Exit Portfolio Samar Idris
I am designing an obscure (literally obscuring), form of rebellion. I don’t know why nor against whom.
The ultimate rebellion was not making my bed every morning. So maybe it’s against my mom? Or perhaps life?
I’m pretty sure social construction and societal expectations of tight and ordered beds have something to do with this.
Excuse me while I disorder my pillows.
There are no beds on the moon. Also, there is no oxygen.
branding
4th year project
mckenzie taxidermy
Rejected logo, McK
Rejected logo process, McK
Rejected logos, McK
X
X
Dead Illustrations, McK
Rejected logos, McK
McK
McKenzie Taxidermy
Final logo, McK
Rejected logo/ 3D application, McK
Larry Mckenzie Head honcho
tel: 800-279-7985 mobile: +971 456 7890 taxidermy@mckenziesp.com www.mckenziesp.com
Business card, McK
McKenzie Taxidermy
X Illustration, McK
Envelope/ illustration, McK
X
videos
3rd year Stop motion 01:06 Starring Zilly the God Dinosaur
“They are very young. And on their earth, as they call it, they never communicate with other planets. They revolve about all alone in space.” “Oh,”
the thin beast said.
“Aren’t they lonely?”
4th year 01:38 Inspired by lack of human interaction, by dancing without touching
- Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
We will collide, he said In approximately 3.7 billion years. Milk-dromeda, he called it, referring to the hybrid namesake of his and her majesty as they danced, dispersed, and married.
But don’t worry, he continued, There are hundreds of billion of stars. But our planet is in no danger, he reassured. They just watch, light-years apart, As the party crashers arrive. Reassured, they will dance alone.
Pulse
4th year 04:02 Inspired by my jealousy of jellyfish and all things bioluminescent at the bottom of the sea
We are perpetually sinking.
With every heartbeat, you have one less.
We spend our time constructing sand castles.
But they will inevitably be swept by the almighty sea.
So I’ll just lie here, Poseidon, and wait.
You can have my ankles.
You can drag me, smiling, into your kingdom.
Where like children, we will read stories with flashlights, in the dark.
So just, read me to sleep.
Read me to my eternal sleep.
photography
How is it
that
it
grows
colder
and
colder
under these covers?
Under cover
of
this:
One dog night.
June 23rd, 2009
The stories may be different, but the theme and emotion remain the same. The motive that drives it all is the same xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. xxx mind xxxxxxxxxxxxx get a hold xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx run wild. Are xxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ? In my head? Starved for xxxxxxxx life beyond xxxxxxxxxxxxxx. A thing that’s all my own.
(Actual journal entry following a year of silence.)
illustration
4th year
Process illustrations, ink + dip pen
Process illustrations, ink + dry brush
Illustrations, ink + dry brush
Illustrations, ink + dry brush
Illustrations, book cover, Inspired by “Corpse Smoker” by Alissa Nutting ink + dry brush
Illustrations, book cover, Inspired by “Corpse Smoker” by Alissa Nutting ink + dry brush
“Your hair.”
“It is ghost-blown.”
Quote from the short story “Knife Thrower” from the book “Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls” by Alissa Nutting.
editorial
3rd year Autobiographical booklet personal essays + collage
OPEN IF DEAD, ME, NOT YOU. For you would clearly be a ghost, Your fingers will go straight through.
Samar Idris
My y nam n e is is Sama Samar, r, pro p nounce pronou nced d “su su umm mme mer” r but ut t wi with t rol th rollin ling g the t “r” r”. .
It t mea ea ans co con on nver versat sat tion at t
nig ight. ig ght. t. Wh Which h is s ap app pro r pri pr ate pr te sin ince c I love ce v the th he nigh night, g t, and nd I talk tal k to myse myse y lf. yself. lf A lot t of ti times mes es it’ t s rhym hym y ed wit ymed ym with i h “Qam Q ar” ar r wh which ich means s moo m n in Arab Arab r ic ra ic. c. c . If I I had a a dif i fer erent ent nt na name name e I w woul oul ou uldn’ dn’ d n t have ave
an and n I would hav ave e missed him.
