Sadly Exciting

Been an awfully long time since I did my last post. Always wanted to keep posting new things. There are lots of things that keeps me inspired and lots that keep me held up as well.

What's new is the politics and it's not new at all. It's got a lot of impact. Maybe not today and not on me today, but definitely on a lot of people today and soon on me. Well maybe it has today and that's probably why I am writing about it. I've always heard that politics is dirty but it honestly did not occur to me that it would be this childish. People so hungry for power. People caught up in a complex web of some kind and getting poisoned. All citizens have turned into a trump card for them.

It's a exciting time in a very sad kind of way. It's a historic time because it's a transitional time. It's not a pleasant time to live in but an honourable time.

Beautiful Bamboo

Recently I saw a picture of the GREEN SCHOOL in Indonesia - constructed with bamboo. It's amazing what has already been done with this fast growing plant/weed. Since then I've been googling bamboo and looking for videos of bamboo - just about anything related to bamboo.

It seems that a certain type of bamboo can grow up to a meter a day. This is an incredible speed for a plant to grow.

It's not known if bamboo has been used in Maldives for construction. However, they are being used quite often as privacy screens, especially in resort islands. It is also not known if any home grown bamboo is used for any purpose or if it is grown in any significant amount.

Bamboo experts say that bamboo can be grown almost anywhere in the world. There are about 1200 islands in the Maldives of which only about 200 are occupied. The rest can surely be used in a number of positive and beneficial ways. One way is to grow bamboo and use them for making new products such as fence/screen, furniture and craft items probably.

Below are some links that might help inspire more on bamboo.

Bamboo Construction
"Pile Isle"
Koolbamboo Building Materials
Green School
Construction with Bamboo
Bamboo Spring Chair
Guadua Bamboo Construction
Jeffree in Bogota
Running Bamboo
Using Rhizome Barrier
NZ Bamboo Fences | New Zealand Bamboo Furniture, Lighting & Interiors | Bambusero
Eco Design: Japanese Bamboo Furniture Exhibits Artistic Designs - Ecofriend

Cafe' Alfresco adversitement

Here's a little advertisement concept developed for Cafe' Alfresco. Inspired by some the graphic novels that I've been recently reading, the ad is done in the form a short story.

Click on the image to download a PDF of the ad.

Gaadiyaa Concept

The concept here is to transform the Gaadiyaa into something that attracts people and contributes to the aesthetics of the city. But not to transform it in way that it would lose the identity of Gaadiyaa. The idea is to keep it recognizable, function with ease, more space to work with while in operation and close it into a simple box when not.

There's so much more that could be achieved with experimenting. Presented here is just one simple possibility.

Gaadiyaa

Gaadiyya is the Maldivian local term for cart. It used to have the same function as any other cart - carry goods from one place to the other. It always had two wheels around the middle for it to move, two legs when it needed to be parked and two handles to pull it. Then there is of course the cargo compartment. Interestingly, it always had yellow as its colour.

Over time Gaadiyaa has gone through an important transformation. Motorized vehicles took over Gaadiyaa's original function and they eventually turned to mobile shops. Mobile because they still have those wheels, not because they are moved.

Scattered along the perimeter road that stretches from east to west of Male', these Gaadiyaa's are hot spots at nights - especially during weekends. If you are looking fresh air in Male' you'd probably be riding along this road passing a lot of these Gaadiyaas. All of the favourite local snacks are available at these spots.

Gaadiyaas have the potential to become something more than what it currently is. They could contribute to the aesthetics of the urban fabric. They could be lanterns that light up the coastline. Kiosks that add meaning to its current purpose. Icons that attract people and, architecture that is sustainable.

Bath Interior

There's not much of a design here. The owner had bath fittings selected. It's more to do with 3D rendering. There's too little of ceiling in the view, and so it's made to reflect on the walls to give an overview of how the space is like.

Bedroom Interior

Interior visuals for a friend who's obsessed with wood. Modeled and mapped in Sketchup. Rendered in Artlantis.