I think you [missed] it!

Dubai! The commercial convivial city, which has forgotten its past, maybe. Hmmm! possibly one of the reasons being ‘time’ - seems to wade through life too fast now in this land of black gold.

Just imagine, people from across the globe coming here every day in search for a livelihood and they hardly know about the transitional phases that this city has gone through to become what it is today. Perhaps it is not even required to go into such details. Don’t you read before you go to a different place?

For instance I have met people who would claim for not going to the older parts of Dubai, and somehow they are perfectly fine with it. It is not a big deal, but like really?

Let me cut short. I am Architect by profession and somehow old, derelict buildings have always fascinated me. For instance, when I came in Dubai for the first time, areas of Bur and Deira seemed to be the best areas to hang around. Even then these areas cannot be considered as ancient because of the newand modern dwellings that have paved their ways through. However, I had done some research before landing and I somehow knew where and what to look at that would be a feast for my eyes.

The time spent in roaming around in the narrow streets, the spice souks, the fish market and then old mosques provided me with a ample understanding of this emirates' culture, at least that is how I thought in the beginning but I was so wrong. I kept thinking something was missing until I came up to the gateway that opened to an old residential neighborhood – the Bastakiya.

 

It is said to house almost sixty units at one time, but then most of them were turned down to make way for new developments in the later part of the last century. The best part for me was that traditional wind towers were used in Al Bastakiya houses to keep the house interior cooler than outside temperature and heat. Luckily the quarter is conserved and is open to the glorified as well as the common man to go inside and be part of the experience. I would say that the rest of the information can be found online, since, the name is there, you can search on your own.

What I really want to create is a scenario, through my words and photographs where one can focus on the first signs of the cultural barrier that this small area had created among the locals and the expatriates. Al Bastakiya was a neighbourhood, solely dedicated to the migrants who came in during the dawning of developments for a 'New Dubai', which was to become the metropolis of the region. This dates back to Sheikh Saeed's era.

Why am I even focussing on this topic? If you were to be told that you would work or live in an environment like this for long, I think the photographs in this blog will not fascinate you. Nevertheless, they will interest you, making you think that still Dubai is acknowledging their past and providing you with a glimpse in what they have provided to facilitate expatriots back in the days. The houses are conserved only for the sake of tourism now. That is how buildings are dealt with when they have served their purpose or, are of no use (I am being a little harsh to say this). You simply turn them into museums with a ticket to enter and they are good to stand their until their last brick falls. But on the other hand they are narrating you a story of a specific time in history.

The histories of times are told in this way, is'nt it? There have always been people, there have always been events, and then there always were these soulful, clueless structures forming the background- architecture of that time. Not all are great pieces of architecture, but they were there to make an era glorious.

Dubai has grown to become a giant in the list of most demanding cities to work in. And with all that it is providing better communities to accomodate its guests.

...don't let Kuwait get you!!!

…. from Sameer Aftab on Vimeo.

As the title suggests " don't let Kuwait get you", one might think ... it is a conjuration of awe, an enchanted country that promises prosperity to every individual entering its boundaries for the first time; you do get rewarded... but, only for sometime.
The unemotional environment starts getting on you... 'Kuwait' starts getting on you.  

The Video -  I have explored frames of events in different times of the day in the video. It is a compilation of stop motions and time-lapses that narrates a story.

[scottish] highlands

Its been quite a while that I have not uploaded anything but here I am with a story from the very first day of the new year, 2014 when we were on our way to #Glasgow in #Scotland. Its a bit late though but its better late than never.

I always had a wish to travel to the highlands.
Why? Because of 'Loch-Ness' - when I was a child I had read about a monster, I had seen him in some documentaries as well and that was none other than the 'Loch-Ness monster'. A myth or maybe a reality, but this notion, the urge to see it with my own eyes was always there. However, this was just not the right time I guess.

These photos are from that journey.

[bidston]

12:52 hrs

Yellow: indicates the area that I covered by walking, 

while my visit to Bidston.

I had arrived in #Bidston. The most unattractive, smallest stations I had ever seen in England till now,  even the #Edgehill station did not seem to me so inadequate. I was a bit lost because there was nothing in between anything. I saw no houses around, no people, no cars, the only thing that I could see was the sign that said, "Temporary Ticket Office"and even that was closed.

Anyway I started walking towards a bridge that stood so lonely that I could even hear the whistling of air as it passed through the hollow bars. As I was standing on the bridge, I could see the lighthouse on a hill that was considered as the highest point on the Wirral Peninsula.
"It is going to take me ages to reach the lighthouse," this is all I could think of because in order to reach there I had to cross a highway and since I did not know anything about the place so had to find my way to it.

Why... always a lighthouse?? To me they symbolize 'hope'.

I decide to walk along the Hoylake road which met Worcester road on the right and lead me to Vyner road north. Yes, I was using the maps from my i-phone otherwise I would have been completely lost.

 The walk took me to the entrance of the Bidston Hill Park, a natural reserve.

The illustrated map at the entrance showed me a wind mill. 

