Atlantis The Palm

The wife decided to book us a trip to the Atlantis The Palm in Dubai. A quick weekend trip, which we spent most of it soaking under the sun, gliding through the water slides, and floating along the river lagoon. Following our check-out, I decided to do a quick goodbye sketch of the wonderful hotel building.

I walked around to look for a good spot with a nice wide perspective. I found a jetty just next to the water sports club cabin, which I thought was perfect. It turned out to be a mistake from my part, as I was trying to sketch under the blistering sun, at 1pm in the afternoon, when it was 40 Degrees Celsius, on a blazing jetty that burned my behind, with kids hopping on and off the jetty splashing seawater on my sketchbook and causing the jetty to wobble, making it challenging to draw a simple straight line. I persevered with the assistance of the water sports club staff, who provided me with an ice cold water bottle that got me going, and some encouraging words from a curious 7 years old girl and her mother. Below is the outcome following 2 hours of enduring the above.



In the comfort of my home, in an air-conditioned room with the temperature set at 23, sitting on my recliner, I tried embellishing the raw sketch, adding some shades and colors here and there. Below is the result.

USk Symposium - Manchester

The 7th International Urban Sketchers Symposium was held in Manchester, UK this year. A city that holds a special place in my heart and where I spent 7 years of my life. I was not fortunate enough to take part of this event that was held recently in July. Hopefully will be part of next year's symposium to be held at Chicago, USA.

My first sketch for my first assignment at my first day in my first year of architecture school in Manchester was Victoria Baths, a Grade II listed building. Sketch dated September 27, 2003.

Little India

Sunday morning was sunny and a bit chilly, perfect for a stroll at Manama suq. The Mrs and I decided to have a quick breakfast at one of the new hip cafes in the suq, Barastea, and then check out Little India, a project launched by Bahrain Authority of Culture and Antiquities (BACA). Opened in December 2015, the project features some road upgrade works, splashes of colours on building facades, artworks displayed on the streets, and small public spaces for weekly events.



I picked a corner that I thought was an ideal spot for a quick sketch, which eventually took me 3 hours to complete while the Mrs checked out the jewellery shops nearby (Thank God I have a sensible wife). The thing about sketching on spot for hours during lunch break, is that the perspective changes as people and cars come and go, shops close, shutters come down...etc. I started while the street was busy, and by the time I finished, the street was empty and you can can tell what's for lunch by the smell on the street!





I thought I'd share my sketching process in this post, which starts with a pencil drawing outlining the key features of the view. The next phase I use a black ink pen to draw clean lines and detail the drawing. Finally, I take out the colouring markers to give the sketch the final touch. In this case, I thought I'd concentrate on the work done by BACA; the facade painting that really gave the street a new special character.

Back!

Well, after putting some thought into it, I decided to go back to blogging after a 5 year hiatus. I initially started blogging back in 2007 posting images, videos, and links that I found interesting, so that I could easily refer to for inspiration whenever I needed to. Back then social media was not what it is today, so blogging seemed to be a good medium to do this. As social network websites and apps started emerging, I gradually lost interest in blogging as I found other more suitable media for my purpose. I kept the blog floating until 2010, when I gave it up as I picked up Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and the list goes on... Some I have abandoned, others I still use to this day.

So what would make me start blogging again, you might ask yourself? Well, I decided to take on a new hobby, Urban Sketching! And what does this have to do with blogging, you might wonder? Well, as the manifesto of "Urban Sketchers" indicates, I would like to share my drawings online, documenting my progress and development. I pondered whether I should do this on Instagram or another website rather than here on my blog. And I came to the conclusion that I should do all, but what I'll also be focusing on, in this blog, is to share the stories behind the sketches, which might be more interesting to some.

I used to sketch all the time during school and university, but unfortunately did not keep it up later on. Recently, however, I cam across this book that ignited my passion for sketching again, Sketch City. The book contains amazing sketches, executed in a variety of styles, with glimpses of the methods used by different artists and their experiences on the go. Among the 25 artists that came from all over the world, I found 5 particularly interesting. I did some "stalking" and found some more material online, below is a list of the 5 artists:

• Corrado Parrini
• Isa Fischer
• Fabio Barilari
• Dai Owen
• Josiah Hanchett

So this will be a start of a new chapter in this blog, where I will be posting sketches of places I visit, and anything related to sketching. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it!

Promenade

Promenade is a word that I came across several times within the past few days without really knowing what it means. The definition in the dictionary says "a leisurely walk in a public space or a social activity", and the intervention by OAB in Benidorm's sea front is a perfect visual aid of what the word means.

