Within an industry traditionally dominated by men, Spanish architect Eva Nombela Medina was ecstatic when Dubai Properties approached her office in Alicante in Spain and asked her to become the lead designer on a massive residential project in Dubailand. Just one glance at the plans for the thousands of Spanish villa's proposed for the area reveals the enormity of the project Eva has since undertaken, but despite heading up such a prestigious project, and perhaps in typical Spanish-style, Eva remains an endearingly modest professional.
Born in Madrid 37-years ago, Eva vocalised from a young age her wish to follow her father's footsteps and become an architect. She did exactly that, and today is one of a small circle of women in the business who can boost owning her very own company.
The reason Eva caught the attention of developers in Dubai is because Spanish style architecture is much sought after in Dubai and Eva is one woman who knows this style inside out. Eva's plans for 'The Villa' project sees 35,000,000 square feet of land transformed into a Mediterranean paradise with unique Spanish villas built to represent various parts of Spain, such as Barcelona, Alicante or Cordoba. Each Spanish villa promises meticulous detail, so much so, that historians have even been brought in to ensure that her designs adhere with the exact design details that would appear on villas from different regions throughout Spain.
Many Arabs love the Mediterranean lifestyle and that is why Spanish architecture is so popular in Dubai. The Arab and Spanish cultures have very close ties indeed and despite religious differences, there are numerous similarities between our lifestyles, and this translates into the architecture of both places too, says Eva.
The Arabs had a great presence in Spain for a long time, and elements of their existence is still very evident in many ways today. The Arab people tend to identify with Spain and its people - they feel at home there very quickly. Perhaps they can sense their own heritage there. In the South of Spain in particular, the climate, the humidity, the plant life and the lifestyle is all very similar to the Middle East.
When asked what it is like to undertake a project in the world's fastest growing metropolis, Eva replied that Dubai is an architect's paradise. Projects architects get to work on here would never be possible in Europe. Nowhere else can you find so much space to work with, so much free reign to design as you please, and most importantly so many clients with money ready to invest. Without a doubt as an architect Dubai is the most exciting place to work. There are no limits here and an architect's creativity is allowed to flow and develop without restriction.
However that lack of restriction and the lack of rules governing the continuity of style when it comes to the aesthetics of Dubais architecture has, according to Eva, also given rise to some shockingly bad architecture erected in Dubai over the years. But then again, they are hopefully drowned out by the good stuff to look at, like the Emirates Towers and the Burj Al Arab, she says.Read more UAE News on www.7days.ae
