Porta Nigra, Trier...

A few, somewhat Piranesiesque, photos of the Porta Nigra in Trier, Germany...

Public Fountain/ Sculpture Outside the RFH on the South Bank, London...

It was lovely to come across this example of benign, catalytic, interactive, spontaneous and joyous (middle-of-the-town) public intervention outside the Royal Festival Hall on London's South Bank, an area that has been revitalized since its renovation a few years back... As can be observed in the video below, a truly mixed bunch of individuals of all ages were enjoying and making the most the fountain. These kinds of places/ quasi-planned (non-commercial) occasions are vital to a city's or neighborhood's well-being and need to be included into any shared and more public urban interventions...

Below the fountain adjacent to the main walkway a temporary beach was set up,which also was very much enjoyed by the city's inhabitants and visitors...

Acknowledging the importance of comparative urban and public acts, and formulating their own takes of what such acts might entail within the urban context of the various center's of the GCC nations, is crucial if they ever wish to gain a more prominent position on the various Livability Indexes and covet to hobnob with the top metropolitan cities of the world...

The beach adjacent to the walkway...

RIBA Mashrabiyas...

Examples of some laser-cut mashrabiya prototypes prepared for an upcoming event titled: Shubbak: A Window of Contemporary Arab Culture, taking place at RIBA this July... The event is organized by the London based nous Gallery, and will be realized in collaboration with Independent Architects.

The included mashrabiya prototype modules are titled 'Flap-Cylinder' (above and below) which consists of a number of variously shaped flaps that can be folded/ bent by its user as they see fit. The short video (bottom) shows a module of the 'Dip' masharbiya, where the design's various layers are allowed to fade in and out of visibility...

All the prototypes were designed and made in Qatar at the DFL (Digital Fabrication Lab) at VCUQ...

For samples of earlier related work please click here and here...

Made/ Designed in Qatar...

I've added 2 new categories to the 'Labels' section below - 'Made in Qatar' and 'Designed in Qatar'... The sentiment here is somewhat aligned with maxims 7 and 8 of the Kuwait School Manifesto (which henceforth should perhaps be referred to as the 'Qatar School Manifesto') which outlines a stand in which locally conceived and produced designs, be these actual physical artifacts or more conceptual in nature, should/ can be formulated in a manner which is simultaneously unique and reflective of the local culture and vernacular, whilst being of a calibre, interest and nous relevant to a more international audience... Why shouldn't the label, 'Made in Qatar' evoke the same type of inherent value (desire) as something informing us it's been fabricated or manufactured in Italy or France..? Henceforth all of our designs made here will acknowledge their origins...

Concrete in Copenhagen...

Some photos of experimental concrete projects done by students at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen...

Above & Below - Concrete bench and detail...

The tongue...

Favorite Buildings - Copenhagen Harbor Bath...

A few photos of the Copenhagen Harbor Bath by BIG, visited this chilly April (thus there are no people enjoying the pool as of yet)...

Hotel Room Views Nos. 1-5 (+3)...

Outside view of the ski-slope at Emirates Mall in Dubai...

This is the first submission of a future series showing various hotel room views, taken during some of my recent trips... Often quite bland, other times memorably exciting, the view from one's hotel window is often an important, but somewhat underestimated, element in hotel (room) design. It's usually the second thing I check out after first gaining an initial overall impression of a room... Granted there's often not much a designer can do to improve the view itself, however, how it is framed, directed (angled), shaped, tinted, shaded, etc. does allow one to manipulate and direct the gaze, the quantity and quality of the light that enters, and which features of the view the room's user should be intuitively drawn to...

For earlier impressions taken from hotel rooms click here for Turkey, here for Australia, and here for a different view of Dubai...

Night view over Tokyo's Shinjuku district...

A Copenhagen view, with the Finnish Embassy opposite...

A view across the Salmiya shoreline in Kuwait...

Above and below: My view in Venice, with the Grand Canal to the right, and one of the city's multitude of smaller canals to the left. The hotel was located opposite a school...

Industrial Crane & Truss Structure, Copenhagen...

Exquisite Corpse Laser-Cut Totem Workshop...

A somewhat delayed submission about my workshop held at the last Tasmeem Conference this March. A summarized brief for the workshop is included below:

The workshop performs as an updated adaptation of the Surrealist game, ‘Exquisite Corpse’ - where a set of participants each contribute a segment in a consecutive sequence of either words or images into an collated assemblage. In this instance the string of images or words are replaced by a set of laser-cut cardboard profiles, each about half a meter tall and roughly 70 cm wide, which, when stacked, in unison would result in an over 3 meter tall, totem-pole…

The workshop will involve maximum 15 participants divided into groups of two (and one individual or a group of three). Each of these small groups (pairs) will fabricate an stretch of a totem. The design of each segment of the totem is up to the group, the only constraints are determined by the basic structural concerns and the need for a uniform ‘link’ (connection point) between the totem’s segments. The actual sequence for where each groups segment is positioned along the stretch of a totem will only be decided during the concluding assembly stage, thus the form, function or look of each section of the totem is up to its designer and each totem will be a reflection of all the groups, all the workshop participants’, collective efforts...

Examples of the process and end result can be viewed below. The final piece is currently standing in the hallway outside the ground floor workshops at VCUQ...

The initial conceptual phase...

Assembly of the individual laser-cut units...

A few examples of some of the individual units...

The Totem assembly process (click on the image to see its larger version)...

The completed Exquisite Corpse Laser-Cut Totem...

Some details of the assembled totem...

A big thank you also has to go to Ben Jurgensen without whom's invaluable help the workshop would not have run as smoothly as it did...

First Year at VCUQ Concluded...

Cover of the MFA.DESIGN. brochure showing the current MFA Faculty. From left to right (with names and fields of know-how): Diane Derr (Time Based Media), Saied Farisi (Graphic Design/ Typography), Constantin Boym (Department Head; Product/ Furniture/ Concept Design), Richard Lombard (Materials Library Curator), myself. Mike Wirtz (MFA Research Librarian) is missing from this photo...

Photo by Markus Elblaus.

The Spring Term, and my first academic year at VCUQ, has now concluded. Well, more or less, as I've still going to be teaching during the upcoming Summer Term from mid-May until the end of June... All together it's been a very interesting period, and I'm truly excited about both ongoing and upcoming research and other design projects, the preparation of new courses, preparation of updated renditions for existing courses, and numerous other events... We're also expecting a new faculty member, as well as a fresh batch of six new graduate students to join us this coming Fall...

Fun, fun fun, below a dusty sun, sun, sun...