360east

Month: May 2007

  • Top UK architects accuse Israelis of oppression

    I just caught this interesting post on Sabbah’s blog. A number of high profile names in British architecture has signed a petition organised by the group Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine. The Guardian Unlimited, is running a story on that. Leading British architects have accused their counterparts in Israel of complicity in schemes…

  • The girls just love Marcel Wanders 🙂

    In the closing session today the moderator, Paula Antonelli, the curator of design at the MoMA, introduced dutch product designer Marcel Wanders by saying that she has been vying for his turquoise necklace for the past few days (notice the color coordination with the color of the conference’s logo by the way). And the Emarati…

  • Dubai Mini-Marathon at the IDF

    One of the best things at the International Design Forum in Dubai so far, was the amazing “marathon” of interviews which was held by Rem Koolhaas and Hans-Ulrich Obrist from around 7 pm till after midnight on Monday. This extreme-conference format was apparently developed by Koolhaas and Obrist and was apparently practiced in London before…

  • Oliviero Toscani hijacks my IDF session 🙂

    There was a bunch of amazing people on stage for my first International Design Forum session Monday afternoon: Michael Rotondi of Roto Architects (and one of the founders of Morphosis), Carlo Ratti, a 30-something Italian architect (with pretty amazing work) and also Director of SENSEable City Laboratory at MIT, Michael Young, a Hong Kong based…

  • Pink suits and white dishdashas

    Talk about contrast. Karim Rashid (global designer and techno fetishist) and Rashad Bukhash, Director of Projects and Dubai Municipality and responsible for Architectural conservation.) Guess which is which Read these related posts on 360east: It’s toot season in Amman Best of the Blogs 2007: The power of Black and White in “White Russia”.. Amman Art…

  • Want to show modern design in Dubai? Cover up those chandeliers!

    The Arab world just LOVES chandeliers. They give us this feeling of, umm, European style luxury or something. No hotel ballroom or convention center is complete without big glitzy kitschy chandeliers. But what if the German Red Dot Design people want to put on a show of good design in a Dubai convention center? Well,…

  • Video: Karim Rashid interview

    Interview with Karim Rashid by Rem Koolhaas and Hans-Ulrich Obrist in Dubai.

  • There is FOOD at the Forum!

    Just as I predicted earlier: the Arab fed the guests well. There was no shortage of salads, main courses, sweets and pastries at lunch The only drawback: these conferences force you to gain weight. In Germany I was able to loose some weight: lots of walking and only a soup at the TYPO conference. in…

  • Al Manakh: Surveying the Gulf’s contemporary urbanism

    The International Design Forum saw the launch of a very interesting book today: Al Manakh. It is one of those “books” that reminds me of another Rem Koolhaas related book called Mutations, in that it is an hybrid amalgamation of articles, graphs, architectural drawings and photos, contributed by countless participants. The publication is a special…

  • Zaha Hadid didn’t show ..

    This morning during the opening of the International Design Forum it was announced that Zaha Hadid will not be showing up. This was quite disappointing. Hadid is a provocative speaker and she has been creating more work in the Gulf recently. Not that this conference is devoid of other Big Design Egos. Read these related…

  • Karim Rashid and the immateriality of consumption

    Karim Rashid has been one of the most visible figures of the International Design Forum on the first day. And that’s not only because of his pink pants, cool boots and weird glasses. He was the most outspoken at the opening session and he had the floor all to himself in the evening to deliver…

  • International Design Forum kicks off in Dubai

    Updates on the sessions tonight. For now I will just share some images Opening plenary Rasem Badran Karim Rashid At the registration desk Rem Koolhaas Dubai criticism Koolhaas: “The end of star architects” Read these related posts on 360east: Want to show modern design in Dubai? Cover up those chandeliers! International Design Forum: Arabia’s design…