Design & Innovation: Hotel Food & Beverage

After guests’ rooms, the next most important aspect of any hotel is food. Now let’s look at why hotel restaurants are usually deserted particularly in the evening. I guess it’s because of what seems like a template, when it comes to what is offered at most hotels; the all-day dining place, the usual Italian restaurant, and the watered down version …

Continue Reading

Design & Innovation: Hotel Guest Rooms

Hotel rooms in my opinion fall into two categories, hotels rooms for business travellers and those for leisure travellers and they absolutely should have very little in common. In all major hotels around  the world, guest rooms present the travelers with basically the same designs, same amenities and same layouts. With few changes here and there, a desk here, no …

Continue Reading

Design & Innovations: The Story of Hotels

I travel a fair bit and after many years, I have developed airports panic disorder. As soon as I leave home I start dreading the painful journeys through airports. From the moment I get off the car, the torture starts; The never ending queues, the stripping, the molestations, strangers touching your personal belongings and hours sitting in an aluminum tube …

Continue Reading

Housing: The Need Part IV

 When I was doing research for my Ph.D on housing policies in Algeria some 25 years ago, I predicted based on existing case studies in other countries, that they will never succeed in solving the problem because of 3 main reasons; Firstly, the financial system and financial models were not engaged in the process and are not real contributors to …

Continue Reading

Housing: The Need III

“…housing development in Thailand can be divided into three major periods: the boom (1990-1996), the bust (1997-2001) and the recovery (2002 onwards). The effects of the market bust were clearly observed in 1996, but the massive bust occurred when the Baht was floated or devalued on July 2,1997. Housing development, however, has contributed to the economy and the country. A …

Continue Reading

Housing: The Need

When I was young,  growing in a country struggling with shortage of housing, I watched  various attempts by the government trying to solve the problem but always failing, and even after 50 years of trying, they are still failing! The impacts of this lack of a basic shelter was having on the fabric of the society is appalling.   Yesterday …

Continue Reading

The Science of Renovating Occupied Buildings

It is usually assumed that designers have an easier job renovating a building than designing a new one. Through so many years of doing both new projects as well as renovating others, there is nothing further from the truth. In building renovation we deal with; Aging buildingsProgrammes that will protect buildings from deterioration, improve safety for occupants, and enhance the …

Continue Reading

Sinking Cities

I am sure, like me, you are also following the news of the Maldives islands rapid sinking levels and their soon to be disappearance. Last year, I have seen the horrible flood in Bangkok  the worst I have ever seen in my 25 years living here. I saw the tsunami in 2005 washing away hole villages and shore lines changing. …

Continue Reading

Bangkok lost heritage, what’s next?

Well as promised at my last article, I did some research, not anything in great depth but enough to see what strategies and financing models have been used to salvage architectural heritage in various places across the world. The first one I came across and which has a record of successful applications is; Tax Increment Financing (TIF), the most widely …

Continue Reading

Minimalism in Architecture, Origin, and Context

There are a lot of publications defining what minimalism is, when it started as an architecture movement and what influenced it. In general it is believed that minimalism is a 20th, 21st century movement that was influenced by Japanese architecture, Mies Van Der Rohe,             De Stijl…etc It stands for pure forms, no decoration for …

Continue Reading