The structure was suspended in the air using breakthrough technology, providing visitors with an outlet to disconnect from the city. It is part of the “Rising Oases” series, which uses natural resources to create places of well being within the city.

Since the inception of cities, humans have gradually disconnected themselves from nature in search of a more convenient fast-paced urban lifestyle. Inadvertently, this evolution, with all its advantages, has created a lack of connection and need for a reunion with Mother Nature.

The installation was part of on-going research and a series of prototypes presented by Dr Georges Kachaamy titled 'Rising Oases'. Each prototype is comprised of a built environment made from natural resources and provides visitors with an outlet to disconnect from the city. They were platforms inside the city where humans can unwire themselves from their daily restraints and rewire themselves in a natural environment. The architect chose four main sources of water for each prototype: a spring, a pond, a waterfall and a river.

The River Prototype, was levitated on a different plane than that of the city using a breakthrough technology that allows it to generate an anti gravity architecture suspended in the air. Throughout its evolution, architecture has crawled out of caves, settled on grounds, surfaced on water, climbed on pilotis and even danced. Now it is about time to challenge itself, defy gravity and rise up.

About Dr. Georges Kachaamy

Dr. Georges Kachaamy is the Director of Research, Innovation, and Design Center (RIDC) at the School of Architecture, Art, and Design, the American University in Dubai. He has served as the chairperson of the Department of Architecture under which the program has received the NAAB Accreditation. He is an associate professor, a registered architect, a member of the Order of Engineers & Architects in Beirut, and an Associate Member of the American Institute of Architects. He was a grantee of the Japanese Government Monbukagakusho Scholarship and received his doctorate from the University of Tokyo in Japan.

As an academician, Dr. Kachaamy’s research interest relates to space planning, design, phenomenological theory in architecture, and evidence-based spatial experiments. He received the American University in Dubai President’s award for teaching excellence, the President's Award for Institutional Effectiveness, the Provost's Award for Creativity in Design and the Visual Arts, and he served on the board of the AIA Middle East Chapter as the Director of Continuing Education. As a practicing architect, he has over 15 years of experience between Dubai, Tokyo, and Beirut. He worked on different national and international urban and architectural designs. His work spans from universal spaces for meditation to the urban conservation and design studies for cultural heritages and urban developments.