Category: Design

I was just checking the blog ArtKuwait when I found out that there was an article on Art in Kuwait yesterday in The Economist. Turns out there is an artist who currently has his work exhibited on four billboards in Hawalli (who would have thought) and they’re going to be up there until the end of the month (check pic above). Here are some excerpts from the article:

ABOVE a busy roundabout in Hawalli, a suburb of Kuwait, loom four giant but subtle photographs about Arab identity and placelessness by Tarek Al-Ghoussein. A Palestinian photographer originally from Kuwait, Mr Al-Ghoussein has exhibited widely, but this is the first time his work has been seen in the country of his birth. Kuwaitis and Palestinians have a chequered past. Decades of relative harmony between the two peoples were soured when Yasser Arafat, as head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, applauded Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Since then, the Palestinian population in Kuwait has dwindled from nearly half a million to around 40,000.

…

Mr Al-Ghoussein’s billboards will be on view in Kuwait until the end of April. They are the second instalment in a series of four art projects by Palestinians that includes Khalil Rabah, Jack Persekian and Tarek Atoui. Instigated and underwritten by Rana Sadik, a collector and philanthropist of Palestinian descent, the series is arranged to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Kuwait’s independence and the 20th anniversary of its liberation from Iraq.

“The billboards are a way to remind people on both sides of the positive historical relationship between Palestinians and Kuwaitis,” said Abdulaziz Al-Mulla, a board member of the Kuwait Graduates Society, an organisation of some 5,000 members. Interestingly, the artist’s father was Ambassador to America in the 1960s and instrumental in getting Kuwait into the United Nations. So it is apposite that Mr Al-Ghoussein’s photographs have been given such a cordial diplomatic role.

You can read the full article on The Economist [Here]

via ArtKuwait

I was at Geant in 360 Mall and noticed they’re now carrying the brand Dyson. Dyson make some of the most beautifully designed products and I’ve always wondered why no one had brought them to Kuwait. I didn’t spot many products, just two actually but hopefully they will be getting more. I spotted the Dyson 10″ Desk Fan (pictured above) and it was selling for KD93 (costs KD82 on Amazon). I also saw the Dyson DC19 Vacuum Cleaner (pictured below) and it was selling for KD114.

I found out about the website Local Tees from Me Blogging. What I understood from her is that you send them your designs and if they like it they will print a limited run of tshirts based on it and then sell it on their website. Although she doesn’t mention it I am guessing you would also get a cut of the profits made from your tshirt design. It’s not a new idea but that doesn’t matter since it’s a good one and going by the the designs already available on their website they’re not after generic ones but after designs that relate to the local region which is the way it should be done. The photography on the site (like the one above) is also very well done and helps set a trendy tone through out.

My only issue with the website is the fact it’s flash based! Not sure who still makes a flash based website now a days but they’ve got one and there is no skip button which drove me crazy. My second issue is the fact that practically all the tshirts are white, which might be fine for others but personally I only wear dark colored tshirts so at the moment there isn’t a tshirt I could buy for myself.

You can check their website by clicking [Here]
To skip the flash site and head directly to the store click [Here]

Found this link to a forum with pictures of old Kuwaiti architecture via The Buz Fairy. There are a lot of shots I had seen before but there are also some which I hadn’t. I really love the building above, looked modern today and that picture was taken back in 1962. [Link]

If you’re in Kuwait, 28 years old or less and in love with creativity and communications then this competition is for you. All you need to do is design a poster based on the subject of Democracy and two winners will get an airline ticket and a delegate pass to the Cannes Lions 2011 festival. Entry is free of charge and the deadline is March 31st. For more information follow this [Link]

A few days back I posted about the fact that the architects Foster+Partners will be designing the new Kuwait Airport terminal. Some of you had questions which I didn’t have any answers to but an architect working on the airport project at the Ministry of Public Works emailed me with some more information regarding the project. This is hot off the grill since she had just come out of a meeting with Foster+Partners, the last meeting in the design development phase.

– The new airport terminal is a completely new construction and is designed fully by Foster+Partners while Gulf Consultants are only the local sub-consultant for the project

– The completion of the design stage is scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2012 and the construction completion of the terminal and the soft opening by Mid 2016

They promised to send me renderings of the new terminal building as soon as the design phase ends but for now… below is a passenger that had just arrived to the new terminal (scale 1:5000 1:200 model) and below that is the A380 he boarded.

