Visions of a Shaded Kuwait

By Ali Al Yousifi

               In a recent interview with T-Square members in Men’s Passion Magazine (Read it here) we were asked: “Which project (complete or currently planned) do you feel best exemplifies the modern Kuwait of the 21st century?” The only project that I could think of was Souq Al Mubarakiya and the surrounding souqs. I’ve only been there a few times since entering architecture school, and it’s already one of my favorite places in Kuwait.

               What’s most impressive about the shaded souqs is that they have a unique sense of vibrancy; the atmosphere is fully saturated. Products of every shape and size and color imaginable spill out from the small shops into the crowded walkways. Sometimes there is music filling the air, and sometimes the air is filled with a strong aroma (mostly food). Most importantly though, is that there are people walking around what is essentially, despite the shading, an outdoor area. The space feels truly public, and walking around there gave me a rarely stimulated feeling of actually being part of community of real people.

               I will emphasize the word real, because as beautiful as some of the newer malls can be, they are undeniably artificial (a nice way of saying fake). The souqs have an urban rawness to them that walking down an air-conditioned, marble-covered, fast food-smelling boulevard of a mall will never have. Yes, some aspects of the souqs are sub-par when it comes to design, cleanliness, and even safety, but that’s how real urban spaces can be.

               These souqs create a successful outdoor public space while at the same time emphasizing Kuwait’s architectural heritage. This is what we need more of.

part of the new additions

part of the new additions

Making Doodles Come To Life

By Hessa Al Habshi

Photos courtesy of KIckstarter

Just when you think that technology is getting more boring by the year (when apple released the iPhone 5, I thought we’d be getting a hologram keyboard or something of the sort, but I was disappointed to learn that all they’ve actually changed was its thickness and height), then comes these two guys, Peter Dilworth and Maxwell Bogue, with a pen that doodles 3D objects.

That’s something you don’t see every day: a pen that can actually ‘print’ 3D drawings. This little 3Doodler, as it’s called by its producing company WobbleWorks, is described as the world’s first 3D printing pen. It’s kind of like a hot glue gun, since it releases a fine line of filaments, which cools and solidifies into a stable structure.

Now 3D printing is not a very foreign topic to us architecture students. We have a 3D printer in Kuwait University’s College of Architecture, but this is the first handheld version of that machine; and one that costs as little as 75$. You can make basic 3D shapes, or for something a little more exciting, some jewelry or even a mini Eiffel Tower like the one shown below.

WobbleWorks surpassed its initial goal of raising 30,000$ in just a few hours after its project hit Kickstarter; it raised more than three times that amount. Estimated delivery is in October 2013.

But this doesn’t impress me so much, a 3D printer that could supply me with a tasty pizza pie and a side order of french fries however, that will get my praise and support. I think we should get a product like that in the works.

The Adventure That Ends With a Rock

Video and text by Ahmed Mohammed

This video and poem describe what architecture students at Kuwait University’s College of Architecture sometimes have to go through.

For all the architecture students this adventure isn’t new,

one of the challenges that a student goes through,

To arrive to class a bridge must be taken,

“an easy task” he said, oh how he was mistaken,

On the bridge he walked on a rainy day,

hoping to get to the other side fast, he would pray,

As the rain poured from above and the cars below,

“a few more” he said, “a few more steps to go”,

Finally at the end of his journey he comes to a stop,

for what he had seen made his heart drop,

At the last step of the bridge a puddle was made,

thinking of a solution, in his place he stayed,

As he was thinking, something on the puddle caught his eye,

it was a rock above the puddle high and dry,

He saw his chance to get to the other side,

not having any other options on that small rock he relied,

Preparing to cross he holds his books and bag tight,

placing one foot on the rock, first left then right,

As he crossed the puddle to the other end,

who would have thought that on a small rock he could depend,

After a few steps walking away he stopped and turned,

thinking of the life lesson he had learned,

That even the smallest things in our world today,

can have a huge impact on our future lives someday.

PechaKucha: Volume Eight

By Hessa Al Habshi

Photos courtesy of PechaKucha.org

If you’ve been to previous PechaKucha Nights (PKNs) you know the rules: 20 slides per presentation and 20 seconds per slide. Each presentation must be six minutes and forty seconds. Those’re the rules. In this particular evening, Volume 8 of the Kuwait’s PechaKucha Nights, there were nine presenters in total.