been n frie iends ie nds d wi with th the mo oon, n n,
I am 21 year rs old old d b but bu ut u t I fee feel l infin nit ni tel ly olde ol lde der. . And A An I do n no not ot t li e it. If lik li f I coul coul u d have a it my y way y, I wo w uld li ike k to ne never be tak a en ser rio i sly iou ly y, and nd to to bec ecome e m a homele el less ss po po t. poe t I woul ould u d wo ry wor y abo bo ou ut t whe wh h re my y nex next t meal meal l is com o ing om ng fr rom an a and not t abo bou out the e fu ure fut ur r I do not ha have/ v w wan nt. I nt. care car e to to leav eave no o legacy l g cy cy and I want want to ow own n no n poss ossess ession ssio ons, espe esp peci eciall ally y huma m n ones n , lest ne e t they the y end end up p own ow ing ng g me me.
I want wan to t gi give ev everyt eve rythin ryt y hing g up up and g go o no owhe h re, li like ke e Chr C ist i oph p er r from fro m the the he boo bo o k, k “In I to The he e Wi Wild ld” d” ”. I want to go g to to a cave cav ave wher wher here e I cann not t sin s a d prep an r pare re pa are e fo f r my y aft terl erlife ife f . You’ Yo ou u d thin think k the h s ry sto y end ending ng g wi ith h his hi de ea at ath th is sad sa d, but t act ctual ct ual ually, ally, y it t’s s qui qu qu ui it te e app pprop ropria iate. ia t te It wo would uld be aw war awk rd to go back bac ack c ho home, me pi me, p ck k up p the re remot m e and mot n res re ume me wa me atch tching ing g televi tel ev sio ion afte ft r so gran a d a ges estur t e. H He e sho hou uld ldn’t ’t ha h ve ve di ied of
ex expos re, h he e shou should d hav ave X p sure
died die d in n an a
He should have died from He
exp explos si ion on. X plos
fireworks on on a death parade. p
The name game
I don’ on’t t kno know ow w wh w at t to o ta tal al lk abo bou out ou t when n it it come mes to my chil me hi ildho il dh d ho ood. od od. d My sis i ter sa said id d I was a weir weir eird ei d bab ab by. y She th t oug ou ugh ug ht t I was s st strang str ang nge and an d wo ould ob obser se ser serve erve er e me e fro ro r om af far ar. a She sa sai ai id d tha hat it it took took my mo m the th h r ages age s to to get ge et t me to t smi mi m ile e for or a pho p hoto tograp ph, h,
and an n th nd he en n I di id d it it all all wr al wron ong ng g.
M be May b it i was wa al a l an omen en. . O Or r may aybe b it was be wa a ju j s st t goo g d prac go a t tic ce, all pa p rt of the t th le l earn ar ing cu c rve rve. . I can a preten nd much h bette t r now. ow. ow.
I ca an n fak fake my sm fake mi mil il les e lik like a pr ro. o
Cheese
I reme re eme m mbe mber r sit sit itt ttin t ing i ng o on n ou o r old, old , gree gree reen n sofa sofa of fa. . I mu m st st’ve st’ v bee bee be en 9 year ears s old, old, g gi ive or tak ta e. e My y father fat her ba bange ng nge g d his his e elb lbow w on on the th he edg dg ge of of the sof o a, and of nd d when wh hen e his hi is f e con fac ont n ort orted ed wit th pain pain ain, , m mine ine ne was s sh s att at t ere er d with with t di d sbe sb lie ief. ie f. I nev ver kne ew men c cou ould fe fee e l. The Th y co ld fee cou feel?! ! I was was a du umbf b oun ounded ded e . To thi th s day, ay on o so s me m lev e el, ev el I thi ink I stil i l don’t beli e e eve e it t. I need ne ee eed e to o p po oke k the em to make a su e they sur hey y bl bleed eed e . Hu urt rt t th them e a em lit little it ttle t , ju ust s th the righ righ ght amou mou mo o nt. nt. Smi mi ile l to o mys mys y elf l a as s I cal ca cul culate ate e t the we ell cal al a lcu culate cul t d move ve I wil ve ill mak a e. ak e Jus J st t the he r rig ri ight t amo am mo oun unt u t of f hur h rt t comb mb bin ine ne n ed with it th ju j st t the t rig right ig gh ht t amo am m unt nt of nt f offha offha of and nde d dne dness. s I watc a h thei at ei ir face face aces s paus paus a e, au puzzle puz ed; d; the t n thin thin hin ink k bett et er of et f p inti poi pointi ti ing g out o th he pape pe p er cut cut t I j t gave ju jus e th hem. em Fo For they For hey ar he re big big g boys, boy ys,
