and Hilton Hotel, Dubai. 1980

Gulf Survey

AMO

167