The skyline of Dubai International Financial Centre, a cluster of tall skyscrapers along Sheikh Zayed Road.
From the left: Emirates Towers, The Arch, The Index with Burj Khalifa behind, The Tower, Al Yaqoub Tower, Ahmed Abdul Rahim Al Attar Tower (u/c), Rose Tower.

The skyline of Dubai International Financial Centre, a cluster of tall skyscrapers along Sheikh Zayed Road.
From the left: The Arch, The Index with Burj Khalifa behind and Park Towers in front, The Tower, Al Yaqoub Tower, a tower u/c, Rose Tower.

Emirates Towers where completed in 2000 and consist of an office tower, a hotel tower with a rooftop bar that we visited and Emirates Towers Boulevard, an elegant but very empty shopping galleria.Today only Burj Khalifa and Almas Tower are talleer then the spire of the Emirates Towers hotel tower (354.6m, 56 floors), the hotel tower is a bit shorter. The complex, in silver aluminium and bronze glass, was designed by the Hong Kong architect Hazel Wong. The hotel is called Jumeirah Emirates Towers.

Emirates Towers is one of my favourite buildings in Dubai. We visited its tall atrium lobby, the glass enclosed panorama elevators, the Boulevard galleria and the rooftop bar, Al Badia. The complex is set in an artificial landscape of gardens, lakes and waterfalls.

The atrium lobby is about 50 floors tall and faces this glass facade

Emirates Towers, the first skyscrapers of Sheikh Zayed Rd since 1978

The atrium lobby of Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel is one of the world's highest.

Emirates Towers atrium

Emirates Towers atrium

DIFC Gate, Dubai International Finance Centre's headquarters. This plaza just off Sheikh Zayed Road is unusually green for Dubai. It is 80m tall and was built in 2004 in a modernist arch of triump design, in glass and Italian granite.

Palm boulevard between the Gate and Emirates Towers

Dubai International Finance Centre a rainy January evening

Skyscraper cluster on the Northeast part of Sheikh Zayed Road, dominated by Al Yaqoub Tower and The Tower.

Al Yaqoub Tower (middle, 328m, 72 floors) was completed in 2013 and resembles a postmodern, oversized Big Ben. It dwarfens The Tower (right), the 243m tall skyscraper in islamic postmodern style from 2002

Financial Centre seen from Downtown: Part of the Index, Emirates Park Towers, Al Rostamani Maze Tower, Al Yaqoub Tower, The Tower, HHR Tower.

The Index

Skyline of Financial Centre, seen from Dubai Mall

Approaching the financial district from the south, with the elevated metro to the right. The dominating buildings to the right are JW Marriott - the world's tallest hotel, and Burj Khalifa - the world's tallest building!

JW Marriott Marquis in Business Bay is currently (2014) the world's tallest hotel! It consist of two identical postmodern skyscrapers, 355m to the spire and 77 floors each, and was completed in 2013.

JW Marriott Marquis Hotel

A skyscraper that was on fire during construction and Rose Tower (left)

Millenium Tower (right, 285m) was completed in 2006 in the new Business Bay area next to New Downtown and Burj Khalifa (left).

Burj Khalifa from the highway

Fairmont Hotel, a 37-storey hotel from 2002 with an impressive atrium

Seen from the North, dominated by the Telecom Tower.

From the South, with the metro track, Financial Centre to the left and JW Marriott and Burj Khalifa to the right.

JW Marriott Marquis and Burj Khalifa.

There are glass passages above the highway.

Shopping center along Sheikh Zayed Road, between Financial Centre and Old Dubai

The construction of the skyscraper to the right was halted because of a fire, the taxi driver told me.

Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower, and the elevated metro track.

East part of Sheikh Zayed Road, seen from the Burk Khalifa metro skybridge

Sheikh Zayed Road and Financial Center seen from the metro

Shangri-La Hotel (middle)

Emirates Park Towers and a Ferrari

Rose Tower (right), the world's tallest hotel upon completion (2007, 333m to the spire, 72 floors)

Ahmed Abdul Rahim Al Attar Tower is expected to be completed in 2014, with 76 floors and a height of 342m it will be the second tallest in the Financial Centre.

Al Attar Tower

Chelsea Tower, Four Points Hotel, elevated metro and more

Computer driven monorail passing through in the middle of Sheikh Zayed Road. The blue skyscrapers in the middle is HHHR Tower and the one with green glass on the top is the Radisson Royal Hotel.

DIFC (Dubai Int'l Finance Centre with Ritz-Carlton)

Red and bronze coloured glass facades

Park Towers, The Index and Burj Khalifa in the middle. Despite being much further away it still looks taller then the other towers.

Park Towers, The Index and Burj Khalifa

Al Attar Business Tower (right)

Khalid Al Attar Towers is the postmodern white skyscraper in the middle, behind the metro. It is 294m tall, mixed use and was built in 2011.

Khalid Al Attar Towers has 65 floors

The 3 metro stations in the Financial Center have all entrances on both sides of Sheikh Zayed Rd. and a skybridge above.

HHHR Tower, or Blue Tower -the world's 6th tallest (2nd tallest upon completion) residential building! It is 318m tall, has 72 floors and was completed in 2011. The 4 tallest ones are all located in the Dubai Marina.

HHHR Tower

Odd shapes and colours of Dubai skyscrapers

World Trade Center, the first skyscraper in the Middle East. Just North of the Financial Centre, World Trade Center stood as the tallest in the Emirates between 1979 and 1999 (Burj Al Arab was completed then), and in 2000 the elegant Emirates Towers where completed. WTC is 184m to the spire and there is an observation deck on the top.

World Trade Center metro station

Sama Tower in the North part of the Financial Center

North part of the Financial Center, from the left: Etisalat Telecom Bldg (2007), World Trade Center (1978), WTC Residence and the WTC metro station in the front.

VIEW FROM BURJ KHALIFA (see more on this link - FINANCIAL CENTRE AND SHEIKH ZAYED ROAD:

The skyline of Dubai International Financial Centre (Trade Centre2) and Trade Centre 1, a cluster of tall skyscrapers along Sheikh Zayed Road

The Index, the building in teh center of the Financial District. Sheikh Zayed Road is the long road just to the left of it in the picture, along it you find skyscrapers like the Emirates Towers, Rose Towers, Al Yaqoub Tower, The Tower, WTC etc.

Dusit Dubai Hotel (built 2001, 153m tall), designed to resemble the Thai greeting

Shangri-La Hotel (beige middle, built 2003, 200m), art deco

From the left: HHHR Tower (318m, 72 floors, 2011, world's tallest residential building), Al Yaqoub Tower (328m, 72 floors, 2013), Conrad Hotel (white, distance. 255m, 2013) with Park Place (in front of it, 234m, 2007), Fairmont Hotel (beige, distance)

Rose Tower, the world's tallest hotel upon completion (2007, 333m to the spire, 72 floors) and Ahmed Abdul Rahim Al Attar Tower u/c immediately to the right of it (342m, expected completion in 2014)

The large roundabout at Sheih Zayed Road

Chelsea Tower (251m, 49 floors, 2005, mixed use) in the center of the picture

Dubai Int'l Financial Centre (DIFC)

DIFC mirroring in Burj Khalifa

World Trade Center office tower at night - the first skyscraper in the Middle East, is featured on some of the dirham bills.

Faimont Hotel's spires is changing colour scheme at night

The Tower and Al Yaqoub Tower ("Big Ben") @ night