Abu Dhabi’s modern architectural heritage reflects a city transformed within a remarkably concentrated period. From its emergence as a modern city in the 1960s through the ambitious expansion of the 1970s and 1980s, architecture became an expression of profound social and cultural change. Moving beyond familiar landmarks, architect-turned-photographer Jon Wallis focuses his lens on lesser-known buildings, capturing façades shaped by light and shadow, weathered surfaces, distinctive geometries, and traces of everyday urban life. His photographs invite the reader to look anew at a heritage that continues to undergo transformation. An essay by Lina Ahmad and Marco Sosa draws on their extensive research into the UAE’s modern architectural heritage, revealing the architects, ideas, and institutions that shaped Abu Dhabi’s distinctive modernity. Architectural drawings provide an additional visual reference to the buildings featured in Wallis’s photographic survey. 

• Based on the documentation project "Everyday Icons" by architect and photographer Jon Wallis
• With biographical sketches of the – often almost unknown – architects of these buildings
• Spectacular photography plus many drawings specifically prepared for this publication