Benidorm was developed in the 1960s as tourist oriented with the construction of hotels and skyscrapers along the coast. Before the intervention, a long stretch of the seaside (1.5km) ran parallel to a four lane road and ground level parking spaces. (Unfortunately, this is how the beaches surrounding our beautiful island of Bahrain look at the present time) In the 70s, it was covered with paving and the sea views were obstructed with a 1.2m high concrete balustrade which provided access to the sand every 200 meters.

The intervention was aimed to improve the seafront facade by creating a coherent access to the beach and a visual relationship between the sea and the city. A method that proved to be much more successful for tourism than invading the seafront with high rise buildings. The new "promenade" serves as a transition between the skyscrapers and the beach. The structure consist of walls of white concrete with terraces, garden plots, stairs and ramps, animated by a joyful interplay of coloured tiles. The concave and convex shapes and surfaces are inspired from the waves and cliffs. The result is not only a transitional space, but an area with its own lifestyle allowing for play, leisure and meditation.

The Beauty of Architectural Drawings

Found these wonderful plan and section drawings which I just had to post here. The drawings are of a conceptual house designed for a competition by Greek architects. For more info click here...

Alila Villas Uluwatu

As it is summer time yet here I am stuck in Manchester with nothing to do other than work and watching football, I thought about looking up some exotic holiday destinations. I came across this breathtaking resort called Alila Villas Uluwatu in Bali designed by Singapore based architects, WOHA.

The resort comprises of a 50 suite hotel with 35 residential villas, which start from around US$ 725 for a 1 bedroom villa and up to US$ 3300 for a 3 bedroom cliff side villa. The design fuses vernacular architecture with modern design, combining traditional Balinese pavilion architecture and rural landscapes with modern treatment of space and form. The hotel rooms are designed as inhabited gardens where sleeping eating and other relaxing activities take place. The villas are designed as pavilions linked by bridges across water gardens.

A key element in design approach was ecological sustainability. The design focused on preserving the site by avoiding cutting and filling the natural contours as well as maintaining all large trees and site vegetation. Materials are all sourced locally; either from Bali or the neighbouring island of Java. Craftsmen form Java and Bali worked on the interior furniture, which further promoted local materials.

Besides the recommended sustainable approaches such as water recycling, natural cooling, and low energy lighting, the resort also promotes nature awareness programs for guests, involves local community in activities outside of the resort as well as employing surrounding villagers.

The message that the resort aims at is that luxury does not mean excessive consumption, but instead delight and enjoyment of the natural beauty and sense of place... Through showcasing local skills, materials and vernacular elements, it confirms the local people's opinion that they live in a marvellous place that should be cherished and maintained.




More info can be found here and check this out for a wonderful flickr set

Manchester United and Architecture

These are two things I am really passionate about: Manchester United and Architecture (In order of preference). So when I came across this article, I was really delighted. Gary Neville, has never been among my favorite united players, since he is no Cantona or Giggs. But knowing that he has applied to build a flower-shaped eco-friendly house in Greater Manchester, brought him a bit closer to those legendary figures.

Inspired by the Skara Brae, Make Architects have worked in this project for 3 years and just recently submitted the planning application. The project, if granted permission, will be built underground in the shape of flower petals within the landscape. In the heart of this underground "bunker" is the kitchen, with wings for working, sleeping and entertainment.

There are not many images of the project available, since it have just been released in the press I guess. But this is one house I'll be keeping an eye for.










Update:

According to the BBC, Gary Neville's plans for his eco-house which have been dubbed as the "Teletubbies house" have been rejected by Bolton Council. Even though officers from the council recommended its approval, the proposed house provoked opposition from some local people and committee members.

The objections were mainly on the 39m high wind turbine for its noise pollution as well as the fact that the proposed site lies on a greenbelt which must be protected. Some even stated that the environmental claims by the Manchester United star are exaggerated.

Inverted skyscrapers/Inverted pyramids

Iberia Quarries, Portugal.


Vermont Marble Quarries, Vermont.


Rock of ages, Vermont.

As I was looking through a beautiful book of photographs called "Earth", I came across this wonderful set by Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, whom I posted about long time ago.

The set is entitled "Quarries", and the concept emerged from the idea of the landscape as architecture. According to the artist, when looking at buildings made of stone, what comes to mind is an inverted cubed architecture on the side of a hill, an interesting landscape where stones would be taken out of the quarry one block at a time. As the artist puts it, "Openpit mines, funneling down, were to me like inverted pyramids... the idea of inverted skyscrapers."

