Kuwaiti Bakalas & Shop Fronts...

A brief addition to the 'Commercial Individuality' post from a few weeks back, which showed examples of individualistic and unique stores found abroad. This entry shows some similar, more individual examples of such stores found in Kuwait, that includes the local version of the corner-store, the bakala, which unfortunately seem to be rapidly disappearing form our neighbourhood streetscapes.

These photos are a brief pictorial ode to ordinary-individuality, a quality closer to something that's recognizable and comforting rather than any notion of blandness. They're examples of generic urban elements, renditions of things that can be found in most cities around the world - the corner-shop, coffee-shop, barber-shop, etc. - but each which also contain something unique and reflective of their particular locale (the products they sell, their size, their smell, their materials, their placement along a street, etc.)...

All of the included photos were taken in Salmiya, Kuwait...

Three images above - examples of bakalas...

A women's shoe store...

A wig & hair product store...

A pet (fish) store...

A Chinese restaurant & take-away...

A local 'saloon', or barber-shop...

Favourite Buildings Visited – The 'Blue Tile' Building, Kuwait...

The following blog entry was originally posted on the smArchitecture blog, but as it deals with a building in Kuwait, I thought it appropriate to also include it here...

Located a block away from the Gulf Road, adjacent to the Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research, with a sea view, and in Kuwait's Salmiya (one of the central shopping hubs) the 'Blue Tile Building' (not the buildings real name) is situated in one of the city's prime spots. This, however, seems to be where this buildings fortunes end, as it currently is in a regrettably derelict state, a mere reflection of its former self, having been stripped of anything of even the remotest value, its interior wall tiles, stone floors, wiring, balustrades and stairwell railings, windows and any more precious carpentry. It still, nonetheless, is an impressive and attractive building with good architectural 'bones' that, particularly when viewed in the context of its two adjacent, still partially inhabited, sibling buildings (which buffer it from the Gulf Road traffic noise and pollution), forms a successful urban composition. Consistent of duplexes and triplexes facing north (the sea) and south, it must have once provided a very decent set of well proportioned and spacious apartments for well to do middle-class living. Unfortunately, particularly in the context of how most of the local population today prefers to live in, even these large flats are probably inadequate and unsuitable to accommodate the needs of the average umpteen-member family (maids & drivers included).

The building's flanking edges are tiled in a blue geometrical pattern...

It's sad that there doesn't seem to be demand for this type of residential living in Kuwait anymore, as the building forms a congruous, softly monumental, memorable and surprisingly non-intrusive, presence in its neighbourhood, full of beautiful detailing (what's left of it) and a clear consideration for its urban context (its allowance for communal space around its premises is seldom present in any of its more contemporary, usually much blander, renditions currently popping up around the city).

The building's, now exposed, interiors form a seductive patchwork of colours and patterns...

Whilst ruins have their own inherent beauty, this, and its fellow architectural artefacts found in Kuwait, should be respected and restored instead of demolished, as they each perform the role of a mnemonic node, reflective of a particular time and place in Kuwait's history. They, as discussed in a previous post (click here to see it) store some of the collective identity of the nation, forming a recognizable and definable point on the country's historical time-line, and act as manifestations of Kuwait's evolving culture(s).

Close-up of one of the exposed spaces...

Why not adapt, instead of destroy? Why not, as is common in most other evolved metropolises, appropriate the building to fulfil a new set of functions? This might entail altering its currently hollowed spaces according to a new set of residential criteria which are more in line of how a city is inhabited today or, alternatively, chance to use of the spaces completely – modify it into a office building, a hotel, even a department store, or a combination of such uses. Not to save the 'Blue tile Building' and its likes would would be one more corrosive intervention this nation could do without, whilst saving it would provide Kuwait with one more stabilizing plinth in the nation's foundation. Saving a building of this age and calibre, a building that is amongst the few remaining that can count its age in multiple decades (I assume it might have been built in the sixties, early seventies) would provide a pertinent example of how the nation has developed, and would be a viable reference for how current and future generations could/ should go about building their local vernaculars.

External view through one of the now fully exposed interiors...

Partly reflected view from one of the duplexes...

Seaside view from one of the triplexes...

The railing-less internal stairwell...

A dramatic leak...

The residue of a ceiling...

A view of a ceiling, as it stands...

The inner workings of a partition wall...

