Everyone knows about the paradoxes inherent in the idea of a glazed skyscraper in the Persian Gulf, so it is not surprising to hear of solutions such as those that have been developed by Aedas, in collaboration with Arup, in the Al Bahar Towers, two buildings in Abu Dhabi whose most interesting feature is a bioclimatic skin. It is perhaps the largest ‘intelligent’ envelope ever built, a mobile structure with the capacity to vary its response to solar radiation, and it does so by means of a motorized mechanism connected to sensors that activate the facade’s 1,000 components inspired by Islamic lattices of the masharabiya kind, which open, close or stay ajar, depending on where the sun happens to be at any given time of the day. Besides a 50% reduction in heat gains induced by excessive solar radiation, this system joins a large deployment of thermosolar and photovoltaic panels in bringing GEI emissions down by as much as 1,750 tons per year, according to data that have been provided by the consultants involved.