and bi ig boys bo oys do oys don’t n’t t cr cry. cry. y
Let’s watch the stars
My y fri friend end was talk lking ing g ab about out ut
My y fri friend end nd sa s id i her h mu m use
her dr drawi awing ng g mus mu e d dist i rac ctin ting g
distra dis t cte tra ted d her, , te t lli ling li ng g her er r to o
her. her . I im imagi agined g ned a win wingle g ess gle
forget for g get ge w at wh t she h wa w s doin ing a in and nd d to o
p ie sho pixie pix showin wing g a lo l t of of leg leg g in
draw. draw dr dra w. Ple lead le adi adi ding ing ng wit with her wi her er to to co com com ome
a shor shor rt dres dress, s, try try ryi ying ing g to t ge get
out ou u an and d pl pl la lay ay a y. I co could uld ld d se see her her er
her at atten tentio tion n whil whil ile e lean ea aning ing g
g g giggli gig gg gling gl g and an nd po p uti pouti u ng, ng beg eg ggin gin ing and nd
flirta flirta rtatio tiousl u y on on the the tab ta le.
bar arefo efoot. efo ot. Th The e pixi pi ixi ie look look o ed ok d lik lik li ke
You’d You d thi t nk her be being ing g a pix p ie pixie
one of f my y fr frien ien i end’s ’s s dr rawi a ngs aw gs,
with wit h no no wing ngs g woul ould d rend render er r
a obn an noxi o ou ox ous u li littl t e slut slut ut. ut .
her an or ordin dinary ary ry gi g rl, bu girl, b t she she h was a n’t n . The The win wind d play play yed e wit with h her tr trans an luc ans ucent en sk ent skirt i irt a d h an hair i . ir I wa was as squ squint q int inting ing g at he h r fr rom om the he e su un.
I am bl loc cked by y my y de depressi press pre ssi s s on. on n I am left left eft in a sta state te of f co c ple com p te plete t unw nwill ill illing l ing gness nes ess to p part a ici art ic pat p e in pate these the se arb arbitr itrary itr ary ry mo m t tio ti ions tha tha h t tot tal l “li “life fe” ”.
We e fel ll sile le ent, t, my y fr frien iend d and I. I
“My y mu m se is a asl leep.” p I said, “She is aski sking ng g me to come to b d.“ bed “ Blocked
I hate bi bir rds
Hearin Hea ring rin g them them ch chirp irp. p. Sig gnif nifyin y g the end of yin
the he ni nig ght ht. .
Warni Warn ing the dissip sipat pati ion of
my y co cov ver. r
Leavin Lea ving g me no option but to
g t up get up. p. Get dr d ess essed ed. . Walk Wal k outs outs ut ide ide. . Look Loo k them them st strai raight g ght i in
the ey eye. ye.
the ey eye. ye.
And
And
sigh.
And
And
forgive them. forgive them.
But
But
They The y neve er rele rele elent They The nt.y neve nt er rele rele elent nt. nt
And
And
they the y neve never r apol pologi they the ogize ogi yze ze. never neve r apol pologi ogize ogi ze. ze
They chirp.
sigh.
They chirp.
Mostly, I’m glad to have taken my father’s advice and to have found something better to do. Something better than the game I invented:
eating rusted metal mesh to see if I’d die of tetanus. Little did I know,
*****Lockjaw is the most common symptom of tetanus.
If the muscles of the face stiffen, a
person with tetanus looks as if he or she has a fixed smile that does not change.*****
I had been vacc Xbeen inated. I had vacc X inated.
Vaccinated Vaccinated
THE END. I dead.
2nd year Experimental booklet postcards + commentary
ME, ME, YOU, THE NILE AND THE MOON
“Not a shred of evidence exists in favour of the idea that life is serious.” —Brendan Gill
SIDE EFFECTS OF BEING OFF OF YOUR MEDICATION (OR YOUR ROCKER).