The two adjacent, still partially inhabited, buildings with a similar tile pattern on their flanking sides...

Musings made whilst Flâneuring Along Salem Al-Mubarak Street

The included short 'animation' consists of some musings made during a walk down Salem Al-Mubarak Street in Salmiya, Kuwait. The film, made out of over 400 individual images assembled in Power-point, had to unfortunately be filmed off my computer screen as the software I was planning to use refused to convert any shots lasting less than a second into a MPEG, AVI or Quick-time format, resulting in the video that should last about 3 minutes taking well over 20 minutes (as it converted the fraction of a second shots into full seconds). Nevertheless, it is clear enough to catch the intended gist of the video, and, if I manage to figure out how to convert the movie directly (any suggestions would be much appreciated) I'll replace the current one.

A few years back we used to live in Salmiya, a stones throw from the Sha'ab Amusement Park, and I used to walk down this street almost daily, on my way to the selection of coffee-shops clustered around the Sultan Center. The Salem Al-Mubarak Street is amongst the only sections of the city that has the the history and, in regards to future development, the 'bones' to be developed into a proper external pedestrianized area. This factor has also been noted by others in Kuwait, such as fellow bloggers re:Kuwait, who included a recent post on the subject matter and area (click here for a link to their submission). Unfortunately the street seems currently to be under threat, as substantial sections of the on average three and four floor buildings flanking its sides are either abandoned or in the process of being demolished. This is a true pity, and, again, a considerable lost opportunity (a term that seems to crop up regrettably often on this blog) as what this street and area has will be very difficult to duplicate or rejuvenate if the current 'developments' are allowed to proceed much further. What it needs is a total strategic overhaul that provides the street and district with an update whilst retaining its unique qualities – its casualness, non-mallness, spontaneity, walkability – its outdoorness...

This last point became particularly pertinent recently when we were invited to present at the Dar Al-Athar al-Islamyyia, scheduled to take place on November 11^th (more details about this at a later date) as this occasion could be the perfect opportunity to tie together and develop a coherent proposal from the various, still somewhat discordant, ideas we've developed for this area over the last few years for how this street could be designed and modified to accommodate the desires of the above musings. What this will entails exactly remains still to be seen, but the intention is to present a, still at this stage schematic, proposal for how the Salem Al-Mubarak Street could be rethought. The included video forms a part of this process.

Public Sculpture in Kuwait - Rumaithiya

This is the initial posting of public sculpture in Kuwait, the aim being to provide, semi-regular (whenever interesting pieces are encountered) photographic submissions accompanied by a morsel of personal impressions.

'Kuwait' spelled in Arabic along the spine of the sculpture...

This initial sculpture is located in Rumaithiya, just off the Gulf Road, a stone throw from the Hardees fast-food restaurant, across the street from the Movenpick complex. Living in Salwa, I drive by this sculpture almost daily, however, this was the first time I'd had a chance to visit it in person. Location wise the sculpture is somewhat inaccessible, placed in the centre of a small, fenced in, roundabout with a number of permanent steel-frame seating on four sides. These benches must have been included already during the original installation, as they now are all snugly facing the surrounding hedge. The sculpture itself, which can be accessed through four equidistant gaps in the hedge, is in an unfortunately dilapidated state, with some of the white marble tiles of its quadrophonic base broken off and scattered across the adjacent paving. The sculpture itself, made predominantly of painted steel, is also showing its age, with rust being the norm rather than the exception on its skyward thrusting oblique torso, a flat piece which is pierced by a set of assembled vertical rods approximately one quarter length from its eastward facing tip. The assembly of these three units (the base, the oblique surface and the vertical rods) form, however, a surprisingly dynamic composition, suggestive of some constructivist or futurist sculpture, something which is unfortunately not apparent when viewed from the Gulf Road (too far away, too quickly passed by) nor from the surrounding roundabout (hidden by the hedge).

An assembly of vertical rods pierce the sculpture's oblique main unit...

Regrettably there is no apparent plaque remaining to tell who the sculptor is and what his/ her intention in designing the assemblage might have been. Along its spine the word 'Kuwait' is spelled out in Arabic, so one can assume it might be suggestive of the nations aspirations and hopes for the future, but, without additional info, that remains only a guesstimate.

East elevation...