The presenters came in and showcased their work with talent and charm. We first started off with a presentation by Zahra Ali Baba, whose presentation included a discussion of Kethra, a collaborative responsible for Kuwait’s pavilion in the 13^th International Architectural Exhibition in Venice . Then came Deema Al-Ghunaim and Dalal Al-Hashash, and they impressed the audience with their presentation: AlSawaber Project: Personal Histories. After that was an eloquent presentation by Heba Al-Ali about Birth Kuwait called Birth by Design.

My two personal favourite presenters went up next: Ehsan Abdulrasoul and Yousef Abdulaal. Their comedic approach in their presentation, Read a Book: Restoring the Lost Art of Reading was rather refreshing. Following their act was Dalal Al-Bannay who talked about Archicamp, a summer program set to introduce high school graduates to architecture; and Lewis Chapman who discussed his project about creating a community of talented people. 

The evening came to an end with another favourite of mine, Asseel Al-Yacgoub. Usually by the end of a lineup of performances, the crowd start to get either tired or chatty; but Asseel managed to keep everyone patient and listening to another comedic and enlightening performance: Your Driving Handbook: State of Kuwait.

The place was perfect for such an event: the rooftop of Cinemagic in Salmiya, especially during the cool weather at night. Everyone was either seated on the chairs provided or they sat on the ground in front of the stage, some came prepared heaving pillows and cushions.

The evening was organized by Dr. Asseel Al Ragam, an assistant professor at Kuwait University’s College of Architecture. Dr. Asseel brought the forum to Kuwait after participating in the event herself while in Graduate School. Her support team were KASA (Kuwait Architecture Students Association) .

The eighth volume of PechaKucha Nights was interesting and informative. But don’t worry if you missed this one, more will be coming this year. If you’d like the opportunity to showcase your creativity you can contact pechakuchakuwait@gmail.com or visit their website.

Competition Winner: @muzaini

United Tower/ KIPCO (via: @muzaini)

Competition Winner: @alqataly

Merging with the Sky (via: @alqataly)

Competition Winner: @b_almutairyy

(via: @b_almutairyy)

Competition Winner: @ahmed_id

(via: @ahmed_id)

Competition Winner: @lu_lemon

Frank Gehry (via: @lu_lemon)

Competition Winner: @ahmed_behbehani_89

(via: @ahmed_behbehani_89)

Competition Winner: @meowth505

(via: @meowth505)

Competition Winner: @dee_sas

City Landscapes (via: @dee_sas)

Competition Winner: @archaziz

Golden Section (via @archaziz)

Competition Winner: @Kuwaiti

Louis Vuitton Boutique Champs-Élysées (Paris, France). (Via: @Kuwaiti)

Upcoming Addition to 360 Mall: The Exhibition Hall

By Hessa Al Habshi

Photos courtesy of OMA

The architectural firm OMA, commonly known for their buildings all around the world, from New York City to Paris, announced last year that they were to design a department store for 360 Mall. This past announcement was brought to light once again a few days ago when OMA revealed the design on their very own website.

OMA is working on an innovative design concept: The Exhibition Hall. This hall will act as both a public event venue and a consumer-driven department store. The aim of the venue is to bring a historic Kuwait connection between its culture and retail.

This venue will be introduced by a series of galleries devoted to past cultural events that will evoke memories of the Souk. In the galleries, a distribution of single brand boutiques will be free to develop their own retail concepts to the overall concept of the department store. The hall will be surrounded with walls with circular cut outs that’ll “accommodate transversal access and offer excitingshifting views”. But like the ‘traditional’ souk, The Exhibition Hall will have many, different experiences. There will be public as well as intimate areas, and while some galleries have a more permanent character, others will be temporary and can be renovated according to the directors.

The exhibition hall comprises 9,400 m² over three floors. It will have a translucent façade; which will help bathe the hall with natural light during the day, and present a glowing exposure to the streets during the night.

The project is led by OMA partners Iyad Alsaka and Rem Koolhaas, in partnership with Tamdeen Real Estate Co. The project is developed with Kuwait’s 360 Mall management, Majed Al Sabah and Giacomo Santucci, and overseen by OMA project architect Alessandri De Santis.

