Category: 50s to 90s

The ice skating rink used to be one of my favorite landmarks in Kuwait. As a kid in the 80s, I took ice skating lessons there, and by the early 90s, it became a popular hangout spot for me as a teenager. We’d listen to great music (there was a DJ), play arcade games, grab dinner, and, of course, skate. I always loved the building’s design—it was truly iconic. When I created the Kuwait Blogs app back in 2010, I chose the ice skating rink as the image to represent Kuwait. It felt less cliché than the Kuwait Towers, and its unique shape made for a perfect app icon.

The rink was designed by French architect Dominique Beau, whose firm won the contract in November 1977. It officially opened in March 1980, making it the first ice skating complex of its kind in the Middle East. Beau thoughtfully incorporated local culture into the design—the iconic structure was inspired by Bedouin tents, while the terracotta tiles on the interior and exterior walls were influenced by traditional Sadu weavings.

Sadly, the rink was demolished in 2020 to make way for a new ice skating rink as part of the Al Shaheed Park Phase III project. When I got a sneak peek of the new rink last year, I noticed a tribute area dedicated to the old one. It’s a mini museum showcasing parts from the original rink, including terracotta tile wall patterns, ceiling beams, original seats, and other artifacts. Interestingly, the minaret of the Phase III mosque was built using beams from the old rink. Still, I wish they had preserved the original rink instead of replacing it.

I’m usually pretty good at digging things up, but I’ve never managed to find photos of the rink during its construction. Thankfully, Laila Al Hamed from @zericrafts and Huda Abdulmughni from @studio.khemiae spent over a year working to get their hands on some very rare photos. These came from the French architect, Dominique, and an engineer who worked with the Al Kharafi Group during its construction. I’ve shared some of the photos before but I’ve now uploaded them to my Flickr account in their original size and unedited. You can check them here.

A few weeks ago I spotted a post by Gulf Bank on LinkedIn celebrating their 64 year anniversary. They had shared a few old photos but they were low-res and not really that great, so I decided I’d try and find some better ones, and I did.

According to Gulf Bank’s ‘About Us‘ page, the bank was founded in 1960. The page also mentions that in 1961, they hired architect Jean-Robert Delb to design their head office. While the building he designed is still their head office today, they only moved into it in September 1976, according to an old newspaper ad. Before that, they operated from a different head office.

Their original head office was designed in 1963 by Tony Irving and Gordon Jones of the Design Construction Group (DCG). The building was two floors and was composed of three separate buildings wrapped into one. The municipality for some reason had insisted that the owners of the units adjoining the bank adopt the identical architectural treatment, which is how we ended up with that iconic looking block.

Sadly, the original Gulf Bank head office building was recently demolished. It was the same building that had housed Richard’s Coffee and NIU, right across the street from Souk Mubarakia.

The photos above are from a 1972 issue of Aramco World and were taken by Burnett H. Moody. The black and white photo below was taken by Andy Warhol when he visited Kuwait.

The advert below was taken from Kuwait Times, September 1976 issue.

From all the issues in Kuwait, this is one they felt needed fixing? This was a pretty iconic mural, yes it was old, and the paint had faded, but that’s because it was painted over three decades ago. The mural had a purpose, and it meant something. Now it’s just a painting of a flag on a side of an old building.

Found these two photos in an Aramco Magazine from 1969 with the following caption:

The young, tiny state of Kuwait has an ambitious program of special education for the handicapped. The Blind may complete a program of arithmatic and reading and writing in braille with training in leather work or manufacturing wicker furniture.

Made me wonder if we have a similar program today.

Photos by Khalil Abou El Nasr

I came across a diary from a woman named Thérèse, who was married to a French engineer working on the construction of the Boubyan Bridge. The bridge was built by the French engineering firm Bouygues—the same team behind major projects like the Channel Tunnel and Terminal 2 at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

According to Thérèse, the French employees lived in a small camp near the bridge construction site, with the Chinese workers in a separate camp nearby. They arrived in Kuwait in 1981 and left in 1982. Each family had its own bungalow, and the camp also included some entertainment facilities like a clubhouse with a swimming pool, game hall, and restaurant.

It was interesting going through all her photos and random stories, since it gave a glimpse into the life of this isolated community in Kuwait.

Even though they lived on the camp, the children still attended the French School in Salmiya. The commute was an hour each way, and at first they used to be transported by bus but later the company got them a more comfortable Suburban. Once a week the mums would be allowed to accompany the children on the ride so they could go shopping or to the hairdresser. Once the kids are done with school, they used to go have lunch at the Le Meridien Hotel, but as customers complained about the commotion the kids would make, the hotel started refusing to serve them.

One Christmas they had Santa Claus come down on the roof of the clubhouse using a construction crane that was on site. The crane driver tried to be funny and dropped Santa Clause partially into the swimming pool which caused Santa to let off a string of expletives in front of the kids. The following year Santa refused to arrive by air and instead opted to arrive on a donkey.

