"Just Right" Design" (for Middle East Interiors magazine, Bahrain)
Yes, one can see again. The cement dust is settling. The construction hysteria has subsided. The greedy investor-circus has moved on. Developments have stopped taking steroids. The ego of vertical concrete opulence has tarnished. An organic reality is being revealed. All good things come to an end. With every ending there’s a new beginning. And that’s the light at the end of this past tunnel that we can all celebrate. Finally. No longer do we have to be windswept innocent bystanders but can actually be active participants.
Been there done that. Through self supported design imperialism, we have successfully copy-pasted international brands ad nauseum. Regardless of appropriateness, relevance or need, we have furnished our lives with Fendi, Ferragamo, Armani, Hadid, Starke, Rashid…..brands, brands and more brands. Shoes, bags, clothes, eyewear, food, buildings and interiors. How tiresome, unimaginative and demeaning. We should be ashamed of ourselves. Are we a mere trading post for international brands to promote their wares? Are we just a glamorous souk? Has there really been no evolution from the historic Bedouin days of nomadic trading?
Enough. We now have all the information to create our own language of design. Inspired by others, not copied from others and not imposed on us by others. Where is the regionally appropriate design? A design language that understands international concepts but then translates them into relevant marks in the urban infrastructure, architecture and interiors for the complex, diverse, sensitive and vibrant region we call home.
This is the time to create our own ‘’just right’’ design vernacular. The time is now. Design from inside out. We are Vetruvius man and the built environment will be generated from within us based on our needs, dimensions, values, cultures and history. It is exciting times. Time to kick into fifth gear. Let the everything past be water under the bridge and start to celebrate experimental design. Give the rest of the world our version. Not just yet more re enactments of ‘’arabic’’ style from an external non arab stereotype.
Where does one begin? At the beginning. Understanding the self. Understanding the beauty of the shifting sands. A landscape that redesigns itself daily based on time of year and seasons. We need a vernacular that is like our physical, intellectual and cultural landscape: minimal, sensitive, yet strong, hardy, flexible and lived on by myriad of different cultures, so it must be eclectic, friendly, hospitable, integrated and assimiltative.
For an inspiration to see how to do mis-matched, harmonious, delicately balanced relationships between form, colour, function, furniture, fabrics, light, humour and style we need to look at only one person: Ian Schraeger. Like Nicolas Ghesquiere, John Galliano, Rei Kawakubo, Alexander McQueen and Matthew Barney, Ian Schrager is a genius.
Schrager understands experiencing spaces. He designs entire volumes not just surface décor. His work is a total package – a holistic combination of elements that one would never expect to co-exist. Yet, they do. All of his interiors have their own signature, their own sense of style. Aside from the hidden mark of the genius, which one can only see in the fluidity and whimsical yet dramatic, stylish and sexy quality of it all, there is no copy-paste effect.
Each environment is treated like a couture creation. Sheer magic. His spaces are very theatrical, very ‘’Alice in wonderland’’, dream-esque, surreal, dramatic, unique, an unusual mixture of materials, colours, fabrics, unconventional, mysterious, inviting, eclectic, rich, sophisticated…..the adjectives are all accurate and never ending. Schrager plays with space and proportions like the artist, Gary Komarin, would, on his canvas.
Dubai is our canvas. We should create what is best for it. Design to make it proud of its heritage, of its vision, of its incredible growth, of its rich cultural influences due to geography, create spaces that have not been seen before, lead the design world from here, outwards. It is time we created interiors that are designed by us that live here and understand the fabric of this canvas. Interiors that can have all the above adjectives used yet not be copied from anywhere, just inspired by magicians like Ian Schrager.
Let there be Art
“A woman needs a man, like a fish needs a bicycle’’…
This terrific line from the U2 track ‘’Trying to throw your arms around the world’’ has a mysterious timeless resonance. Absurdly Duchampian in a sense. Loaded with inuendos. Silly but serious too. No different to the first markings Man made as a carnivore hunting an animal (we call it art), a mural he painted onto the wall of a cave, the quintessential interior, 25000 BC.
