Jean Nouvel

Abu Dhabi today reaffirmed its commitment to completing the long-delayed project to build a $27 billion cultural and tourism project known as Saadiyat Island.

Nicolai Ouroussoff, The New York Times' architecture critic, argues that philistine planning decisions such as the one that restricted the height of Jean Nouvel's proposed tower last month, "risk transforming a living city into an urban mausoleum."

The French architect will be awarded the Pritzker Prize Monday -- the top prize in the field of architecture.