Still, as a composition this 'Kuwait' sculpture in Rumaithiya has some inherent figurative and suggestive kinaesthetic qualities even in its bedraggled state to merit a visit, something that not many of the more recent (mostly roundabout) sculptures do, which largely fall into the category of poor, too literal and sentimental metaphors and pastiche of past trades and craft related paraphernalia.

West elevation...

South elevation...

Extended approach to the sculpture...

The somewhat discordant permanent benches placed around the small sculpture plaza - almost all facing a hedge...

View up the spine of the sculpture...

'Plop Urbanism' – the Tabula Rasa of Kuwaiti Urbanism (let's begin by fixing what's already there)...

Various urban areas and roundabouts from around the world. Clockwise from top left - Tokyo, Dubai, Las Vegas, New Delhi, Luxembourg, Reykjavik, Maputo, Caracas (all images from Google Earth)

Much discussion of late has circumnavigated around various regional developments, mostly in neighbouring states (Foster's Masdar and Koolhas' Rak Gateway), of new sustainable cities that are based on age old wisdoms of how to build in arid climates, but with a contemporary twist and look. However, most of these new cities are conceived as almost glorified objects - i.e. non-contextual entities which aren't linked to any existing neighbourhoods or fulfil established needs for 'organic' expansion. They're thought of as hermetic 'tabula rasa' sites that can be just 'plopped' onto any open area in the region. This form of 'plop urbanism', a term originally derived from the notion of 'plop art' (which in itself is a derivative of the term 'pop art') describes the occasional habit some cities have of 'plopping' public art onto various significant public squares, is here applied to the practice of in one go covering vacant areas with an urban development. In many ways this is a very attractive approach as it doesn't involve one having to deal with any existing and 'cumbersome' history of a place. It allows one to create a 'fresh' approach free of precedents. Examples of comparable development, of various degrees of success, could be mentioned Le Corbusier's Chandigarh ideas derived from Howard's 'Garden City' concept, such as Milton Keynes in the UK or Tapiola in Finland, or some of the New Urbanist approaches such as Seaside or Disney Corporation's Celebration, both built in Florida, which were all built onto unbuilt plots. Alas, as there are limits to how much available land there is for urban expansion, it wouldn't be out of order to begin considering how our existing urban environments – its buildings, streets and public squares - could be improved. Existing built environments have a lot to offer – an existing population, an existing building stock, and a tried and tested empirical understanding of the area's mannerisms and distinctive needs – elements that provide a solid foundation for improvement rather than the guesstimate that building something new unavoidably entails. However, to do so will be, particularly here in Kuwait, a long and arduous process, as changing existing conditions, even when they're not working, always involves resistance. Modifying things in existing neighbourhoods is also much more work, as any decisions have to be customized to existing conditions (designed block by block) rather than applying a 'fit all' template as a solution. But sooner or later something needs to be done, as the situation here in Kuwait will not be sustainable for too much longer. What such actions might be, and how such concepts could be implemented will be debated in future posts, but, rest assured, all such acts will involve dramatic choices by us all, so the sooner we begin implementing these the smoother the transition will be.

The Heart of Kuwait...

If someone who has never been to Kuwait before asked you to show them the 'heart of Kuwait', where would you take them? What part, neighbourhood or feature of the city is reflective of Kuwait's essence and character? Which elements are unique and culturally ingrained enough to make it distinct form surrounding places and nations? There are perhaps a few obvious answers, such as the bulbous Kuwait Towers or the blue and white striped water-towers, but the discussion needs to move beyond such national symbols as, just like one doesn't visit Paris only for the Eiffel Tower or New York for the Empire State Building, the query needs to expand beyond the notion of the iconic and begin exploring an idea closer to something that could be referred to as 'urban ambience' – the experience of being and inhabiting a city.

