OMA's Dubai-based "Concrete" is pretty transparent

2017-03-16T12:40:00-04:00

By placing a semi-transparent facade onto a series of former industrial warehouses in Dubai, OMA has created an arts-oriented, multi-disclipinary space called "Concrete." The completed version doesn't quite match the firm's optimistic renderings (in part because the concrete ameliorating foliage isn't present in these photos) but one thing is certain: this is the first finished project of OMA's in Dubai, and Rem Koolhaas thinks that the design is very much of its place and time.

“Dubai is one of the cities that has had a deep impact on our work, and I am very happy that this particular building is our first effort here," Rem said. "In Concrete, we are not introducing a new shape but instead were able to infiltrate an existing building with an arts institution. This building is totally produced in Dubai; it is not a foreign ideal, and that I think is significant.”

The 600 square meter building's first art exhibition, "Syria: Into the Light," will be viewable until April 3rd.

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What happened to Alexandria's cosmopolitanism?

2015-01-19T13:24:00-05:00

North Africa used to be a civilizational crossroads in which Muslims, Christians, and Jews not only lived alongside one another but also shared one another's language and culture. This mingled society, formed from many intense particularities, is what we call cosmopolitanism. It was born in the Middle East, and it now seems to be disappearing there, including from the one place where the cosmopolitan ideal reached its supreme realization: Alexandria.

Archinect - News

OMA's Dubai-based "Concrete" is pretty transparent

What happened to Alexandria's cosmopolitanism?