This is a Persian person. This is a Persian person.
I swear.
I swear.
Arabs. Makes you think of belly dancers. Thinking of belly dancers yet? Sorry to break it to you but we do not break it down, unless by “It” you mean buildings. We do not dance. We war. Only dancing we do is hopping and dodging gunfi re, like samba dancing baby chickens, also known as chicks, on hot Egyptian trays. C’mon everybody do the moon walk, now do the mine avoidance maneuver!
If you’re gonna do tacky bellydancer. Be an artist, do it right. Make it tacky times 3. Just tacky? Not interested. Tacky times three? Yes please. Now we have something. You need to crop your sarcasm right.
FYI, they don’t take high fives. only singles.
Now pack on the theNow tack.pack on the the tack.
I thought it was another shitty postcard. Well that one is. This one is a Pretty in Pink Political Proclamation. Welcome.
I almost don’t want to know what you have to say.
I almost don’t want to know what you have to say.
Welcome. Enjoy your stay.
What if women ruled the world? Would the guns be pink? Do the bullets come out with glitter? Is peace even a possibility? When there were only four of you on this earth, one of you commited murder. Yes i’m talking about you Cain. But I mean with name like Cain... Cmon, what did you guys expect? So a quarter of you, 25%, children of Adam, are murderers. Actually no wait. If Abel died, then Cain fathered us all. Oh snap. We are all murderers.
They said that they appreciate the challenge. The further you get into this book, the more challenging it gets. What artists say isn’t worth a damn sometimes anyway. And sometimes, explaining something defeats the purpose of the supposed poetry of the piece. The poetic ambiguity. Like explaining your jokes. It breaks your heart when no one laughs. But you don’t cry. You act like a man. Keyword: act. You cry alone. In the bathroom. You know, like a man…
C’mon in, make youself at home. I said, come in. Close the door behind you and hold today’s newspaper. Now smile for the camera. The less noise you make, the less dead I will kill you.
Racist. Yes, you.
Ok. Maybe not so much.
Which is the post card and which is the art piece? If you ask a professor a question, they always philosophize. Well, philosophize this motherfuckers. No man is an island. But can an island be a man? If it looks like a face I guess. This one is called Jimmy.
REET CORNER RT RANT WITH AN NGRY FACE
“Record, I am Arab”
Mabrook.
Is that it? Because I can fi nd millions of you. Unless they were all killed...
You are more than that. No you don’t. You’re Arab. They’re all probably just about war. That’s how he says I love you. Did I mention he’s an artist? That explains a lot.
He writes “How i love you” on a mirror. Then dramatically exits the room. Fucking weirdo.
There are many Persian artists in the UAE art scene. Probably because there are many Persians in the UAE. These things called percentages, it’s absolutely fascinating how they work. But don’t call them Arab or they get pissed off. Which is offensive, what’s arong with being Arab? Besides everything? Calm down, its ok to be racist against your own as well as and others.
No Arabian artistry, just political commentary.
Some saw polyester atrocities, while others saw hot, sweaty love. Hot and sweaty due to the stifl ing quality of polyester of course.
You look very beautiful tonight baby. Your beauty is inversely proportional to that ugly-ass dress.
This is a Persian woman.
This is also a persian person. There are almost 5 persian people in this car.
So what makes something art? People can cash in on the content, the idea of something. But does that make them artists or documenters? Like crime scene photographers. But they don’t really cash in on that. If I were one, I’d make copies for myself. The dark room would be a pun. The red light would be unsettling.
Being on the outside looking in. or being on the inside looking out. what is this place we’re looking in and out from? Sounds like a recipe to get arrested. Or are we already in jail? Why don’t they think of us? Those inside? Just because I’m here doesn’t mean I want to be. And just because I’m here doesn’t mean I agree.
Well, this is defi nitely one view of Egypt. Like what you see? Pay extra for more. Extra time and go see the exhibition. Don’t you wish you were a patron of the arts. Thank the Lord I see no pyramid. It would be strange to circle her on the back of a camel. Staring… It is my turn yet? Public restroom secks is for free.
Come for our personality. Yeah, i’m sure the booze and the long legs had nothing to do with it.
She goes by the name Sunset.
