Institute of the study of the Arabic world

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This is the scariest building I've ever been in. Each window on this side of the building is made of irises. Each of the windows is controlled electronically and all the irises in each wnindow seemed to be set at different apetures making each window different from the others.

The building itself is quite narrow and what is not apparant from the lobby is that most of the external and internal walls, the lifts and the liftshaft walls are largely made of glass. We entered and got the lift to the ninth floor, where the access to the roof terrace on the adjoining part of the building is located.

I am afraid of heights and more or less froze when the lift started to rise. I felt ill and had to wait in an internal hall as I could not walk across the short link corridor to the terrace. An amazing and beautiful building that terrified me completely to be in.