Life spent at the drawing board
Anyone entering Elias Daniel’s Emirates Hills home in Dubai could be forgiven for wondering if they had somehow been transported to renaissance Europe.
Hand-blown Murano glass sconces curve away from the walls, Italian marble lies underfoot, while hand-painted frescoes of frolicking angels adorn the ceiling arches.
“This one is about 100 years old,” says Mr Daniel, pointing to a sculpture of the Madonna that he says once belonged to a Belgian baroness. “The seller told me it is a museum piece.”
The decidedly un-Arabian decor fits the architect’s sensibility. He spent five years designing the home to reflect a global aesthetic. That philosophy has also shaped his practice.
“In architectural history, every country has its own heritage and themes of buildings. There are schools of architecture that teach the same,” he says from behind the grand piano that serves as the centrepiece of his home’s bar, itself more reminiscent of a hotel jazz club.
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