There. It’s straight. Are you happy now? Nothing to see here. I just broke
My book is a nut house (I want to name it moonface, or face of the moon or me, me, you, the Nile and the moon or something). Ok back to my story. So you open the door, and someone is shouting at you (in all caps). BUT they’re warning you (the disclaimer, it makes sense). Then you walk in and meet Hannibal Lecter. He’s the serif type, calm, collected and delicate, but he’s spewing absolute shit.
SAMAR IDRIS
3rd year Editorial design
off
The The New, New, New New City City
“Don’t tell anyone,”
Rem Koolhaas said to me several years ago as we
would come next.
disorderly rows, for wealthy
single identity. It is sometimes
better suited to the
In both China and the Persian
expatriates from Riyadh and
hard to think of them as cities
speculators that first spurred
not very relevant anymore,”
Moscow. Long-established
at all. Dubai, which lays claim
its growth than to the workers
Jesse Reiser, an American
cities like Beijing and
to some of the world’s most
housed in huge complexes
architect working in Dubai,
expensive private islands, the
of factory-run barracks. Yet
told me recently. “What
for architects these cities
context are we talking about
headed down the F.D.R.
Gulf, cities comparable in size
Drive in New York, “but the
to New York have sprouted
20th-century city is over. It
up almost overnight. Only 30
Guangzhou have more
“The old contextual model is
has nothing new to teach us
years ago, Shenzhen was a
anymore. Our job is simply
small fishing village of a few
few decades, their original
largest theme park, has been
have also become vast fields
in a city that’s a few decades
to maintain it.” Koolhaas’s
thousand people, and Dubai
outlines swallowed by rings
derided as an urban tomb
of urban experimentation,
old? The problem is that we
viewpoint is widely shared
had merely a quarter million
of new development. Built at
where the rich live walled off
on a scale that not even the
are only beginning to figure
by close observers of the
people. Today Shenzhen has
phenomenal speeds, these
from the poor migrant workers
early Modernists, who first
out where to go from here.”
evolution of cities. But not
a population of eight million,
generic or instant cities, as
who serve them. Shenzhen is
envisioned the city as a field
even Koolhaas, it seems, was
and Dubai’s glittering towers,
they have been called, have
often criticized as a product
of gleaming towers, could
completely prepared for what
rising out of the desert in
no recognizable center, no
of unregulated development,
have dreamed of.
than doubled in size in a
tallest building and soon the
1
2
The sheer number of projects
barely 30 years old also seems
under construction and the
absurd. How do you breathe
corresponding investment in civic infrastructure — entire networks of new subway systems, freeways and canals; gargantuan new airports and public parks — can give the impression that anything is possible in this new world. The scale of these undertakings recalls the early part of the last century in America, when the country was confidently pointed toward the future. But it would be unimaginable in an American city today, where, in the face of shrinking state
Anything is possible in this new world.
the development plans for ground zero — can seem a mere blip in Beijing, which
neighborhoods, something
has embarked on dozens of
of their construction makes
closer in spirit to Los Angeles.
them seem decades old.
The breathtaking speed of
For some reason, our society
Nearby, a new freeway cut
their construction means that
wants to make everything
through the neighborhood,
they usually lack the layers —
old. I think we somehow lost our nerve.” Holl has reason to be
further disfiguring an area that, however modest, was once bursting with life.
exhilarated. His Beijing project, “If you take Venturi’s ideas
the mix of architectural styles and intricately related social strata — that give a city
architects have typically
“We’ve become too backward-
the most innovative housing
referring to Robert Venturi’s
drawn inspiration.
looking. In China, they want
complexes anywhere in the
groundbreaking work,
In Dubai, for instance, what
to make everything look
world: eight asymmetrical
new. This is their moment in
towers joined by a network of
“Learning From Las Vegas,” which called on architects to
of contemporary architecture
its complexity and from which
about the city,” Holl said,
depends on sifting through the cultural and historical layers that a site accumulates over time — whether neo-
might once have been the
Classical monuments or
product of 100 years of urban
enclosed bridges that create a
growth has been compressed
pedestrian zone in the sky. Yet
into a decade or so. Given such seismic shifts, even
this exhilaration also comes at a price: only the wealthiest of
the most talented architects
Beijing’s residents can afford
can seem to flounder for
Socialist-era housing — what similarly sized endeavors in
can be done if there is nothing
the last decade alone. “The
to sift through but sand?