Trees and Architecture ii

Project: Tree of Knowledge Memorial
Architect: m3architecture
Location: Barcaldine, Australia

Here is another project involving a tree. Perhaps not as exciting as the previous one. Nevertheless an interesting one. This is a pavilion design by Australian architects commemorating the site where the Australian Labour party is said to have been founded in 1891. The pavilion frames the remaining part of a dead tree that is considered a historical landmark, which was poisoned in 2006. The dead tree is surrounded by "18 metre-high cube-like structure of hanging timber batons, intended to mimic the shape of the tree’s canopy in 1891.

More info can be found here.

Trees and Architecture i

Project: Yellow Treehouse Restaurant
Architect: Pacific Environment Architects
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Completion Date: December 2008

If this isn't the best advertisement in all time I don't know what is. The idea of this treehouse project started as an advertisement for Yellow Pages. Now this is a company that print out billions of phonebook directories around the world annually, with each book containing hundreds of pages, despite the fact that more and more people are starting to use online phone directories. You wouldn't really call it eco-friendly, would you? So I guess that is the reason behind this advertisement, to enhance their image in a modern society that is obsessed with the sustainability trend.

The idea behind this "reality" TV advert, as you can see from the youtube video link and their website, is to prove that whatever you want to do, you can do it relying solely on yellow! To make it challenging, the chosen project was: "A restaurant. 10 metres up a redwood tree."

All products and services were sourced through Yellow Pages listings (the book, online and mobile) to build this treehouse restaurant on an enormous Redwood Tree which is over 40m high and 1.7 diameter at the base.

The tree-house concept is reminiscent of childhood dreams and playtime, fairy stories of enchantment and imagination . It’s inspired through many forms found in nature -the chrysalis/cocoon protecting the emerging butterfly/moth, perhaps an onion/garlic clove form hung out to dry. It is also seen as a lantern, a beacon at night that simply glows yet during the day it might be a semi camouflaged growth, or a tree fort that provides an outlook and that offers refuge.The plan form also has loose similarities to a sea shell with the open ends spiralling to the centre.

The selected site and tree had to meet a myriad of functional requirements -18 seated people and waiting staff in relative comfort complete with a bar; gaining correct camera angles with associated light qualities for filming the adverts, web cam and stills, have unobstructed views into the valley and entrance to the site and structural soundness . The final selected tree is one of the larger trees on the site and sits above a steep part of the site which accentuates the tree’s height. Kitchen/catering facilities and toilets are at ground level.

The Architectural component embodies a simple oval form wrapped ‘organically’ around the trunk and structurally tied at top and bottom, with a circular plan that is split apart on the axis with the rear floor portion raised. This allows the approach from the rear via a playful tree-top walkway experience, slipping inside the exposed face of the pod and being enchanted by the juxtaposition of being in an enclosed space that is also quite ‘open’ and permeable to the treetop views. There is also a ‘Juliet’ deck opposite the entrance that looks down the valley.

The construction of this amazing project took 66 days only! The restaurant is located on a private land, so the consent granted for this project was to permit diners onto the site only. Unfortunate for the sightseers who were just fancying a glimpse of this wonder. So for those who are interested in visiting this building, you will have to book in advance to dine there for an unforgettable experience.

More info and pics can be found here

Venetian Moments

Gondola Ride: Since gondolas are one of the main symbols of Venice, I thought it would be worth it going for a ride. This enthusiastic gondolier who was eager to pose for any camera that flashed in front of him made this Venetian moment worthwhile.



Bridge of Sighs: Locally known as Ponte dei Sospiri, the bridge connects the old prisons to the Doge's palace. It is said that the name comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice out of the windows of the bridge, before being taken down to their cells. During my visit, the scaffolding of restoration works on the surrounding buildings were covered with advertisements. That and the transformation of the place between day and night made this a special Venetian moment to me.




Lightly Monumental at the Egyptian Pavilion. La Biennale di Venezia - Giardini della Biennale.

The Egyptian Pavilion was the climax of my quick expedition in the Venice Art Biennale. The pavilion contained the works of self-taught Egyptian artist Ahmad Askalany and Egyptian painter, who abandoned medicine for the sake of art, Adel El Siwi. Maie Yanni, a qualified doctor who currently manages art and design ventures and promotes unknown Sudanese artists to give them international recognition and visibility, describes the pavilion's experience beautifully in this article.

She says, "Upon stepping into the Pavilion the viewer is greeted by eight monumental figures by Askalany akin to deities welcoming us into a sacred temple... The temporal dimension is emphasized by the upward structural progression. Both sculptures and paintings are monumentally big and recall the "little people" who built gigantic and great things. Thousands of years on and these magnificent historical creations still watch over us unmoved by earthquakes and the tides of change."




