Eastern Living

Two semesters ago I took an Islamic art and architecture class. I always loved Islamic patterns but this class made me fall in love with it all! The history, details, and influences behind it fascinated me. This is when I knew, my dream house would contain all those elements. Here are some lovely pictures of modern spaces employing Islamic architectural features. 

Islamic art/architecture has 3 main elements: 1) Foliage 2) Geometry 3) Calligraphy

 The oldest Islamic architectural site is the Holy Kaaba in Mekkah followed by the Dome of the Rock

My favorite Islamic architectural periods are: Mamluk (think carved domes and intricate wooden doors) Safavid (think colorful tiles), and Moroccan styles.

I leave with the contemporary take on Islamic architecture and decor:

Social Media Revolution

Yes, it's a wonderful time to be a media student!

Hotel Wall Tattoos

What is a hotel wall tattoo?

During an episode of White Collar, one of the characters shares a hotel secret which is wall tattoos. I looked into it, and found out that they are real!

A hotel wall tattoo is hidden art behind the paintings on the walls of a hotel room.

It is credited to a guy names Joshua Homme. He created many hotel wall tattoos while he was touring with Queens of the Stone Age (I'm guessing that's a band).

I think it's really cool! I know the first thing I am going to do if I'm ever in a hotel room this summer is check behind the paintings. I hope I find some. Also, I  will try to do a wall tattoo myself (someday! I think I will, I've taken up drawing this summer so I know I'll be good at it. There's a little part of me that says I shouldn't and that I shouldn't vandalize hotel property... but you never know I may get the courage to do it!

I got the above images from a website documenting secret wall tattoos: http://www.secretwalltattoos.com/index.php

Enjoy!

Brave New World

Last Thursday, I attended the Brave New World: Senior Project Exhibition by AUD students at The Ara Gallery.

It wasn't an art exhibition. It was an exhibition of ideas presented through design. I enjoyed my time and the exhibition appealed to me a lot. As a communications person, I like to think of myself as someone from the ideas business rather than arts.

These are the projects I absolutely loved!

Abdul Azim Al Ghussein

This is a poster that represents the original project. If I'm not mistaken Abdul Azim is inspired by Neil Gaiman's work. So his project revolves around the letter D, representing Dubai, Dreams, D.... and other words that begin with the letter D. He created a book with all these different characters and he tells their stories through words and illustrations too. The book looked pretty amazing. I wish I could show it to you guys, but he only had one copy.

Sally Alzaza

Sally's project is part of an initiative by an NGO she worked for in Damascus (her hometown.). The NGO's initiative promoted individuals giving back to society, and then the NGO would give something back to these individuals. It is sort of like a pay-it forwards kind of thing. What I loved the most was the tree that is inspired by Avatar's  tree of life. You get colored leaves where you write down what you wish for the world or what you are planning on giving back. Here's my leaf:

Reem Akre

This project is a campaign that promotes self-worth in the face of exploitive advertising. The campaign's message tells consumers that they don't have to buy stuff to be confident or happy. The campaign is called "Brand Me". 

Maya El Chammas

 Maya's project is campaign that proposes a solution to the negativity within us that hinders us from doing what we are capable of doing. The first image is of trash can. You acknowledge you're negative thoughts, you write them down, and then dispose them in this special bin where the paper is recycled afterwards. "I Hate Their Faces" is an example of a negative thought. I think its pretty creative and a lot of people can relate to it.

Mashal Khan

This project consists of a book, but it is also a campaign to promote the creation of parks in Dubai. It is an environmental campaign. You can only see the poster here, but the book was amazing! It was very innovative in terms of design and style. I also liked the promotional items (bottom-right), there's this bookmark-like thing, you put it up in front of your eyes and its supposed to reduce stress. Then there's the postcard, which you fill in and then send to Dubai Municipality to request the creation of parks in Dubai. 

For more info visit The Ara Gallery's website: thearagallery.ae

Positive

What is positivity?

Are we more positive when we are happy?

What makes us happy?

Love

Ambition

Real  life magic

Beauty

Friends

Knowledge

Faith

Laughter

* in no particular order

LOVEMARKS: Inspiration

"I believe the most important thing any adult can do for a child, any leader can do for his or her people, and product can do for its owner, any event can do for its audience, is to inspire them."

Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi, Ideas Company

Dynamic Tower

This is proposed to tower to be built in Dubai designed by architecht David Fisher. Each floor will rotate independently.

How cool is that?!

This made me smile!

The National Geographic brings Up into life. They created a real-life version of the house lifted into the air by balloons.

picture credit: The Symphony Style File

picture from the animated movie Up

TED: Seth Godin on Standing Out

LOVEMARKS: Arab Countries

I am currently reading Kevin Robert's book "Lovemarks: The future beyond brands". It was a special gift from my uncle among other books by Kevin Roberts.

I think I'll be posting ideas and thoughts on what I read here on the blog every once in a while.

Here's what I found interesting from the first chapter:

"In the Middle East I learned lessons that have been invaluable to me about how to connect with consumers, and how to do it in a place where mass marketing was in its infancy.

I learned to love the poeple. In Arab countries yoy make friends for life. The people were genuine, emotional, family-focused, hospitable. They understood their traditions and the past, and they really understood that they had a completely different future. It was very exciting. There was little resistance to the new because they didn't have much of a present. They had a past and they had a future."

This made my think of what's happening in the Arab world. I think you can substitute the words "Arab countries" with a  specific name of any other Arab country and that thought would be just as true.

Thinking about the UAE I find that it applies perfectly. We know our history, we understand our traditions, we know that the future will be a lot different than that, but what about our present? I don't think that we don't have a present. I think where we are right now the lines between the past, present, and future are blurred. I am not what my grandmother was, I am not what my (future) children will be, but I am the bridge in between.





What do you think?