Shortly after I arrived in Abu Dhabi, I asked somebody whic
h of the downtown buildings was the tallest. She told me this great story about the ADNOC building, whose designers had intended it to be the tallest, and for a while it was. Then Etihad Tower 2 was built, and it was taller.
So the builder of the ADNOC structure, made an interesting modification, thereby returning his 
building to its former glory as the tallest building in Abu Dhabi. That is a great story! I love that story have retold it a number of times. Certainly the appeara
nce of ADNOC building lends itself wonderfully to the storyline.
Except the story isn’t true. I only very recently found that out. Turns out, ADNOC is still taller than its neighbor, Etihad Tower 2, but they are second and third respectively when it comes to the tallest buildings in Abu Dhabi.
The largest building in Abu Dhabi is the one that I have always thought was the tallest. It simply looks like it is! You can see it from everywhere. 
It’s the first building you see in downtown as you ride in from in the airport. When I’d heard the story about 
ADNOC/Etihad, I figured there had to be some trick of the terrain.
Maybe a slight hill that the building I thought was taller had been built on that rendered it ever so slightly shorter than the rest. But really, this IS Abu Dhabi. There are no terrain tricks. It’s flat as a piece of paper (which is definitely flatter than a pancake.) No (natural) inclines, rises, hills, or bumps. Just straight lines, all at the same (non)altitude. I’m talking about the Residence Tower at World Trade Center (aka the Burj Muhammed bin Rashid). 
It’s a beautiful building! Built at the Souk end of the World Trade Center, it is a joy to behold. I love the curvy build, and at night the top edge of the structure is rimmed in light, outlining the beautiful shape, and visible from the west side of town. In some way I have to a
dmit I’m gratified to know I had assumed correctly. On the other hand, I am really sorry to have lost that great story to tell! The smaller, similarly shaped building is the commercial building at t he opposite end of World Trade Center, or The Mall side, depending on who is describing the location.
One of the things about doing so much walking around town is that I get to see the smaller, less obvious structures. Like many cities, Abu Dhabi is set up on a grid. Each square of the grid is a miniature town system, with comm
ercial buildings, apartment buildings, grocery stores, mom and pop businesses, cafes and restaurants, and at least one mosque located within. I enjoy wandering through and seeing the different offerings within each little neighborhood. I’ve found a few decent little restaurants and a couple of really bad ones too. I have a separate blog coming up about the tiny mosques that are situated inside the towers that surround each square of the grids. I really enjoy looking at the colors that they use to make the more plain buildings stand out.
My two favorite buildings are located close to home, and see them both just about daily. They make me smile, and anything that makes anybody smile is a good thing. This one was built as an event center for the Formu
la 1 racing crowds. It was designed to resemble the back of an F1 car, and I guess it does. I like it better as a falcon (the national bird) in flight. As near as I can tell it has never been used at all. This location is too far from Yas Island, the center of the action for Formula 1. So the building continues to sit empty. I have been told that it was recently purchased by a developer that plans to open within the year.
My absolute favorite though, is this apartment building, just around the corner from our building here on the east end. It is silly and fun (at least as much as a building can be) and it makes me smile to look at it. I include these last 2 buildings in the list of things that make my neighborhood cool.
Still, I am pretty sure the aforementioned Mr. Roark would find them all simply appalling.