Moonlight (Venice, March 10, 2009). La Biennale di Venezia - Arsenale.

Created by Spencer Finch, the American's "artworks attempt to re-create his subjective impressions and scientific observations of light and color. His works take many forms, but what unites them is an attempt to transpose culturally significant or privately important moments or sites to a gallery setting."



Querini Stampalia Foundation: I saved the best for last here. This building by Carlo Scarpa is one of the many buildings that I read and heard so much about and always wanted to visit. Even though I had high expectations of it because of all the hype, the building exceeded all my expectations and was an absolute delight and the highlight of my trip to Venice. The way Scarpa's new editions to the building comes so close yet always distinguished from the old structure was so detailed that made me walk the entire exhibition with a smile on my face. I don't remember I was ever so pleased with a building like this one. The pictures I saw of the building on books and magazines, even the ones I took don't give this magnificent building justice. I thought I'd post this picture of the steel gate anyway since it was the best picture I took of the building I guess.

Wave deck

Project: Simcoe Wave deck
Location: Ontario, Canada
Architect: West 8
Completion date: 2008

Coming from an island surrounded by water yet with very few available beaches, I found this project very interesting. It is a great way to create a lively and fun public space as a waterfront with having to reclaim large amounts of sea water, destroying the few marine life we have left.

This is Simcoe Wave Deck, one of four unique decks planned for the Waterfront Toronto. It is a wooden wave deck that features an informal public amphitheatre-style space with impressive curves that soar as high as 2.6 metres above the lake. Inspired by the Canadian cottage experience and the shorelines of Ontario’s great lakes, the wave deck is meant to give urban dwellers a feel for life at the lake.

More pics can be found here.

W

Project: Walter Towers
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Architect: BIG

As a person very fond of calligraphy and graphic design generally, I was really thrilled when I stumbled upon this building. The "W" may stand for the name of the tower, but according to this blog post here, the Danish architects leaves the interpretation of the letter to us, which I find very amusing. Does it stand for wow just like the luxurious W Hotels? Does it stand for weird? Wonderful?

Nevertheless, as beautiful as the graphics of the letter "W" may appear on that building, there are technical reasons backing up the shape of the building. The cut on ground level allows pedestrians to cross the site, an important factor since the first four floors are for commercial use. The cuts in the top levels, which are residential in use, allow for air and views. With 27 floors the ‘W’ should reach a height of 80 meters. I couldn't find when is this building going to be completed or if even they started its construction, but this is one building I'd like to visit when it's done.

A Team Sport

The Pritzker Prize is often regarded as the Noble Prize of architecture, and is awarded annually to a living architect "honouring his contributions to humanity and the built environment." In this interesting article, Witold Rybczynski seems resentful of the idea that Architects get all the glory when a building is complete, which is further endorsed by this prestigious award.

The author points out that buildings are the result of teamwork. Architects today work with armies of engineers and specialists responsible for everything from structure and electricity to acoustics, lighting and energy conservation. In addition, construction has become so complex that responsibility for design and building is usually split between design architects and executive architects, who prepare construction documents, supervise the building process, and often make critical design decisions on the building site.

The fact that architecture is a team sport is what makes buildings so interesting. Art is often chiefly the reflection of an individual sensibility, but architecture tells us something about the society that produced it, its technology, its values, its taste. In that sense, building buildings is more like making movies than creating personal works of art.

The Oscars are awarded in many categories including best picture, director, screenplay, leading and supporting actors, sound mixing, visual effects and the list goes on. Should the Pritzker Prize in the same way acknowledge the efforts of glass, concrete, steel specialist companies? Should they acknowledge the efforts of acoustic and lighting consultants? What about structural and M & E Engineers? Project managers and quantity surveyors? The CLIENT? Although there are different awards given from different organizations honoring those consultants, specialists and engineers; wouldn’t it be better for the building business to bring all those fields together under one umbrella, like the Oscar did in the movie industry, to strengthen the fact that architecture is a team sport?

Orquideorama

Here is the amazing botanical garden in Medellin, Colombia that was renovated by Plan B Architects. Its a wooden mesh work of modular “flower-tree” structures that weaves its way through the garden’s heart.

The theme is to allow the structure to grow in the same way that a garden seeds and develops. This lead them to design the installation as a series of interconnected modular structures (14 in all) specialized for a variety of functions including event halls, butterfly reserves, and flower gardens. This repetitious cellular weave fittingly resonates the organic structure of a honeycomb.

More info here and here