As a historically seafaring and trading state, there is an inherent transient quality to Kuwait's being that may be difficult to capture and retain, nevertheless, there are still scattered evidence of buildings and pubic places from a few generations ago, many of which, sadly, are in a very dilapidated state. A nation's core being and nature, the connective tissue that links one generation to the next, is retained in the collective memory of its people. These are kept alive in the stories, anecdotes, and legends, as well as the poetry, literature and art made by respective generations. Cut or ignore this link, and the dynamic thread connecting these generations is lost and pastiche, the repetitive and sterile re-appropriation of old ideas, prevails. The same applies to it's cultural foundations, the defined and experienced body and presence of a nation, which is stored and reflected by its built and occupied environment – the streets, squares and buildings of its people and cities. These are the places where the everyday, but defining, communal happenings of a population take place. In Kuwait there is a shortage of these type of spaces, as there really aren't many outside areas where people can congregate. Malls don't really count, as how they are used is overly controlled and too choreographed, with little place and space for spontaneity (how long would a busker would be allowed to perform at Avenues Mall?). Interestingly enough, however, there are sign that even here some degree of subversiveness applies, as, for example, Avenues Mall has become for many an air-conditioned arena for an ambulatory afternoon workout (power window-shopping?!) evidenced by the countless individuals in sneakers and sweatsuits (some with added hand-weights) making their way across the extended concourses. This non-planned adaptation of a haven for shopping as a place for exercise is what provides it with at least a degree of inherent character, something that is unique for Kuwait and that separates it from the predictable and generic role this type of places usually entail. In a small way this adapted use of the mall becomes a small individualistic beating Kuwaiti heart in its own right. Wouldn't it be great to begin exploring and understanding these types of hybrid uses better? Wouldn't it be interesting to actually build upon this, and adapt, say, a part of the concourse into a track with a bit more forgiving and textured friction surface, or even build an additional adjacent track only for such beneficial activities? But I'm deviating from the subject matter...

Where are the romantic places in Kuwait? Where would one go to write a novel, to meditate, to enjoy a sunrise, a sunset, for some urban flâneuring, or to privately grieve in Kuwait? A city needs places and venues for all such life events. Settings for such happenings need to both be designed as well as left to evolve by themselves in a city. Places for chance encounters, private moments, play, exercise, along with locations for more formal and choreographed affairs and ceremonies. It is also important that this type of environments are allowed a more extended presence, to develop across generations, for it is here, in the core of daily activities, that the pulsating heart of Kuwait is located...

So perhaps the heart of a place lies in the smaller, everyday, actions rather than the bigger, monumental, interventions. It is in the seemingly mundane and familiar that, paradoxically, provides a place with its identity. The stray-cats that occupy the nooks and corners of the city; the annual sandstorms that turn the air golden-yellow; the fragrance and taste of oven baked flat-bread (khobez Irani) and broad-beans (bagilla) from the neighbourhood co-op; the fragrance of shisha and murmur of muffled conversations at street side coffee-shops; the wall of heat that hits you when walking out the door, and the gust of chilled air that greets one when entering a premise – all these experiences, things one misses when away, and, after a trip, confirms one has returned to Kuwait, are the qualities that the 'heart of a Kuwait' is made of. These attributes, which can be designed but seldom re-created, are reflective of some of the timeless ingredients which, regardless of technological advances or shifts in cultural norms, provide a place with its inherent individuality.

Patterns in Sand...

A few photos of various discarded objects and the accompanying patterns left in the ground. The images were taken during a walk from Salwa to Rumaithiya to take some photos for a future blog entry, but the seemingly infinite variation and selection of photogenic trash caught my eye. None of the images have been cropped and almost no 'focusing' has been used. None of the items have been touched or adjusted. The images are displaying the ground patterns and included items in their 'raw' state...


For some images from the last February's sandstorm click here...

Designed Spontaneity...

A busker in Rome...

A successful city is often a contradictory city – where the mix of various cultures, cultural sub-classes and social taxons in close proximity provide it with a catalytic and dynamic vibrancy. How, however, such elements are allowed to coexist and interplay is where the magic formula of a dynamic and resilient city lies.

This benign form of subversiveness is what innovation is all about. New ideas aren't created in a vacuum, but are catalysed by exposure to a smorgasbord of different, frequently conflicting, ideas and forms of expression. It's about being inspired by exposure to unexpected sources of creativity – music inspiring architecture, biology affecting engineering, chemistry inducing a novel take on cooking. It's also about asking questions, as asking, defining, and aiming to solve queries is what research and progression is all about. A city's role and vigour is defined by what questions are asked. The features and activities included here are all reflections of such, more casual and spontaneous, street level interventions. But what the street says, has a tendency to 'trickle up' to eventually permeate the higher echelons of decision makers.

