Qatar 2022 World Cup Bid

When I first heard about Qatar's bid for hosting 2022 FIFA World Cup, I have to admit that I wasn't very thrilled about the idea. Even though I am a huge football enthusiast, having the most anticipated and most watched event in the whole world a little more than 40km away did not appeal to me. From the articles that I read, it seems that most people are concerned about the heat of the summer and how it will affect both players and fans, but my reservations are not about the weather. I'd rather watch the world cup on TV being held in a place like Mexico, Russia, or even Australia; a nation with some sort of history in the world cup, a country that qualified at least once. I am sure Qatar has a lot to offer, after all I think Qatar's opening ceremony and organization of the 2006 Asian Games were amazing. But should hosting the world cup be based just on capability?

One could argue that Bahrain were given the opportunity to take part in Formula 1, so did Abu Dhabi which also hosted the FIFA Club World Cup, without any connection to the sport whatsoever. And Qatar certainly have shown their capability in their development of the Education city, Aspire academy and other projects, and in the following images I think they certainly showed their will to succeed in this bid. Whether this will be enough to make for a special atmosphere to host the world cup, I still have my doubts.



The official bid consisted of 5 stadiums, 3 brand new and 2 existing ones that will be renovated. However, I have came across several images of other proposed stadiums but I included only 1 that caught my eye.

Al-Shamal Stadium




I am not the sort of person who saves best for last, so here is my favourite bit of Qatar's bid. A brand new stadium with a capacity of 45,120. The stadium's shape is derived from the "dhow", a traditional fishing boat used all around the Arabian Gulf, and will be built near the Bahrain-Qatar Friendship Bridge.


Al-Khor Stadium




A new stadium as well, with a capacity of 45,330 and inspired by the shape of a seashell. One notable feature is the retractable roof providing shade for both spectators and players.


Al-Wakra Stadium



The brand new 45,120 capacity Al-Wakrah stadium will be located in a sports complex that will consist of an aquatic centre, spa, sports facilities and a mall, located near the future route of the Doha express way.


Al-Gharafa Stadium



The existing 21,175 capacity Al-Gharafa stadium will be expanded to 44,740 seats with temporary modular elements forming an upper tier. The facade will be made up of ribbons representing the nations that qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, a gesture symbolizing the values of the tournament; mutual friendship, tolerance and respect.


Al-Rayyan Stadium



As in the case of Al-Gharafa Stadium, the existing Al-Rayyan Stadium with a seating capacity of 21,282 will be temporarily expanded to 44,740 seats using modular elements to form an upper tier, which will be removed after the tournament. The stadium is designed with a special "media facade" membrane that will act as a screen.


Tameem bin Hamad Stadium




Inspired from Qatar's culture, the stadium takes the shape of a traditional Bedouin tent, called in Arabic "Beit Al Sha'ar". It will have the capacity of 65,000 seats. However this stadium is not included in the official website for Qatar's bid.



For more info check out the official website for Qatar's bid and the flickr set for more images

Sea Orbiter

It is often said that we know more about outer space than we know about the ocean, which makes up around 71% of our planet. So it is natural to hear that the technology for exploring the ocean base, which goes as deep as 11km, is as advanced as the technology used for outer space expeditions, if not more.

Recently, French architect Jacques Rougerie have designed a prototype called the Sea Orbiter, which should help scientists in exploring our oceans. This incredible project have garnered the backing of several international agencies including NASA. The Sea Orbiter is a huge floating vessel, with two thirds of this 51m high sail shaped structure submerged under water, allowing continuous underwater observation, twenty-four hours a day.

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.

Billboard Living

Billboard Living is a project by Dolf Robertus displayed at the Graduation Show of the Design Academy in Eindhoven. The concept of the project is to turn advertised corporate logos into housing, animating the adverts by inhabitants. So a Mac's logo would be animated by people using Mac laptops or ipods. Dove logos will be animated by people taking showers. And my favorite, a "Playboy" logo will be animated by nudity.

What attracted me about this is the drawings, or presentation sketches. I am a huge fan of caricatures, specially architecturally related caricatures. And the technique used here is very elegant. The sketches are simple, with the appropriate detailing required, without loosing the fantasy or the humor aspect of the project.

For more info about it, look here.

MATSYS

An intriguing BLDGBLOG post pushed me to look up some of the works of San Fransisco based design studio Matsys.

The design studio "explores the emergent relationships between architecture, engineering, biology, and computation" in addition to investigating "methodologies of performative integration through geometric and material differentiation."

As part of his MA dissertation in Emergent Technologies and Design at the Architectural Association, Andrew Kudless, an architect and founder of Matsys, researched a "honeycomb system that is able to adapt to diverse performance requirements through the modulation of the system’s inherent geometric and material parameters", which then can be industrially produced for use in architectural applications. You can see this clearly in his works Honeycomb Morphologies, Sature Chair and C_Wall.

Honeycomb Morphologies, 2004.

Suture Chair, 2005.

C_Wall, 2006.

P_Wall, 2009.