Seriously, art? (Some say that it could have merely been some pre alphabet telex communication!)
Needless to say, the relationship between art and interiors and the usage of art in interiors over centuries, globally, cross culturally is an intensely, densely interwoven narrative. It is a case study from hell even for Freud. A labyrinth beyond Bowie’s fantasies comprised of endless entangled vermicelliesque dependencies, nuances, idiosyncracies and a tension that is inexplicable, impossible to unravel and slippery as it continues to evolving magically year after year.
The creation of Adam by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel also represents the great iconic murals, art painted right onto the buildings interior architectural surface, like at Lascaux, and predicting another sort of Carnage. It too tells a story, has a narrative, a past, present and future that is appreciated by all who come to gawk at its magnificence regardless of their faiths.
Art has always had a power that the written word has been envious of. It has the capacity for flight, to transcend Man’s issues. It creates a platform of expression to document, guide, respond or critique the world that it is created within. The moment in time that it captures in a language open to the viewers injected opinion, still carries its own message. It is a message as a relative incident to art in the past and future, but also a strong message about the way we live today. Sometimes we are ever so arrogantly oblivious to our responsibility to society, culture and generations to follow. Art is the marker on the highway of civilisation that can be labelled inaccurately or misinterpreted entirely. Misguiding the future about its past.
Art is a note that one hears in a complex symphony of notes from myriad of instruments. It must carry its own identity, be heard, seen and yet not contradict. Beauty may lie in the eye of the beholder, but not all art is beautiful to all eyes, yet it is Art. Blues is not a sound all ears enjoy, but it is still undeniably a phenomenal genre of art in the vocabulary of music - rich, filled with structure, tradition and spirit.
With so much weight carried on its back, poor Art, like Ayn Rand’s ‘Atlas Shrugged’ is a cripple that gets aorta’s of air time by a select few and gets relegated into ornament for others; mass produced, lifeless, surface décor to fill blank space or to match the colours of resident furniture.
Regardless of whether one is in a commercial space or a residence, the interior is an experience that tells a story. A Denniston Interior or an Ian Shraeger interior both tell stories with Art as another element critical to the holistic balance of the design.
In a truly excellent interior design, where all the elements are as vital as all others, Art is not used as a last minute decorative thought. It is an intrinsic part of the overall concept, the narrative, it stands alone, but is a team player. It is complimentary to the space, adding value by creating another layer to the mood, but it never becomes background, wallpaper or ‘’matched’’ in the true sense of camouflage. Art is the icing on the cake, the final crescendo, the ‘’wow factor’’, taking the bow before the curtains close.
(By Zain Mustafa, August 2009, for Middle East Interiors Magazine)
Plastic Fantastic
Having given it a great deal of thought, trying to be as politically and environmentally correct on the issue, I have discovered that there is no two ways of looking at the use of plastic.
Don’t do it!
Regardless of whether the plastic is being used towards the decorative enhancement of our bodies, on our faces or as (floatation device) implants elsewhere on the body, whether one is a wannabe-rock star or a variation on the exotic dancer industry, the use of plastic as shelving devices on one’s torsos or in one’s living rooms is a huge ‘’NO-NO!!’’.
Everyone, in the civilised world and in the gulf region, has at some point tripped over the enigmatic phrase ‘’ there’s a time and place for everything’’. Surely powerful and poignant words of wisdom when applied to the wrong situation under inappropriate conditions could make any circumstance go enormously belly up. One can easily apply the same to the use of plastic in interiors.
Plastic is an incredible invention. It has been developed and used successfully in the medical industry, car manufacturing, the toy industry, various forms of packaging and a plethora of furniture designs too. Like nuclear power, it too can be misused and abused. The negative impact may not be as explosive, but can be equally, if not more, uncomfortable in the long run.