irony is that we still don’t know if postmodernism was
to live here. Climbing to the
new models. No one wants
the end of Modernism or just
top of one of Holl’s towers, I
to return to the deadly
an interruption,” Koolhaas
looked out through a haze of
reconsider the importance
homogeneity associated
told me recently. “Was it a
with Modernism’s tabula
brief hiatus, and now we
billboards, storefronts), “and
rasa planning strategies.
are returning to something
his own, the kind of alienating
put them in Beijing or
The image of Le Corbusier
subdivisions that are so often
Tokyo, they don’t hold any
hovering godlike above Paris
long time, or is it something
cited as a symptom of the
water at all. When you get
ready to wipe aside entire
radically different? We
city’s unbridled, dehumanizing
into this scale, the rules
development. Protected
smog at the acres of luxuryhousing towers that surround
3
impact on the character of, say, New York — like
time. They want to make the
“Linked Hybrid,” is one of
could have a significant
as a series of decentralized
21st century their century.
his latest complex in Beijing.
matter how unique, virtually unnoticed. A project that
Instead, their vast size means
seem like a heroic act. “In work like I do here,” Steven
absorb any urban model, no
that they function primarily
and city budgets, expanding
Holl, a New York architect with
Cities like these, built on a colossal scale, seem to
radiate from a historic center
a single subway line can
several large projects in China,
healthy community into one that rose overnight?
as Paris and New York do.
America, I could never do
recently told me, referring to
life into a project at such a scale? How do you instill the fine-grained texture of a
of the everyday (strip malls,
that has been going on for a
districts and replace them
are in a condition we don’t
have to be rewritten. is so
with glass towers remains an
understand yet.”
by armed guards, these
incredible.” Because of this
emblem of Modernism’s attack
For architects faced with
residential high-rises stood on
density, cities like Beijing
what was until quite recently a
have few of the features we
working-class neighborhood,
associate with a traditional
even though the poor quality
metropolis. They do not
on the city’s historical fabric.
building these large urban
Yet the notion of finding
developments, the difficulty
“authenticity” in a sprawling metropolitan area that is
is to create something where there was nothing. If much
4
In a recent design for a
Koolhaas says he hopes
Several years ago, the
six-and-a-half-square-mile
that the plan will gain in
London-based, Iraqi-born
development in Dubai called
complexity as the buildings’
architect Zaha Hadid received
Waterfront City, Koolhaas
functions are worked out;
a phone call from a Chinese
proposed creating an urban
he says he was thrilled to
developer asking if she might
island inspired by a section of Midtown Manhattan. The
learn that the government
be interested in designing a
wanted both a courthouse
500-acre urban development
Yet once construction began,
design linked a dense grid
and a mosque on the
on the outskirts of Singapore.
the design of the buildings
of conventional towers to
island. “Another option
Hadid had never met the
was left to local architects
the mainland by a system of
that I personally find very
developer before. She was
hired by the developer.
interesting,” Koolhaas told
soon working on the master
As the towers rose in clusters
bridges. A series of stunning “iconic” buildings — a gigantic,
me, “is the modernist
plan for “One North,” a
hollowed-out Piranesian
vernacular of the 1970s —
mixed-use development
sphere at the island’s edge;
buildings that once you put
with a projected population
intent. With more than
a spiraling tower that winds
them in Singapore or Dubai
of about 140,000. Located
20 blocks now complete,
around an airy public atrium
take on totally different
on what was once a military
parts of the city look
site, Hadid’s design conjured
surprisingly conventional.
