international practice Aedas is nearing completion of the ‘al-bahr towers’ for the abu dhabi investment council headquarters in abu dhabi, that utilize what is perhaps the largest and most advanced interactive sun-shading skin system. the two 25-storey office towers are parametrically designed based on islamic geometric mosaics, using the tessellation of simple shapes to drive the structure. the cylindrical forms maximize volume and floor-to-wall area while offering views in all directions, unfortunately however, this also opens the interior to a very large solar gain factor which is a substantial problem in the extreme local climates.