At a very white, glossy, glamorous, ‘’contemporary’’, minimalist fashion multi brand boutique recently I had the opportunity to rest my tired self on a stunning equally glossy molded form of seating that could have been inspired by Zaha Hadid’s work or drift wood. It looked perfectly poised, as it sat by the edge of the glass handrail ready to transform into sculpture. Then I sat on it. It was a relief to sit. But even the slight dip in the centre to accommodate for any size of derriere was not enough to keep me there for long. Soon I was very aware of the hard surface, very uncomfortable and back to shopping not fully rested.
It may sound like a series of mixed messages, but the truth of the matter is that though designs of this nature are fine in commercial, retail environments, many plastic furniture designs carry more value for their line, form and aesthetic than function and comfort. In fact if they have not been created from recycled others and are not able to be recycled then their value should drop even more in today’s environmentally sensitive design arena.
Toys for ankle-biters, furniture for kindergartens for them to play with and use as educational tools to understand etiquette and interiors at a subliminal level is terrific. Bringing adult sized versions of that furniture home, decades later, to live with is not advisable.
It was novel, experimental, boho-chic in the sixties, today it needs to be contextual and as non-egotistical as possible. It must be recyclable and only if it has invisible parts that do not ever come in direct contact with exposed human skin, can it be acceptable. It needs to be part of the ‘’green’’ infrastructure.
For bodies, residences, hotels, spas and any environment other than gyms, certain parts of airports, schools, hospitals, prisons, trailer parks, barbeque pits or pool areas, plastic furniture is best avoided with a smile.
(By Zain Mustafa, July 2009, for Middle East Interiors Magazine)
Living Airports
Living with a mother who has worked for an airline all her life and has the love of travel woven into her every blood cell, I have had the pleasure of globe trotting with her as a baby, a toddler, a teen being dragged through Rome and Florence, bored, and then flown in and out of the UK through all my boarding school years before getting into much longer flights through all sorts of European airports during my university years in New York.
This year I had the most amazing flying experience flying in and out of Terminal 5 at Heathrow. It was spectacular. Unheard of with reference to Heathrow, I know. Not only was the actual flight on BA smooth and effortless it matched their experienced service from the crew too. And then arrival at T5 was equally beautiful. Well designed, well lit, signed to be friendly to any passenger, open and spacious but not vacuous. Really well balanced. The check in at departure was also easy, for people like me not used to self check in the traditionally cold and colour conscious British staff on duty smiled, were helpful, not condescending and didn’t make me feel like I had just got out of an ESL course, like one can feel at regional airports.
Whoever designs airports, in cahouts with the civil aviation decision makers forget the condition of the travellers – they are tired. Airports here need intuitive interior design processes applied for movement and procession. They need variety of types of areas to sit or sleep in, lit in different appropriate styles for single passengers, business travellers, mothers with children, the elderly or large groups. Right now they are mere problems solved in a rushed manner with no respect shown to the actual time spent within the airport or its lounges. In our desperate attempts to modernise, we have forgotten that travellers are tired humans of all ages, races and needs, not just mechanical robots that need to be entertained.
An airport lounge should really be a travellers spa time between sitting in the cramped confines of aircrafts shuttling them in and out of cities. Interior designers need to work in unison with the architectural consultants, signage designers, graphic designers, airport security, the catering companies, hotels, restaurants and Duty Free so that the layered experiences all work in tandem with each other, complimenting each others strengths and thereby uplifting the overall transit experience.
Airports here in the Gulf need to be designed by a one-stop-shop team that can design all the elements simultaneously instead of just adding on to each other like a 10 tiered cheap marzipan cake! Where are you The Caisson Project team, the Gulf needs you now!
Newly built airports in the gulf area have no excuse to be not only state of the art in their usage of technology but they have the precedents too of brilliant airports like T5 or Schipol In Amsterdam or Zurich airport to study and derive the best elements from, to show our travellers, our regional guests, a warmth and ease of welcome through design that is efficient but also human centric, easy to navigate through, comfortable and sexy.