Construction is scheduled for the beginning of 2014 and will be completed within the same year.

Model shown in translucent box

Floor Plans

Elevation Diagram

A Day in The American University of Sharjah

By Ali Al Yousifi

Finding myself in a holiday trip to the UAE, I thought I’d visit one of the architectures schools in the area. It struck me as strange that having been an architecture student for more than three years in the College of Architecture in Kuwait University, I had never seen where other architecture students around the world receive their education. I decided to visit The American University of Sharjah (AUS).

AUS sits at the head of a huge university multiplex, including among others, The University of Sharjah and The Sharjah Police Academy. The layout of the compound is setup so that to reach AUS, visitors have to traverse an almost 4 km long road flanked by symmetrically aligned university buildings. Almost all these buildings have four symmetrical facades, looking like giant versions of Palladio’s Villa Rotunda, but with an Islamic taste. Each of these, mostly domed, buildings stood isolated, separated from the next building with a wide expanse of greenery. Although this arrangement is obviously unpractical for students walking from one building to another under a searing sun, it did give the place a majestic aura.

Once I reached the AUS campus, I realized that it had the same layout of the whole university multiplex, but on a smaller scale. Buildings with a mixture of Classical and islamic features lined the sides of a large rectangular open space, while the dominant position on the opposite end of the entrance was occupied with the largest of the buildings. The arrangement was clearly influenced by Jefferson’s University of Virginia (1-2).

The architecture building was on the left side of the rectangular open space. As Neoclassical as the exterior felt, the interior was contemporary. It was all steel and glass and white paint. The most impressive space in the building was the open atrium that centered the three floors that were serving as studios. Both the three floors and the many individual studio spaces were open onto each other; partitioning was minimal. Unfortunately, my visit coincided with a university holiday, so I didn’t see the studios filled with working students, but I can easily imagine the space being very lively and vibrant on working days.

Although there were no students, there were many models, posters, and sketchbooks laying around. These are some of the models I liked:

P.S. don’t worry 5KH, you’re still my favorite.

Artist of the Day: Interview with Yousef Al Qaoud

By Ali Al Yousifi

Title: Bindi, ink on paper, 18 x 27 cm

               Yousef Al Qaoud is a Kuwaiti artist; he graduated from Kuwait University’s College of Architecture in 2012. Yousef’s paintings have been recently exhibited in the Dar Al Funoon 3^rd Affordable Art Show: Young Artists Edition. To see more of Yousef’s work, including painting, pen on paper, digital art, and sketches, you can follow him on Instagram @ysfqdart. 

Why do you do art?

Because I do believe in the importance of an artistic outlet in everyone’s daily life. Life can either get too serious or redundant; you do the same thing day in and day out. And for me, it’s a nice creative escape.

Title: Mother Nature, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 80 cm

So it's for personal benefit…

I do art for personal benefit; I don’t do it to sell; I don’t do it for galleries; I do not do it for fame or recognition. All these are positives, they’re all additives, if I happen to get one of these things: whether I get recognition, or be asked to show my work in a gallery, or have someone be interested in purchasing my work, that is a plus, but first and foremost I create art for myself.

You said you do art for personal reasons… but why don’t you have a public reason, I mean what do you want your paintings to do… do they have any agenda at all?

Let me tell you, for example in the latest exhibition of Dar Al Funoon, 3^rd Affordable Art Show: Young Artists Edition, a woman came and looked at one of my paintings and she said, “I know that there’s a subliminal message, and I’m trying to find out what it is, and don’t tell me!”.  And she was thinking and thinking, “There has to be something, and I’m trying to figure it out”. And then she said that she’s seen a lot of my work and, “I get the sense of subliminal messages”. And I said,” If that’s what you see, then that’s what you see”. But I don’t actually do that, I do not try to send a message.

Title: Woman, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 120 cm; This is the painting the woman was looking at.

               I paint based on emotion and where I am today. For me it’s all about the now, if I’m angry, the result will probably look like something you’ve painted while angry; if I am feeling in love that day, then I’ll paint something with color or with loving emotions, and I’d like to think that that translates [to viewers]. That’s pretty much why it’s personal for me, because it’s an extension of what I’m feeling. And if other people can relate to them, then that makes me happy.