Kuwait is an interesting concoction of concurrent conservatism and tolerance, action and apathy, passion and indifference, progression and regressiveness - qualities that can often exists within the same body - be this 'body' an individual, family, neighbourhood or governmental unit, with many of the more 'exuberant' activities taking place behind the covert enclosures of its private residences. How some of these qualities might manifest themselves more openly as a potential generative resource in Kuwait remains to be seen.

Below are some 'spontaneous' elements found in most world cities. The list is in no way exhaustive, and based on a very subjective take on the matter, but hopefully some of them touch upon issues which at least in part could be adapted here in Kuwait to encourage something closer to a more vibrant city-scape...

Buskers & Street-Performers

As of yet I haven't come across a single busker of (ad hoc) street performer in Kuwait. This is partly due to the lack of street life in Kuwait, where today much of the more casual interactions take place within the hermetic and controlled confines of a mall.

A street performer in London...

Wouldn't it be great to have a 'Busker's Corner' in one of the nooks of Avenues or Marina malls? A spot where aspiring performance artists of any discipline could come to promote their trade and gain experience performing. Create a place where anything from a shadow-puppet performance, sand-shuffle dance, or a drum & base/ beat-box rendition of an Om Kulthoum could be performed. These types of events would not only provide a welcomed distraction and alternative to the common shopping experience, but could also become something of an attraction in their own right.

A (flamenco) busker in Malaga, Spain...

A street (ladder) performer in London's Covent Garden...

A classical trio in Helsinki, Finland...

Protests & Communal Activities

Public activities, be it a protest or any other form of common event, are key to a city's health. They allow various factions to express and vent their feelings regarding issues that, at least to them, are of more heightened general interest and concern. Regardless of the gathering is for ten or ten-thousand individuals, a city needs to allow and provide facilities for them to take place. The alternative, to prohibit or discourage them, only fuels more covert rabble-rousing which seldom results in anything constructive.

The percussion section of a protest march in Malaga...

A communal dance performance (to Michael Jackson's 'Black or White') in Vilnius, Lithuania...

Communal Spaces & Locales for Casual Interaction

Based on the aforementioned heading, a city also needs spaces where such communal activities can take place. This doesn't necessarily mean (even though it can) that a city needs to retain a space only for these types of gatherings, but that there is a place which can be adapted for such public assemblages. Trafalgar Square in London is, along with being a tourist attraction, used mostly as a nodal hub for transport (there's a tube and train-station, as well as a major bus-stop next to it) but it also performs on select occasions as a place of performance and protest. The Spanish Steps in Rome is used as a central meeting point and a place for some people watching adjacent to some of the city's most exclusive shopping streets. Most cities contain this type of adaptable open areas which can be easily accessed and are commonly available. Places for a short breather, a shaded spot for reading, a quick cup of coffee or a bench for a quiet conversation as well as the occasional, more organized, sable-rattling...

The Spanish Steps in Rome...

Town square in Borgå, Finland...

A small neighbourhood square in Benalmadena, Spain...

Casual seating spots at the Alhambra, Granada, Spain...

Graffiti & Public Posters

Even though not appropriate everywhere, graffiti and various event or promotional posters can provide their share of eye-candy in any city. When done with skill and passion, and with an understanding for its context, they can enliven a usually unremarkable stretch of sidewalk or mediocre city wall. They, again, provide an outlet for various kindred, perhaps more subversive, spirits to vent their vexations and provide a skill-set which can hopefully be channelled into something more vocational (it was through graffiti, after all, that artists such as Keith Haring, Jean Michel Basquiat (Samo) and Kenny Scharf got their start)...

Above and all images below - some graffiti and a poster in Vilnius, Lithuania...

Animals

Humans are not the only consious living entities occupying a city. Beyond the roaches and rats, which any self-respecting urban environment can't seem to manage without, there are many animals which actually provide some harmless entertainment in their own right. Kuwait has its slender street-cats embellishing most garbage bins in the evenings. Other places have their own renditions of these semi-domesticated creatures, be these swans, ducks, fish, squirrels, rabbits, even city-foxes, sharing the city with their two-legged compatriots. Of course one should mention the fully domesticated animals that play their own role, and leave their own 'marks' (particularly in Paris), on the sidewalks of most more cosmopolitan cities, but, especially here in Kuwait, these seem to be few and far between.

A swan family in Helsinki, Finland...

Goldfish in Fuengirola, Spain...

Palying Kuwaiti kittens...