I loved reading these random, mundane tidbits

According to Thérèse, social life was fairly calm, but they had a community and they held parties often, and also shared books and videotapes. They seemed to have made the best of their time in Kuwait, with the only complaint being about the violent sandstorms.

There are too many photos to share here so if you want to check them out, here is the link to the page on her time in Kuwait.

The page is in French, so use Google Translate if you want to read it in English.

I’m still trying to find anything I can about the Hunt Room, a restaurant that used to be located in the Sheraton Hotel before the 1990 Gulf War. Not sure why I’m so obsessed with it, I never ate there.

My family used to have lunch every Friday at the Al Hambra which was located on the other side of the hotel on the same floor. Once we were done with lunch I’d wander around the hotel as a kid would do, but I mostly spent my time at the telex counter reading the latest news headlines and that was located near the Hunt Room. So I’d always take a peek inside and I remember they had a huge lobster aquarium outside. But thats as far as my interaction with the place was which is why its confusion for me why I’m fascinated by it. Maybe because I never experienced it?

Not sure but whatever the reason, I’m constantly looking for anything I can find about the restaurant, Sheraton themselves don’t seem to have anything either. But I recently found this cute little plate on eBay. It’s such a great find because it has the Hunt Room Logo and the colors which I now remember clearly.

If you have anything related to the Hunt Room, memories, photos, whatever, just let me know in the comments.

One of my favorite things about my blog is putting random information out onto the web, only to have someone months or years later leave a comment saying they were involved in the project or have more information about it. It constantly happens and it’s always pretty rewarding.

Back in March 2023 I posted about the Mothercare tree, the huge animatronic tree that used to be located at the Mothercare store in Salmiya. I didn’t think a lot of people remembered it, so I was pretty surprised with the amount of engagement that post got.

19 months after my post, a person by the name of Roger left a comment saying he had worked on the project and had more photos. Roger came to Kuwait in 1998 to install the tree along with his team. His company supplied and programmed the tree and all the animated animals and their soundtracks. He had photos of the tree being built as well as ones from inside the tree. Roger had gotten the job because he had previously been involved animatronics when he worked for Madame Tussauds and Rock Circus.

The pictures were taken with his first digital camera and so aren’t that high resolution, but it’s definitely better than nothing. I’ve uploaded all the photos to Flickr and you can check them out here.

Thanks Roger for sharing!

Years ago I found photos of Kuwait from 1980. I didn’t share all of them back then, but I just found the folder on my computer this morning and picked a bunch taken by The Architects Collaborative while they were in Kuwait back then.

When we look at old photos of Kuwait, we often see only beautiful shots which gives the inaccurate impression that everything was perfect back then. Which is why I like these unpolished photos of Kuwait which shows the beautiful old buildings starting to fall apart.

It feels like the architects captured a period when Kuwait was transitioning from old to new once again. Check them all out in hi-res here.

Muneera is an independent cultural researcher and documentary photographer who for the past 4 years has been going around Kuwait documenting post-oil houses. Her account is filled with beautiful but decaying homes, that even in their current state still look better than a lot of the newer generic buildings that have been popping up over the past few decades.

When Muneera first started documenting these houses she didn’t have any preconceived ideas of them. Their odd structure compared to buildings around them stood out to her, and their futuristic design contrasted with their deteriorating condition raised a lot of questions about the past and present:

• What happened back then?
• Why do we decide to build our homes the way we do?
• What contributes to shaping our homes, neighborhoods, streets, and cities?
• What impact does that have on our environment and lived experience in those spaces?

She’s documenting and researching these houses as a way to answer some of these questions, and understand the value of these buildings while considering the wider issues related to land use in Kuwait.

I’m always fascinated with Kuwait’s past and its stories, so I really appreciate Muneera’s effort in capturing these beautiful homes before they disappear forever.

Muneera was also initially documenting baqalas so she could look into their disappearance and the culture around it. She had to stop though since it was taking too much time and decided to focus on the house for now. I actually didn’t really notice baqalas disappearing until she brought it up. My two favorite baqalas in my neighborhood closed down years ago, one turned into a bubble tea shop, the other into a Filipino bakery. They really might be disappearing.

Check out Muneera’s account @th9neighborhood for more photos—she’s captured many beautiful buildings.

Not sure how many people remember this, but the Italian restaurant Lorenzo was originally located on the corner opposite Sheraton Hotel in a now-demolished building in Kuwait City. I didn’t know much about the place back then, but I always noticed the cool cars parked outside—red and yellow Ferrari 355s, or a purple Lamborghini Diablo. It definitely intrigued me.