Business class lounges that are unnecessarily vast as some are here, end up feeling like enormous communist cafeterias furnished by a blue pleather upholstery from the old East Germany. These are transit areas easy to get lost getting in and out of them. Horrid! Why? This is not cool, nor elegant, not stylish, not comfortable and least of all glamourous.
Where are the warm light areas to doze in, the imax sized video wall plasmas (so one can leave their TV binoculars at home), the suspended mobile sculptures by Calder, the professionally done way finding signage, where is the elegance of travel experience gone? Here in the gulf, are we now to resign ourselves with airports only a step away from over decorated labyrinths?
(By Zain Mustafa, June 2009, for Middle East Interiors magazine)
Rethinking Hotel Design
A wise man once said ‘’dig wells for when there’s no water’’. This is that time for us. While value-for-money is of utmost importance and everyone is wondering how much of a bang they will get for every limited buck they have in the present global economy it is time for quality design to lead the way.
Investors, designers, builders were once in a hurry-on-steroids to get hotels completed. These were for the ever pouring in tourists and the speculative tourists we were all looking forward to till 2012. Hotels mushroomed also to serve the business folk coming into the region to dig for gold. Today the same hotel developers are now breathing (not panting) and beginning to look at their creations with some concern. No surprises there.
For the few enlightened ones among us that see the disjointed Frankenstein-like environments we’ve been responsible for giving birth to, we are looking at methods to improve the rush-job, while the rest are (or at least should be) looking at industrial scale, heavy duty cosmetic surgeries, facelifts, renovations!
Roll up your sleeves boys and girls, its time for some hard work, some hard earned money, some sweat on the brow and some real design competition.
Let’s be honest. It’s a very exciting time to be building or renovating hotels. After having ignored the world’s design precedents to inspire us to create our own style, we now have our own precedents to work from. Brilliant! What better way for a child to learn than from their own mistakes? It’s the perfect platform.
Quintessentially, hotels in the region have sped through design and construction phases by doing a very simple copy-paste equation based on the Operator’s manuals with a hint of the owner’s whim. Makes sense, for back then. Today the opportunities are far more challenging.
If hotels are supposed to be homes away from home, then this is the time to take them to the next level. Why not stop copying and start creating our own look, our own style? Whether we are in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain or Saudi, we are geographically based in the centre of all trade routes. We have access to some of the most spectacular materials, art and furniture extending from the farthest in the East to the most western corner Emirates can fly to.
Skilled labour (I know an oxymoron to many who have worked in the region recently) is now available at extremely reasonable rates from anywhere in the world. One can now employ these craftsmen, collaborate with enormous international procurement agencies, have beautifully detailed furniture, lights, rugs, fabrics and accessories custom created anywhere in the world for the best prices. It’s a win-win situation.
With the drive to go vertical gone, but the need to continue still alive, this is a great era in the historic story of the region. It is time for a design renaissance that focuses on creating from the inside out. Using the vast array of cultural influences that are here to lead the hotel interiors industry into truly eclectic spaces that are not copied, whimsical, harmoniously mis-matched, humorous and imperfect homes away from home.
If anyone believes that living in the Armani Hotel is stylish, please look at the definition of style. It’s not about living in a showroom. It’s about mixing and matching. That’s what stylists do. If we want to be leaders in the design style arena, this is our chance to invent and brand our own look for others to copy.
Come on hoteliers, rip out those intrusive, abrasive spot lights and the wall-to-wall printed carpets straight out of the hallways of ‘’The Shining’’; un-train the staff from the usual mechanical etiquette into the human intelligent version; replace with others from the best establishments in the world that need employment; take the uniforms that match the carpets off them; burn the cushions that camouflage into the wallpaper; buy art that’s real and not just decorative within a frame; think outside of the old box; go to design associations that offer a fresh approach in a one-stop-shop structure and reach into a new age of design.
Hotels - renovate now!
(by zain Mustafa, May 2009, for Middle East Interiors Magazine)
