Kuwait is experiencing a period of stagnation. The landscapes of Kuwait—its patchy downtown, its repetitive suburbs, its flat desert, its Gulf waters—have not been reimagined for decades. There is no societal expectation that these landscapes will or should change. Even simple and sensible improvements remain outside the realm of possibility. We cannot imagine a more green and pedestrian friendly downtown. We cannot imagine suburbs more diverse in building type and resident background. We cannot imagine a less trampled and littered desert, richer in biodiversity and always beautiful. We cannot imagine our water being less polluted and its depths more bountiful. And this deficient imagination of ours is also lacking in the other direction. Given the current economic, environmental, and humanitarian challenges the country is facing, it is baffling why most of us cannot visualize the rapid and disastrous transformations that our urban, rural, and natural landscapes can undergo in the near future. Regardless of the evidence, there seems to be a widespread expectation that things will essentially stay the same. Full Post Link
The excerpt and image above was taken from an interesting post by architect Ali AlYousefi. He’s got a lot more Kuwait imagined images on his blog so make sure you check it out. I also think his posts work really well in parallel with Asseel Al-Ragam’s Simple Fixes tweets like the ones below.
Simple fixes Kuwait City II pic.twitter.com/qczuGXyj0J
— Asseel Al-Ragam (@a_alragam) May 8, 2021
Simple fixes Fahad AlSalem Street pic.twitter.com/sT52HxMN5C
— Asseel Al-Ragam (@a_alragam) April 23, 2021
12 replies on “Against Stagnation: Kuwait Imagined Otherwise”
Stagnation is an apt description of Kuwait. If you think about it, Kuwait’s landscape hasn’t changed much since the 1980s. With the exception of random skyscrapers and shopping malls, nothing has changed. Someone from the UAE once quipped: When we want to show our kids how we lived in the 1980s we take them to Kuwait.
Ouch!
That’s funny considering most of the uae have a worse situation than Kuwait, most streets in ras al khayma arent even lit and dont get me started on fujayrah. Which begs the questions, who is this someone you are quoting or is this one of those “I cant give out names” situation where it is basically bullshit.
Also with all due respect I respect must wipe my derrière with your skyscrapers comment, in the past ten years most of the roads have completely changed from tunnels, flyovers, etc. If you mean buildings then I completely understand that an opera house, shaheed park, Abdullah al salem cultural building etc arent good enough.
Maybe you mean more residential areas such as salmiyah which has several new buildings aimed at having an enjoyable experience, the abl Hussain theatre, the bowling arena, Abdullah al salem pedestrian area.
I enjoy comments with proof not inflated opinions. Mark always takes the time to give proof, he never says “the streets can be better, he takes the time to show what he means, which is why I really enjoyed this post.
Come look at Fahaheel in the main commercial areas near the Al Kout area. Those buildings are from the 80s straight up. You see dilapidated places betwixt giant malls. No cohesive development
Totally agree , I have seen many areas in UAE and roads are basically made of sands. I have the name of the cities if anyone interested.
This so true, no wonder Kuwait feels so boring most of the time. Also, what’s the deal with those buildings filled with restaurants and cafes? They’re positioned almost right next to each other like three or four buildings, how can that even be good for business?
https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-competitors-open-their-stores-next-to-one-another-jac-de-haan
It’s a economic decision-making thing
That was a good vid, and it actually made me realize why The Avenues organizes its shops and restaurants. However, I still think those restaurant complexes are boring and lacking in diverse shopping options, like would it kill them to put at least a Trolley convenience store in one of those buildings?
I really wish they would invest in better streey lights. Kuwait was so much sunlight, imagine solar powered streetlights with batteries so they automatic switch on while being off the grid which will allow for more trees. The street lights have a huge electricity cable which limit the use the usability of the side walks. Also the trees will need alot of infrastructure.
But the baladiya minister has alot of ideas, here is a recent interview.
https://youtu.be/Sm8L8iDEC6U
Considering that the latest Pritzker Architecture Prize went to a couple who utilised and adapted exisiting buildings, rather than starting from scratch and going boringly upward, transformation here could well be done by working with what we’ve already got. Meanwhile, the quick fixes mentioned above need to be enforced as a greater plan to achieve a particular target for green space or pedestrianisation, not just one-off initiatives.
Btw, I like the 1980s (or thereabouts) architecture! The well-built stuff, like Al Muthana Complex and similar sites. There should be some effort in Kuwait to save modernist architecture. I’ve seen a nascent attempt at this in Dubai/Sharjah.
Over the past few years, Kuwait has been experiencing a huge massive boom in construction, architecture, infrastructure projects, and development. Huge and massive by all accounts. Unprecedented in Kuwait’s modern history.
God bless the Ruling Family 🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼
God bless the new Emir and new Crown Prince مشعل الحزم
God bless the Prime Minister 🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼
Sadly there is too much Anti-government propaganda in social media. Spread by shady social media influencers and politicians. Follow the money 💰💴 💵
We are sick of the slander, lies, and propaganda against Kuwait.
A big lie is a propaganda technique used for political purposes, defined as “a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the facts, especially when used as a propaganda device by a politician”.
“The essence of propaganda is that it includes just enough truth to make a big lie believable.”
If Kuwaitis would simply pick up after themselves, instead of importing an expat to do it for them, and then another expat to go behind the first one who spends more panhandling and moving trash from one side to the other, that would be a good start.
Man…maybe get some color on some of these buildings and de-shit the beaches and shorelines. How about repairing some of these playgrounds and shading them instead of everyone flocking to the Avenues.
So much potential. Look at Failaka island. Soooooo muuuuuch potential. 👏👏👏 There is so much more to kuwait than making it an air conditioned prison where everyone stays inside because they don’t want to see another Aquafina bottle in the gutter or Pufak bag in the dead grass.