Muraba Veil by RCR Arquitectes: A Sculptural Statement in the Dubai Skyline
Pritzker Prize-winning studio RCR Arquitectes has unveiled Muraba Veil, an extraordinary architectural statement set to rise along the Dubai Canal. Developed by Muraba Properties, the 380-metre-tall residential tower redefines vertical living through a poetic blend of innovation, heritage, and sculptural form, positioning itself as the world’s second-thinnest skyscraper and one of Dubai’s most distinctive new landmarks.
With a slender profile measuring just 22.5 metres in width, Muraba Veil will contain 131 apartments, each occupying the full breadth of the tower. This single-apartment-per-floor layout creates a rare spatial duality, offering residents uninterrupted views both east and west, while flooding interiors with natural light. It is a feat of architectural clarity and restraint — minimalist in structure, yet profound in experience.
“Unusually narrow,” as the architects describe it, the tower’s silhouette acts as a visual and spatial intervention — a vertical thread of elegance drawn across the dynamic skyline of Sheikh Zayed Road.
Wrapped in Light: The Veil as Facade
Central to the tower’s identity is its namesake veil: a finely woven stainless steel mesh that envelopes the entire building. This sculptural skin performs aesthetic and environmental roles — filtering light, softening heat gain, and offering privacy without blocking transparency. As daylight shifts and the sky changes, so too does the building’s exterior, catching tones of amber, blue, and silver, transforming the skyscraper into a living canvas.
The veil is not merely a decorative gesture, but a performative one, reinterpreting traditional mashrabiya in a contemporary form, and echoing the architectural language of light and shadow that defines much of the Arabian vernacular.
Courtyard Living, Elevated
At the heart of Muraba Veil lies a reinterpretation of the traditional Arab courtyard home, reframed for vertical living. Each apartment is designed around a central core — a serene inner sanctum inspired by shaded courtyards — with layered spatial sequences and lush green interludes. These spaces provide privacy, natural cooling, and a sensory retreat from the pace of the city, reinforcing the idea that luxury today lies in stillness, silence, and intentional design.
Throughout the tower, materials and spatial arrangements reference the craft and logic of historic Arabian dwellings, adapted with modern precision. External terraces flow seamlessly into interior living areas, while cross-ventilation and orientation reduce the need for artificial cooling.
A Landscape of Amenities
Anchoring the base of the tower is a communal area designed to evoke the undulating dunes and eroded caverns of the desert. Here, organic forms host a collection of curated amenities — from a spa and private cinema to a gallery, padel court, and restaurant. This immersive space acts as both a social hub and architectural pause — where design meets leisure in a seamless landscape of form and function.
The tower’s entrance, carved into this sculptural base, offers a transition between city and sanctuary — a symbolic descent into shade and stillness, before ascending vertically into light and air.
A New Chapter in Dubai’s Vertical Identity
Set to stand beside some of Dubai’s most iconic towers, Muraba Veil is a bold expression of architectural purity. While the city continues to push the boundaries of height and spectacle, this project takes a more restrained path — one rooted in timeless principles of proportion, materiality, and human-centric design.
In a city of superlatives, Muraba Veil carves out a new narrative: one where slenderness becomes strength, and elegance is found in quiet architectural gestures. This is not simply a building to be seen — but one to be experienced, lived in, and reflected upon.