I just read that the incredibly fantastic architects Foster+Partners will be designing the new Kuwait Airport terminal. That’s basically amazing news because I was just recently starting to wonder when we would go back to awarding great designers with large landmark projects. I can’t wait to see a rendering of the new terminal and I can’t wait for it to be built. [Link]

Note: Picture above is of the Beijing airport which was designed by F+P

Update: In case you’ve missed my older post, the current airport (before all the ugly updates made to it) was designed by the legendary Japanese architect Kenzo Tange. Here is a link with some pictures of the airport in it’s original state. [Link]

A Kuwaiti architect called Omar Al-Rajhi decided to start a new hobby after graduating from Kuwait University. He decided to recreate Kuwait City in 3D bit by bit. So far he has already has gone ahead and created 3D models of some of the most famous buildings which you can see on the projects FaceBook page.

It’s a painstakingly slow task and he currently doesn’t know what this could be used for once he’s done (maybe commercial or educational purposes) but for now he’s focusing on remodeling the whole of Kuwait City and once he’s done he’ll see what he can do with this data he is creating. Personally I think this could probably mean we could finally get 3D navigation like some of the main cities in the US. Here is the link to his projects Facebook page [Link]

I just saw a post on Confashions about an art auction that was held in the still under construction Phase III of the Avenues. The place looks great and the artwork looked amazing but sadly the public exhibition of the work was on February 8th and the auction was last night. Luckily Confashions took some pictures which you can check [Here]

Back in 2008 I posted about how Missoni Hotel was going to open up here in Kuwait and yesterday I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek tour of the place.

I noticed two things when I first walked into the lobby, the first was the amount of colors that filled the place and the second was the cleaning lady vacuuming using a Dyson. The hotel is full of beautiful summer colors and wild fabric designs that magically seem to all work together. I spent the whole time amazed at how tasteful everything was put together, it’s just incredible the amount of thought and work that went into it.

The second thing I noticed as I mentioned earlier was the Dyson vacuum cleaner but I then also spotted Bang & Olufsen speakers in the lobby ceiling followed by Bang & Olufsen TV’s in the hotel rooms. I even spotted Bodum toasters and very cool looking pots and pans in one of the hotel rooms mini kitchenettes. It’s a hotel that’s design driven, from the typeface the hotel room numbers are written in to the power plug sockets in the wall, everywhere you look you see good design which is very rare to see here in Kuwait.

They have 169 rooms so it’s not a small boutique hotel and the majority of their staff are from Italy so really once you walk into the hotel you could easily forget you were in Kuwait. The rooms had some very beautiful furniture which I right away asked if they were going to be available for purchase (turns out they will be). The hotel launches March 1st and they’re located in Salem Mubarek Street opposite American University of Kuwait in the same building where Symphony Mall is. I shot the pictures in this post but they will be sending me some more pictures which I will add to this post once I get them.

Update: Arabian Business has some more pictures which you can check [Here]

Today is the first day of REUSE 4.0 which is being held on the premises of the Australian College of Kuwait. REUSE 4.0 features a dynamic mix of art galleries, music, film screenings, mixed media installations, a lounge, go-kart sprints, trendy eco-fashion & accessories, prizes, surprises & more. My brother got invited to exhibit his abandoned Amiri Hospital pictures at the event and he was there yesterday and took some pictures of the event which you can check out below.

REUSE 4.0 is being held from today January 11th till Thursday the 13th. It’s open from 4pm to 9pm and you can get a lot more information from their website [Here]

I hadn’t noticed this before but there is a huge mural covering the graveyard wall in Kuwait City right after JW Marriott hotel. The mural depicts life in Kuwait in the past. I recorded the whole thing on video which you can watch above. [YouTube]

Is it just me or does anyone else dislike the color of our current taxi’s (pictured above)?. I hate the beige and white combo and it really doesn’t add any life or color to the Kuwaiti cityscape.

On the other hand I love the color of the old taxis with the bright orange paintwork(pictured above). They’ve got more personality and when you see a group of them together its very colorful.

So why don’t we apply the orange color on the current taxis? New York have the yellow cabs, London the black cabs and we could have our orange cabs again.

Today I noticed Kuwait Times got redesigned. I used to really hate their old layout since it looked really outdated but the new design is the complete opposite. Their typography and grid layout is very clean and it’s just wayyy more enjoyable to read now. You can check out their new design by viewing their digital edition online [Here]

I also spotted Arab Times ads on buses saying they will be updating their design in the coming few days as well.

Blogger chillnite posted pictures of what looks like a replica of the Taj Mahal that is being built here in Kuwait. According to him it’s a new mosque located off the 7th Ring Road. The picture above is of the Kuwaiti Taj Mahal while the one below is the original one in India. [Link]

Thanks Amir