you can see me on the 4th Plinth here as part of the Antony Gormley live artwork 'One & Other'
http://www.nextstopdesign.com/designs/185-Manifestation
Attended a lecture at the RIBA last night by a japanese architect called Junya Ishigami. Some images of his work attached.
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Dotted
around the UAE are large images of various important emeratis (mainly Sheikh
Zayed and Sheikh Mo
- the former and current ruler of Dubai
respectively). They vary in scale from the size of a typical billboard to one
particular image which covers about 20 floors of a high rise office building.
Across are some examples…Enjoi
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For the past 2 months I have been living in an area of Dubai called ‘The Greens’ which is located just off the Sheik Zayed Road at the Jebil Ali end of Dubai (if you look at a Dubai map it is directly below the trunk of the Palm Jumeriah). I’m staying in a studio apartment which is basically a living/bedroom with a separate toilet and small kitchenette.
The Greens itself is a small ‘community’ development which is arranged on 6 parallel streets which form a number of urban blocks. The housing (made up of studios, 1/2/3 bed apartments) form a perimeter around a shard courtyard which has a communal pool, gym and play areas (with a half basketball court). The photos are taken from my overly large balcony (which is about 3mx2m – it makes The Matrix balconies look normal – kind of…)
Despite most of Dubai having been built in the last 10/20 years, all my furniture looks like its from the 70's ...also note the pink bed cover!
As usual I managed to drag some unsuspecting people to 10-pin bowling while out in the UAE. So far I have been to two places (both confusingly called Dubai Bowling Centre) and while the lanes are not particularly to my liking I have managed to post pretty good scores (see photos) with my top games being (from 11 games total);
214, 165, 155, 152, 151, 146Which is not too bad with a house ball! the 214 Being probably my 2/3rd highest ever game and i think my fist ever close out (no frames left open).
Although
the greatest thing about both of these alleys is the penchant for giant bowling
motifs on the exterior of the building; one having a giant bowling pin and the
other having a giant bowling ball…I hope they build another ‘Dubai bowling
centre’ as I’m quite intrigued as to what giant object they have left…a giant
shoe perhaps?
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http://www.teetonic.com/rate/pixel_party/
and rate this as 'id wear it'
Thanks!
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The historical centre of Dubai is ‘The Creek’ which winds its way from the Persian Gulf inland. For only 1dhs (12p) you can cross the creek in a small dhow, it gives brand new views of the city as you bob along being buffeted by the waves of a passing yacht.
An urge to do some sightseeing led to a small trip to Oman recently, more specifically an area of oman called Musandam which is actually cut off from the rest of Oman by part of the UAE (look it up on a map). The drive up the UAE coast takes you through the majority of the separate Emerates which go to make up the UAE, while all similar, the further north you travel the greener and more mountainous it gets.
The border crossing into Musandam is strategically placed at the start of a large mountain range (which make up the vast majority of the area), as soon as you pay the 60dhs (approx 9pound) visa fee and get a huge number of stamps onto your passport (stamped out of the UAE and stamped into Oman – the same on the return) you drive along a coastal road which has fairly spectacular views (see photos). Dotted along the coastal road to Khasab (which is the defacto capital of the area) are uninhabited, slightly secluded sandy beeches with crystal clear water.
Khasab was largely disappointing despite is amazing location, mainly because we missed the boat tour (on a local Dhow) we were aiming for (due to getting lost on the way – despite the fact it is a straight road from Dubai – don’t ask!). Therefore we were could not see the famous Telegraph Island (a history of which can be found here; http://www.atlantic-cable.com/CableCos/TelegraphIsland/ with some nice photos of the area) – it is also the place of origin for the phrase ‘going round the bend’ as the soldiers that were posted there often went mad due to the remote location (looking at the map on the above website will show you were the ‘bend’ part comes from.
As we were only there on a day trip we then faced the long drive back through the emirates (only this time at night!) – if anyone happens to find themselves in the UAE, I would highly recommend a trip to Musandam (although it would be better to stay overnight).
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Recent Comments
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Richard Gillespie said:
[this is good]I was on the left possably just in front of the speaker in this picture read more
on DSC00379 -
MANIFEST said:
nothing that would be overly inspiring...i will come up with some choice architectural morsals! n. read more
on Junya Ishigami -
Survivor said:
Has he done anything interesting in Japan which would I could go and check out? read more
on Junya Ishigami -
Survivor said:
Nothing like a bit of self congratulatory artwork scattered around the city ... the first of many Sheikh puns to... read more
on Sheikh It Baby
on 4th Plinth - One & Other