"This brick built tower mill replaced a wooden 'peg' mill that was destroyed by fire in 1793, and was used to grind corn into flour for 75 years up until 1875. Although access was difficult for a horse and cart laden with sacks of grain or flour the top of the hill was the ideal place to catch the wind. In fact, it is believed that there has been a windmill on this site since 1596."

I knew I will not be able to find it on my own so I took help of a couple walking in the same direction. These locals of the place told me that a fifteen minute walk will take us to the mill. 

There it was, gorgeously standing in one of the remote areas in #England, I suppose. I was standing close to it in order to take the best shots from my camera. There was plenty of light but still I used long exposed techniques to take pictures using my tripod that I was carrying as well.

Ahhhh!!! there was some special essence in the moment that I was in, the smell of the bricks that were not adhered well with its surface, the texture of the mortar that I found extremely historic... seemed like I was not standing in 2013. 

This was not it... there was a walking track that led to an old observatory.

"The Observatory was built in 1866 when Liverpool Observatory had to relocate due to the expansion of Waterloo Docks. The building is made using the stone mined during the creation of the cellars, the deepest of which (36 feet or 10.97 meters) maintains a constant cool temperature.In 2004-5, the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory relocated to a new building at the University of Liverpool."

Behind the observatory was the Bidston lighthouse constructed in 1873. It is part of the observatory, not accessible at all.

"There has been a lighthouse on Bidston Hill since about 1771, when the first Bidston Lighthouse was built, further from the shore than any other lighthouse in Britain. The tower was octagonal, and the lamp room featured a massive parabolic reflector, 13’6″ in diameter, developed at the Bidston Signals Station. The present Bidston Lighthouse and Cottages were built by Mersey Docks and Harbour Board in 1873, after the original lighthouse was damaged by fire and demolished. The building is Grade-II listed and privately owned."

It was getting dark, so had to rush to the station. 

the [rain] began again

Stop Motion Time-lapse # 4

This is another compilation of photographs I took one fine day while in Liverpool... only that it was raining. The video shows transitions from how the bright sunlight was overwhelmed by the raindrops. Just an ordinary day but with a little bit flavor of clamminess.
 

the [rain] began again from Sameer Aftab on Vimeo.

[ keep walking - New Brighton awaits you ]

Remember - the main purpose of the trip was to find lighthouses across the Mersey river on the #Wirral side.

1310 hrs
I was at the #Liverpool Central (station), rushing towards the Wirral line tube and hopped in after waiting for ten minutes. It is quite ironic that sitting in the train usually reminds me of end of times. I am saying this because the journey from the station to #Birkenhead Park was almost underground. The train was almost empty. No one going to New #Brighton... I suppose.

1330 hrs
I got off from the train at the station and started walking on the Atherton street towards the sea... the Irish sea I am talking about here and reached the King's Parade. Now by looking across the road I realized that I was standing at the Marine Point. I could very well see the #lighthouse from here. I had read before it was the Perch Rock lighthouse that stood there since 1827 and now it was not being used anymore. The point seemed to be a complex of high-end retail brands. Anyway I started walking towards the tower.

I was walking...

... walked a little more.

... and finally I reached the tower. "Errr!!! Not a pleasant day to come out" I kept saying this to myself all the time. The sun was shining and I could feel the warmth of it but then nothing seemed alright because of the howling wind.

I stood right in front of the tower, close enough to get a feel of the environment. Aaaahhh!!! what a pleasing view. I could see the white tower wearing a red hat standing amongst the blues of the sky and water... the water did not seem that blue maybe because the clouds had covered the sun now.

I remained there for an hour, clicked loads of photographs. I had brought my tripod along as well but was almost useless because I did not have a ND-filter to take long exposure at the daytime. I walked to the pathway that lead to the tower. I thought I could make it but then the waves were aggressive and I remembered what my friend had told me about the weather forecast in the morning, "There will be a thunderstorm, do not go out (in a squeaky voice)." At that time I could only see the sun and the storm but thunder was missing, then I decided not to go any further.

There were people everywhere now. Trying to run on the stones and guess what... no one succeeded to reach anywhere near the site.

1500 hrs
I left the site and started walking towards the New Brighton Station to catch a train to #Leasowe - another lighthouse to explore.

Hmmmm!!! It was one bright corner of #England I must say, which was not that vivid historically as this part was hugely owned by smugglers and thieves.

You can look at the coloured images on Facebook.

[Masarellos]

Purpose
I made this video one fine day in Porto while roaming around the Masarellos District along with my mates. Masarellos was the site we selected for our final project for masters.
The video is a reminiscence of the site visit in the city that highlights many aspects and problems that the place is facing right now.

Aim
To design a master plan and come up with sustainable strategies for the inhabitants of the area and its surroundings.

Landmarks
Some of the landmarks on the site are worth mentioning:

- Arrabida Bridge

 Sketch - I drew this while sitting somewhere around the waterfront from where I could see the bridge clearly. 

-Porto School of Architecture


Video

New Project 14 from Sameer Aftab on Vimeo.

[Chester] recalling history

The red line: that is the walk that I did on the day.

One of my mates here (Liverpool) told me "visit #Chester" Therefore, one fine day I decided and took off on a journey that took me way back into time.

Have a look at the time-lapse that I made on the trip:

Chester seasoning from Sameer Aftab on Vimeo.