Category: Design

There is this building behind the old souk in Kuwait City that didn’t look like much today but I always imagined it when it was first constructed and how beautiful it must have looked back then. You can’t tell in this picture but it had a nice retro design with a great looking base structure that gave the building a look like it was lifted up in the air with pillars. I noticed the building has now been vacated and I’m really hoping it’s getting renovated and not demolished. There’s some great looking architecture that really needs to be refurbished and brought back to life.

In my previous post I mentioned how the Central Bank of Kuwait was originally designed by Arne Jacobsen. Well I managed to get more information on the Central Bank project in form of a PDF which you could download from [Here]

Update: Found some more pictures of the Central Bank, my favorites are below but you could see them all [Here]

Patrick over at Projekt Cyan posted about the Kuwait Central Bank today. Turns out the Central Bank was originally designed by Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen back in the early 70s, the guy who designed the very famous “egg chair“. The Kuwait Central Bank was actually his last project before he passed away. The picture above is how it originally looked when built.

Below is a picture of how it looks like today.

Finally this is how the new Central Bank is going to look like once completed.

You can read more about this on the Projekt Cyan website [Here]

First two photos via Thorsten Botz-Bornstein

The current Kuwait Airport (pictured above) was originally designed by the legendary Japanese architect Kenzo Tange. The British architect and critic Stephen Gardiner wrote in 1985 that this is “the most beautiful airport in the world” because of its “breathtaking simplicity of color and shape.” It is “white sculptured space as cool as an ice-cube, as enormous as a vat intake of pure air, as light as a tent, as canvas hung from cables and sails.”

Below is how the airport looks like today.

via Thorsten Botz-Bornstein

Update: If you want to see more pictures of how the airport used to look click [Here]

There was a press event held today at the Sheikh Saad terminal regarding the new airport design. At the event a CD was given to the attendees which contained various renderings of the airport (previously posted about here) as well as PDF’s containing information on the airport design plus some facts and figures. None of the documents say when the airport will be completed but they do say construction begins next year. Oh and it will have a metro station meaning I will be able to take the train from my home to the airport… that’s if they ever build the metro.

Other interesting facts, the airport will be covered with solar panels as previously speculated and they’re actually aiming to be the first passenger terminal in the world to attain the LEED “gold” accreditation (laymen terms = it will be very environmentally friendly). The steps which in my previous post I thought were weird (check image above) turned out to be water falls which makes a lot more sense. Check out all the renderings below, they’re slightly updated and polished compared to the previous renderings that were posted. Finaly here is a link to a zip file containing the PDF’s in Arabic and English. [PDF LINK]

Thanks Rabee

The rendering above is of the new design for the Pushkinsky cinema in Moscow. It was designed by architect Hend Almatrouk and Gijo Paul George. I’ve never seen anything that looks like it and I also hadn’t heard of Hend before. I was just checking out her blog and she’s got a lot of crazy stuff. Here are some related links:

Time Warp Architecture – Trend Hunter
Rossiya’s Flourish – suckerPUNCH
Hend Almatrouk on YesYous
Hend’s Blog

Thanks Mohammad

Update: Hend sent me an email saying that she has a design studio which she started with her partner Gijo Paul George called “Studio_Toggle”. They’ve got better quality shots on their studio’s website so check it out [Here]

Back in 2009 right after 360 Mall had opened I posted about how they needed to install plaques to tell people about the vertical gardens and the Dale Chihuly structures. That was back in September 2009 and nearly two years later 360 Mall started installing these plaques. I shot the one above in front of Ladurée while heading towards OFK. Good move.

I found out about Contemporary Art Platform from the Art Kuwait website and it looks like a big and cool looking space that might end up becoming the trendiest exhibition spot in Kuwait.

CAP already have a Facebook page with a small description and pictures which I just realized were taken by my brother so I’m going to try and get some more information from him. Here is their Facebook page [Link]

The Kuwait Airport has been redesigned and the biggest difference I see right away is a lot less pink. I usually check the website for the arrivals section and they haven’t really changed that page much but the whole website does look better than before. [Link]

The last time their website was redesigned it was back in July 2007 and it looked like the screenshot below.

Thanks Nazem

The Chocolate & Chocolate blog posted pictures of the Eastpak event here in Kuwait where you could get your bag customized by graffiti artists. I like the artwork on the bag above and I’m now thinking of passing by and getting one of my bags tagged if it’s not too packed. The event is still on for another 2 days in case you’re interested. Here is a link to the blog post on Chocolate & Chocolate [Link] and here is a link for more information on the event [Link]

Architecture of Kuwait got their hands on a ton of renderings of the new airport and have posted them all online. Compared to our current airport the new one is HUGE. I’m still going through all the pictures trying to decide if I like it or not. There are some things I have question marks on like all these steps in the picture below. I think they’re also covering the whole airport roof with solar panels which is a great idea.

The new design is a major and I mean MAJOR improvement over the current airport. Not that the current airport wasn’t as beautiful when it was first designed by the legendary Japanese architect Kenzo Tange. But over time with all the expansions and changes they’ve made the current airport just looks like a mess now. Anyway you can check out the pictures of the new airport [Here]

First time I hear of this project and I’m curious to know if it will ever get executed. The idea behind Sport City is to create world class Olympic level sporting facilities in Kuwait:

The concept consists of a plan in the shape of infinity, around the existing Jaber Stadium and a new man-made lake on which will float three Olympic sized stadia. Contained within the main superstructure are another Olympic stadium, a five star hotel and a shopping centre. The tower, working within the long tradition of Kuwaiti tower-based architectural icons, contains a seven star hotel as well as luxury apartments, VIP suites for the stadium, and a Michelin star restaurant with extraordinary views. [Source]

Sorry I don’t have any idea how old this shot is or where in Kuwait it is exactly. I just found a link to it on Flickr and a link to the image not even the uploader of the shot. [Link]

Update: I’ve updated the link above. Photo was uploaded by Brett whom I’ve posted about before [Here]

Kuwaiti architecture student Jassim Al Nashmi is currently studying in Iowa State University sent me information on a project he completed last semester. The project was his interpretation of what a private space for prayer in the domestic environment can be like. He used traditional Islamic patterns and created a divider of space that would cast light and shadow over the prayer area.

I really like the way the light penetrates the partition and I think the project looks like something that would be featured on Hypebeast or Uncrate.

Did you know our Kuwait water tower design was inspired by the Sweedish water tower of Örebro named Svampen? I didn’t know.

Photo by Johan Appelgren