Eventually, in the mid-2000s, a friend invited me to lunch there, and it was my first time seeing the place from the inside. I remember it felt very fancy, and I felt out of place. It was also my first time trying their famous chocolate cheesecake. That location closed when the building was set to be demolished, so they relocated across the street from Salhiya.

Lorenzo originally opened in 1993 under a different name—’Salumaio di Montenapoleone.’ In 1997, the name was changed to Lorenzo. Both the first and second locations were designed by American architect Richard Davidson from Alamosa Design. However, my favorite Lorenzo was in Al Khalid Complex, designed by Atelier Aziz Alqatami.

In 2019, Lorenzo finally closed after 23 years in business.

I had a tough time finding photos of the original Lorenzo, but eventually, I reached out to the family that owned it, and they graciously searched for and shared what they had. The photo of the Salhiya location is from the Almosa Design website, while the Al Khalid Complex location photos are from Aziz Alqatami’s website. To check out all the photos, click here.

If you’re a fan of cars you’re going to appreciate this video. It was shot in 1982 and is of a car meetup in Blajat Street, Salmiya. YouTube

There is a German car dealer that has a 1963 Alfa Romeo 2600 Spider for sale that was originally sold in Kuwait back in 1963.

According to confirmation from the Alfa Romeo archives, the Spider they’re selling was delivered to Kuwait on 1 April 1963. The car later went to South Africa and then a few years ago was sent to Germany where its now on sale again.

I actually have a copy of the ad above that I had taken from a 1962 issue of the Kuwait Times that showcases the Spider. The dealer for Alfa Romeo back in the early 60s was Kazima Trading Co.

It’s a beautiful car and I kinda feel someone needs to buy it and bring it back to Kuwait. I would have, but at over 40,000KD it’s not really an impulse buy. Link

Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger was a British military officer, explorer, and writer. His first visit to the Gulf was in 1945, shortly after the Second World War, when he accepted a position as a researcher with the British Middle East Anti-Locust Unit (MEALU).

Based in Saudi Arabia, Sir Wilfred was able to travel to Kuwait and Bahrain, thanks to having access to a car. He made a second visit to Kuwait in 1949.

During both trips, Sir Wilfred captured numerous photographs, including some of Souk Mubarakiya, which I found particularly interesting and am sharing in this post.

These pictures are part of the collection at the Pitt Rivers Museum and are available to view online. If you’re interested in seeing more of the photos he took during his time in Kuwait, you can explore them at prm.web.ox.ac.uk or by checking the two links below:

Thesiger’s Journeys in Arabia – Hejaz and Nejd, Saudi Arabia 1945
Thesiger’s Journeys in Arabia – Kuwait and Saudi Arabia 1949

I previously posted about the club back in 2011, but I’m reposting it again today with more information because today is the first day of their pre-season training.

The Kuwait Scorpions Rugby Football Club is the oldest sports club in Kuwait, and very possibly the oldest in the region.

The club was originally formed by expatriates from the Kuwait Oil Company, who began training together as a hobby. In 1946, the team formally became the Kuwait Scorpions Rugby Football Club when they played the British Army in the region’s first recorded rugby fixture. In the 70s, as rugby community clubs started forming around the region, the Scorpions began traveling and competing in neighboring countries. Rugby in Kuwait continued this way until the 1990 invasion when the team was dispersed.

Following the invasion, the rugby club gradually reformed as its members returned to Kuwait. They were renamed the Kuwait Nomads, a name inspired by the way they reunited. The team played as the Nomads until the 2000s, when they reverted to their original name and relaunched the club as the Kuwait Scorpions.

The Scorpions are still very active, and in fact, their pre-season training starts today. If you’re interested in having fun and getting fit, bring plenty of water and a good attitude, and head to KOC Ahmadi Park. They train every Monday and Wednesday from 7 to 9 PM. For directions and more info, check out their Instagram @q8scorpions

I found these really old aerial photos of Kuwait City while browsing through the Tareq Rajab Museum photography archive so decided to scan them to share. There wasn’t a date on them but I’m assuming they were taken in the early 1950s. I came to that assumption since in one of the photos I could see the Thunayan Al Ghanim Building under construction, and that was completed in 1954.

Thunayan Al Ghanim Building is the old building on the corner of the Sheraton Roundabout. It was considered to be one of the most advanced buildings in Kuwait at the time, and one of the first to have an elevator. There are stories of bedouins coming in from the desert to watch “the flying horse” that could go up and down. The Thunayan Al Ghanim building housed the original KOC offices, the British Consulate, the first English bookshop in Kuwait, as well as the Sultan Gallery and the Rolls Royce dealership.

It’s kind surreal looking at these photos since it was really that long ago. In some of the photos you can make out the new buildings that were popping up beside the old houses. If you want to see how it would have looked like if you were in one of the alleyways looking towards the more “modern” buildings, click here.

All these photos were taken from a plane and I’m assuming on the same day, but don’t quote me on that.