— were intended to give the
meanings. Some of the
city a distinct flavor. Koolhaas
modern typologies work
scattered across the site, it was difficult to read the formal
a high-tech mountainous
Hadid revived the concept
said he hoped, in this way,
in Asia even though they
terrain. Dubbed the “urban
to infuse this entirely new
are totally dysfunctional in
carpet,” it was intended to
won a competition to create
several years later, when she
development with something
classical arcades lining the
America. Typologies we’ve
blend office and residential
a 1,360-acre business district
of the feeling of an older city.
downtown streets. But the
rejected turn out to be viable
towers and highways and
in a former industrial zone on
But while the outlines are
majority of Dubai’s inhabitants
in other contexts.” The challenges of building
public parks into a seamless
the outskirts of Istanbul. This
Smallscale city from scratch
intriguing, he is still coming
are foreign-born, and the
to terms with how to create
arcaded streets could easily
what amounts to a small-
lines of the traditional street
promising: a hilly landscape
an organic whole. In the early
suggest a theme-park version
scale city from scratch are
grid, the sinuous curves of
at the edge of the sea flanked
stages of the design, Koolhaas
of a traditional Arab city.
compounded by the realities
the freeways suggested a
experimented with somewhat
Koolhaas is painfully aware
of working in a global
more fluid, mobile society.
of how hard it is to escape
neighborhoods on either side.
conventional models of public
marketplace. An architect of
The rooftops, whose heights
the generic.
To allow the development to
space: a boardwalk along the
Koolhaas’s stature may be
were subject to stringent
grow in a more natural way
grappling simultaneously with
regulations, looked as if they
the design of a television
were cut from a single piece
island’s perimeter, a narrow park cutting through its center,
“A city like Dubai is literally built on a desert,” Koolhaas
whole. Against the rigid
time, the context was more
by older working-class
than at One North, it would
be built in phases that would
conceded when I asked him
begin at the waterfront and
about the project. “There is
spread inland, eventually
a weird alternation between
connecting to the street grid
density and emptiness. You
of the older neighborhoods.
rarely feel that you are
In an effort to preserve the
designing for people who
texture of her original concept,
are actually there but for communities that have yet to be assembled. The vernacular is too faint, too precarious to become something on which you can base an architecture.”
Hadid developed a series of headquarters complex in
building prototypes, including
of crumpled fabric, giving
Beijing, a stock exchange
the composition a haunting
in Shenzhen and a 20-block
unity. “We wanted to create
neighborhood in Dubai,
a complex order rather than
as well as a dozen buildings
either the monotony of
in Europe. The intense
Modernism or the chaos you
competition for these
find in contemporary cities,”
commissions means that
Hadid said.
a star-shaped tower and a housing block organized around a central court, and staggered the heights of the buildings to reflect the existing terrain.
architects are often forced to churn out seductive designs in weeks or months, tweaking their models to fit local conditions.
5
6
me to do the project, it was
If Hadid’s plan is formally inventive, it is still unclear
just housing. I suggested
whether it has escaped the
adding the cinematheque, the
homogeneity that was a
kindergarten. I added an 80-
hallmark of Modernist urban-
room hotel and the swimming
renewal projects. Its sheer
pool as well. Anywhere else,
size coupled with the fact that
they’d build it in phases over
the shapes of the buildings
several years. It’s too big.
were conceived by a single
After our meeting, they said
architect means the result may
we’re building the whole
well be more uniform, and
thing all at once. I couldn’t
ultimately more rigid, than
believe it. We haven’t had to
Hadid intended.
compromise anything.
Indeed, contemporary
Umemoto reworked the idea
architects’ urban plans may
for a developer in Dubai. The
be less tied to location than
layout was reconfigured to
idea of the street in the air
fit the new waterfront site;
that became a place of social
When a Chinese developer
souks were added as a nod to local traditions. The result
Europe. Beijing is so dense
is a remarkably nuanced view
that I can keep all of the shops
Nanako Umemoto to design
of how to knit together the
functioning on the street, and
a 1,235-acre development
various elements of urban life,
there’s still enough energy to
but it also seems as if it could
activate the bridges as well.”
7
Delta, they (with a Chinese
exist anywhere.
