Category: Design

Q8Sultana posted about a Mirror House located in Qadsiya a few years back and now the owner has a website up with a ton of pictures and information on the house.

The house belongs to Lidia Qattan, an Italian lady who got married to a Kuwaiti (Pioneer artist/painter, Khalifa Al-Qattan), and has been living in Kuwait for decades. She has decorated her entire house, inside and outside, with pieces of mirrors. – Q8Sultana

Lidia’s website has pictures of every room and every angle of the house from the outside and inside. You can tell she put a lot of effort into fulfilling her dream of a “Mirror House” and it’s really one of a kind. Check out her website for more pictures and details. [Link]

Last week I posted about the under appreciated indoor vertical garden at 360 mall. Under appreciated because no one knew about it. Well I was checking a website (lost the link) and found an article talking about this glass artist and they had a picture of one of his works which looked similar to the blue glass sculpture at 360. So a quick google revealed the blue sculpture at 360 was actually done by the same artist in the article.

The artist is called Dale Chihuly and he was commissioned to do two pieces of work for 360 in the theme of the sun and moon. Again interesting but I only found out about it by chance. 360 need to find a way to inform people on this stuff.

Now the cool part is I found a gallery online showing the actual build process. I was always curious on how they put the sculpture together and now I know. Check out the pictures [Here]

Note: If you get an error trying to view the pictures tell me and I will try to host the pictures somewhere else.

One of my favorite skyscrapers in Kuwait just got slapped on with a tacky blue signage right on the top. Wasn’t there a nicer way to do it? I’ve noticed a lot of buildings use this blue cheap looking plastic for the building names but it really ruins the look, there must be a better or more tasteful material that can be used.

Note: Sorry about the blurry photo

I was reading an article in WIRED magazine about Patrick Blanc and his famous vertical wall gardens when I read the following:

Forty-five years on, the French botanist’s gardens have grown massive in scale. One inside a Portuguese shopping mall is larger than four tennis courts, and there’s one in Kuwait that’s almost as big. [Source]

So I did a bit of googling and found this article from January of this year that says:

360 MALL announced the latest addition to its unique retail offer, with the creation of the world’s largest indoor living wall. This innovative vertical garden marks a new eco-friendly element to the 360 Mall on offer…

…Patric Blanc, a botanist and the inventor of the Vertical Garden said: “This vertical garden is set to become a must-see destination for people in Kuwait and beyond. It is something people will want to see and experience for themselves. [Source]

I’ve been to 360 Mall a few times and never noticed the vertical garden so I checked for some images of the mall online and found the picture above on Ansam’s blog showing the vertical garden. I don’t think a lot of people have noticed it before, maybe they should add a plaque or something in front of it. It’s interesting.

Here is a link to Patrick Blanc’s website. [Link]

Teddy On The Go is an interesting social experiment by a Kuwaiti architecture student that recently moved back to Kuwait. To keep herself in check and out of a routine she decided to start the website Teddy on the Go as a way to motivate her into doing something interesting or new everyday and also as a way of expressing her opinions subtly through the bear. Her project is going to last for 365 days only after which the bear will be sold for charity. Currently she is at day 11. Check out her experiment by visiting her website www.yearofteddy.com

Unlike the jpg thats been going around, this is the true Pepsi vs Coca-Cola logo evolution chart.

[Source]

I just got the new copy of Thouq magazine today and it turns out they have a small write up on my blog. I also noticed the magazine is now like 6 to 8 times bigger in size, not page wise but actual physical size. Its huge and you can see in the picture below how big it is compared to the iPhone. I wonder if all their issues are going to be this big or if its just this one. Its definitely more interesting and I love the paper they used to print on.

I found this logo at one of the Oula gas stations and I am assuming its their new logo. I couldn’t find any information on it online and their website doesn’t seem to be updated.

I love how this building looks like something out of a SciFi movie. I took this picture with my BlackBerry from the Al-Khalijieh building. I made it black and white just for added dramatic effect.

This mesmerizing digital sculpture is located at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5. I think it looks super futuristic and its even cooler than the Kinetic sculpture at the BMW Museum. [YouTube]

I’ve been given the go ahead by NBK to give you all a sneak peek into the brand new NBK website. They will be launching their new updated website sometime this month but before they go live they want to get some feedback. They do care what everyone thinks and if anyone spots any issues or has any comments on what they need to improve leave your comment below so they can read it. Check out their new website by visiting beta.nbk.com

Yourlogomakesmebarf.com is a website that collects crappy logos. The one above is currently my favorite. [Link]

The American University of Kuwait will be holding a Graphic Design showcase on June 9th from 7pm to 9pm and on June 10th from 10am to 4pm.

The building above looks like its getting demolished which sucks. What would be the harm in refurbishing it? I think the blue pattern is really funky. [Link]

Picture taken by Italian in Q8

I noticed today that the Kuwait National Petroleum Co. (KNPC) office in Kuwait City got re-branded to SOOR Fuel Marketing Company. So I guess this means their gas stations will also soon be re-branded to SOOR. Personally, I don’t like their new identity but at least they have a logo unlike their competitor Oula. [Link]