My fascination with Matsys' work might have something to do with the fact that I am always captivated by anything related to light filtration. However, it is the above P_Wall project that I really admire, which takes a different direction from the light filtering cellular structures above it. (I am sure I have posted something about it earlier but can't find the post!)

The two materials that are experimented with here are plaster and elastic fabric, to produce evocative visual and acoustic effects. It is "inspired by the work of the Spanish architect Miguel Fisac and his experiments with flexible concrete framework in the 1960-70s". An earlier version of this (P_Wall) is first exhibited in Banvard Gallery, Knowlton School of Architecture in Ohio at 2006. The picture above is of a commissioned version that is further developed and exhibited at The San Fransisco MOMA.

Next up is Sietch Nevada, a futuristic prototype project based on the "first planetary ecology novel" Dune. You can see this project as a continued development of the honeycomb and cellular structures experimentation. Or perhaps an application of those experimentation in architectural and urban planning. This prototype stems from the idea that water banking will be "the fundamental factor in future urban infrastructure in the American Southwest." Towns that once relied on "the promise of endless water via the powerful Colorado River... have increasingly begun to create underground water banks for use in emergency drought conditions" as droughts are becoming more frequent, possibly because of the heavy agricultural use and global warming.

The form of this urban prototype is derived from the performance of urban life based on storage, use and collection of water. "A network of storage canals is covered with undulating residential and commercial structures. These canals connect the city with vast aquifers deep underground and provide transportation as well as agricultural irrigation. Cellular in form, these structures constitute a new neighborhood typology that mediates between the subterranean urban network and the surface level activities of water harvesting, energy generation, and urban agriculture and aquaculture. However, the Sietch is also a bunker-like fortress preparing for the inevitable wars over water in the region."

Lilypad City

Series showing the phases of the city's construction

It seems that Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut shares my love for Kevin Costner's Waterwold, as evident in his design for Lilypad City. The city is designed for the year 2100 or so, and would accommodate up to 50,000 ecological refugees, who are called "Atoll dwellers" in the movie, after the polar ice caps melt and flood the whole planet.

The floating structure is inspired by giant lily pads, hence the name. The city takes up the challenge of reaching a positive energetic balance with zero carbon emission. This is achieved by the integration of all the renewable energies; solar, thermal and photovoltaic energies, wind energy, hydraulic, tidal power station...

The heart of the city will be a central lagoon of soft water collecting and rain water purifying. Around it will be located three marinas and three mountains dedicated to the work, the shops, and the entertainments. Each "mountain" will be covered by planted housing in suspended gardens crossed by a network of streets with organic outline, creating a harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.


Fish-eye view of the city


Lilypads along the coast of Monaco

City of Silk

Construction has began on the incredible City of Silk (Madinat Al-Hareer in Arabic) which is located not far from Kuwait City, the capital of Kuwait. The project will require 25 years to be completed. UK based architectural firm CivicArts are teaming up with engineering giants Atkins and Kuwaity real estate company Tamdeen Group along with other legal, financial and technical consultants to realize this amazing development that might truley be one for the historic records book.

The city takes its name from the Silk Road, the most enduring trade route in history which connected Far East Asia with Europe through the Middle East. It is often stated that this route was opened with the unification of China under the Han dynasty at 139 BC, although some argue that it even existed 1000 years beforehand. It stretches around 6,400km and cuts through some of harshest deserts and around the highest mountains in the world. Since commodities were transported by caravans, it was relatively easy for pirates and thieves to attack which made them a major threat. The economies of scale, harsh conditions and security considerations meant that caravans rarely travelled through the whole route; instead they would stop at a town where other traders would buy their commodities and transport them to another town until it reaches the other end of the route. Thus many towns have flourished because of its strategic location along the Silk Road.

In addition to silk, people traded with gold, ivory, exotic animals and plants, but silk was considered to be the most remarkable of all the precious goods and hence the name of the road. In fact there were several routes that traders took from China to Europe and vise versa and not one single road as the name implies. The route reached its golden years in the 7th century during the Tang dynasty. After the end of the Tang dynasty and the rise of Islam started to affect Asia, trade along the Silk Road subsided. The rivalry between the Christian and Muslim worlds only helped in further diminishing trade along the route. However, trade relations resumed as Muslims played the part of middlemen after the end of the crusades. Sea routes to China were explored at this time, eventually holding a more important place than the land route itself as they became less profitable.

The Mongols took advantage of the conflicts between the Christians and Muslims and were able to split the Muslim empire and take control over central Asia up to the Mediterranean at the 13th century. The unification of those states under the Mongol Empire allowed for interaction between cultures of different regions. Once again the Silk Road was revived as it became a path for communication between different parts of the Empire, and trading was continued. However the decline of the route soon came as the Mongol Empire disintegrated, the Islamic Empire gained its power, the Ming dynasty took control over China, and most importantly the silk route by sea developed even further.

The Silk Road linked nations from China to Spain, Russia to Africa together, and the strategic location of Mesopotamia at the heart of this trade route enabled it to become a center of learning, prosperity, and well-being. For centuries, people of different faiths, nationalities, ethnicities and values met to learn, share, and explore new ideas in Mesopotamia.