Holl is continuing to explore
partner) came up with a
The walkable, mixed-use
these ideas in another
neighborhoods celebrated
megaproject, this time on
multilayered network of roads
by Jane Jacobs may seem
the outskirts of Shenzhen:
and low-rise commercial
impossibly remote, but
a zigzag-shaped office
spaces, topped by a park
encouraging signs of a more
complex propped up on
surrounded by residential and
textured urban reality can still
big steel columns that make
commercial buildings. The
be found. Take Holl’s Linked
room for a dreamy public
park followed the contours
Hybrid in Beijing, for example,
garden. The density in much
which has a surprisingly open,
sunken courtyards allowed
communal spirit. A series of
light to spill down into the
massive portals lead from
underground spaces. Last
the street to an elaborate
year, the Chinese project
internal courtyard garden, a
fell through, and Reiser and
restaurant, a theater and a
Glittering view of the city
kindergarten, integrating the complex into the surrounding neighborhood. Bridges connect the towers 12 to 19 stories above ground and are conceived as a continuous string of public zones, with bars and nightclubs overlooking a glittering view of the city and a suspended swimming pool. “The developer’s openness
bedroom apartments. But if
to run amok, it is also an example of the spontaneous creativity that occurs when people are left to fend
interaction never worked in
system of urban “mats”: a
of the roadways below;
half dozen or more in one-
what can happen when freemarket capitalism is allowed
is the density. The Modernist
they would like to admit.
in Foshan, on the Pearl River
China. Many live packed a
Shenzhen is an emblem of
“But what makes it possible
approached the New Yorkbased Jesse Reiser and
countryside, face in the new
for themselves. On a recent of Shenzhen can make Beijing look spacious. The imposing skyline of glassand-steel towers, plastered with electronic billboards, was built mostly within the last decade, part of the boom that followed foreign investment in the area, when it was declared
visit, the alleyways, dark and claustrophobic, were thick with shops. Elderly people played mah-jongg on card tables in the street; two young children sat at a small desk doing their homework in a tiny storefront that doubled as their bedroom.
a special economic zone in the early ’80s. The Chinese government initially allowed many of the small villages that lined the delta to hold on to their land. As land values rose around them, the villagers remained in their increasingly populated districts, where they built cheap, and often instantly decrepit, towers that were so close together they were dubbed “handshake buildings”: you could literally reach out your window and shake hands with your neighbor across the street. The villages are poignant testimonies to the hardships that young workers, recently transplanted from the
to ideas was amazing,” Holl says. “When they first asked
8
Wenyi Wu, a young architect working for a Chinese firm called Urbanus, led me around the area. The firm has been studying how people carve a living space out of seemingly inhospitable environments,
unregulated character of the
hoping to develop an urbanist
urban village into something
model more deeply rooted in the spontaneity of everyday life. He took me to a small
more formal and humane — to extract the essence of its character without
museum Urbanus designed
romanticizing the squalor.
on the outskirts of the city. A
The circuitous paths of the
series of stepped galleries
ramps echo the surrounding
stand at the base of a hill
alleyways; the layout of
between an urban village
the galleries suggests the
and some banal housing
footprint of the migrant
complexes above. A series
workers’ housing but on a
of long ramps pierce the
more intimate scale.
building, joining the two
Other architects, hoping to
worlds. More ramps encircle
build in ways that reflect an
the exterior, so that you have
emerging vernacular, are
the impression of moving
taking a similar approach,
through a system of loosely
looking at more modest and
connected alleyways. The
more informally constructed
idea was to transform the
urban neighborhoods for inspiration. Shumon Basar, a London-based critic and independent curator, recently described a number of small, unplanned settlements in and around Dubai. The dense and gritty neighborhood of
Deira, for instance, has little in common with Sheikh Zayed Road and its fortified glass towers. Built mainly in the 1970s, Deira’s low concrete structures and labyrinthine alleyways are home to a lively population of Southeast Asian workers. Similarly, the thriving, traditionally Muslim middle-class neighborhoods of Sharjah, the third-largest city in the United Arab Emirates, were built without the flashiness of more recent developments. Basar wonders if, despite their modesty, these areas could form the basis for a fresh urban strategy based neither on imported Western models nor on
no longer matter. “I don’t
clichés about local souks.
think of any of my buildings
As Holl told me recently in his
as a model for something, the
New York office, working on
way the Modernists did,” Holl
a large scale doesn’t mean
said. “If it works, it works in its
that the particulars of place
specific context. You can’t just move it somewhere else.” But is site specificity enough? “The amount of building becomes obscene without a blueprint,” Koolhaas said. “Each time you ask yourself, Do you have the right to do this much work on this scale if you don’t have an opinion about what the world should be like? We really feel that. But is there time for a manifesto? I don’t know.”
What the world should be like
Nicolai Ouroussoff
Editorial photographs