Is it just me, or is Rem Koolhaas, of the Office of Metropolitan Architecture, planning to build a a gargantuan 44-storey replica of the Death Star as a corner-piece for his planned city in Dubai? According to his office, the enormous sphere will be part of a masterplan for his concept of "the generic city", which has been described by the New York Times as a "sprawling metropolis of repetitive buildings centered on an airport and inhabited by a tribe of global nomads with few local loyalties".

The building will act as a symbol for a 1.5bn-square-foot "global city" - as dense as Manhattan - built on an artificial island off the coast of Dubai. Waterfront City, which will shield the existing Palm Island, promises to be home to 1.5 million inhabitants - effectively doubling Dubai's population - and create one million jobs.