This historic context of the City of Silk is so immense that it will surely shift the political and economic aspirations in the Middle East. The city is planned to accommodate 700,000 people (which is almost equal to the population of the whole Kingdom of Bahrain) and should create nearly 430,000 new jobs. It will take up approximately 250 sq km, roughly the same size as Scotland's capital, Edinburgh, and cost around $132 billion.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Bahrain have been enjoying their architectural boom for sometime. Perhaps because of the damage on Kuwait in the Gulf War and the political instability in Iraq, it could not enjoy that boom as it had to rebuild its infrastructure. But now Kuwait is ready to shift the investors' focus from the south end of the Arabian Gulf to the northern end as Iraq begins to attract attention.

The city will include a new bridge across Kuwait Bay called Jabir Al Kabir Bridge linking the city with the country's capital. A new Sea Port that will become a grand new port for Kuwait, Iraq, and Iran. A new Airport that will become part of the global network of international cargo, passenger, services and information being shipped around the world. It will also include business, culture, and leisure developments surrounding a new National Park and Wildlife Reserve.

The cosmopolitan city will contain four city centers. Finance City will be the center of business, international trade, finance, and commerce. Leisure City will be the center for resort hotels and holiday retreats. Culture City is an attempt at restoring the region's reputation as a center for scholarly research, archaeological pursuits, and creative activities with the construction of art and historical museums for the visual and performing arts. Last but not least Ecological City will be located at the center of the City of Silk and will include a grand Wildlife Sanctuary and Nature Reserve. All of the four centers will be woven together with an intricate system of parks, gardens, lakes and ponds to create one integrated community.

Furthermore, the project will echo the historic Silk Road by building a rail network that will connect Kuwait to Damascus, Baghdad, Iran China, and surprisingly ISRAEL, as the country aims at increasing links between the two countries. If this project does see the light, it might very well mark a new beginning for a Golden Age for the Silk Road. The Arabian Gulf could very well accommodate the biggest centers of the world, Dubai at one end, and Kuwait at the other.

More info can be found here and here and here

The Fractured Monolith

Here is The Fractured Monolith by Vincent Callebaut Architects, a 4 stars hotel with a congress center located in Belgium.

The Cybertecture of the iPad and Shuffle Towers

i-Pad Tower



Shuffle Tower

In a country which has the tallest tower in the world, the largest shopping mall, a rotating tower, a copy of the Eiffel Tower, another copy of the Leaning Tower of Pizza and many more pioneering projects... I am sure you have heard of the latest additions to that intriguing portfolio: the i-pod, sorry I meant i-pad tower and the shuffle tower.

The architect, James Law, is one of the key figures in Cybertecture projects. He was a director of internationally renown US architectural design firm, Gensler International, prior to setting up James Law Cybertecture International on the first day of the new century 2001. The firm works on architectural projects, infrastructure and city planning, business strategies and communication models along with other software applications. Among the many consulting teams and collaborations the firm had in different fields, James Law Cybertecture is consulting for the United Nations for the design of a virtual world archive designed to preserve World Heritage Sites. This way the firm "develops the core Cybertecture vision of the world, in which the now and future world is designed and created inspired in a symbiotic balance between space and technology."

One may wonder where would a term such as Cybertecture emerge from. Wolf Hilbertz, a German architect, was an assistant professor in the US when he wrote his book "Toward Cybertecture", which laid the foundations for the discipline in the early 70s. It went out of fashion like other movements at the time, but we see it now making a massive comeback. I remember during my first year we had a project where we had to design a clothing item -a shirt, a hat or anything- that would resemble an architect or building. And now I do see the link between fashion design and architecture; after all both are part of our daily lives, influenced by our behaviour, and perhaps most importantly our ever changing taste for aesthetics.

Cybertecture is not CAD. Its not "colorful renderings on black backgrounds, gradually painting a dark and endless space in our minds that seems to represent the virtual reality." If the "virtual reality" was to be represented, it would be anything but a endless black space. "Moreover, cybertecture is not necessarily the re-invention of architectural languages to express instability and movement. A tilted column is no more cybernated than a straight one." Cybertecture is basically architecture that integrates virtual activities into physical spaces.

Cybertects would be creating places that need to be full of information and communication. This means that connection points is what Cybertecture is concerned with. Connections that link people and machines separated by time and space. Cybertecture is therefore responsible for realizing these connections in the physical and virtual form.

Going back to the i-pad and the shuffle towers in Dubai. What really intrigued me where the concepts behind the designs. I mean for a place like Dubai that's becoming a major hub in the world, such concepts of cybertecture is what makes Dubai what it is. Its a point of connection between people, businesses, and industries from the East and West. The shuffle tower is a mixed used development consisting of residential, commercial and office blocks; a great way to give meaning to the term shuffle besides shuffling music. Many may think that the i-pad tower is called that because of the tower shape. However, it goes beyond that. Its supposed to change our lives just like i-pods changed the life of music. The idea behind it is to fulfill the dream of living in the future; the experience of integration between technology and space, creating unlimited boundaries for young people who know how to get the most out of the technology they use and therefore their life.