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FRom the FIVe StePS to the taLLeSt toweR IN QataR, aRchItect IbRahIm JaIdah haS maINtaINed

hIS IdeaLS, oF bRINGING to the couNtRy aN aRchItectuRaL StyLe that IS dIStINctLy QataRI.

by SINdhu NaIR

ThE FIvE STEpS

QATARS

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ATARI ARChITECT Ibrahim Jaidah’s first ever project was to build five steps.

In 1998, fresh out of college and brimming with ideas, he joined the Architecture division of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture.

“My first project was to build five steps leading to a landing, which was part of a school project. There was a level difference and I sketched five steps and a landing to solve it. It got built and I was so

proud to see it.”That was long before he started his own firm – Arab Engineering Bureau

(AEB) – that has now completed over 100 projects. In 1990, he purchased AEB, which had just seven people working in it.Twenty-two years later, close on the heels of completing Kempinski

Hotels (the tallest tower in Qatar), Ibrahim sits down in his office, surrounded by books and select artifacts, to recount his experiences that are far from the ordinary.

After being in the architectural industry for over two decades, having designed buildings, cracked countless design challenges, does he now feel complacency creep in?

Modesty sits well on his shoulders as he says, “No, I am still learning, crawling, to be precise...”

A pIONEER Ibrahim is a pioneer. From being the first national architect to bring in a new architectural vernacular that straddles far-reaching influences of Islamic Art with modern style or for setting standards in construction processes, Ibrahim has always led the architectural community in Qatar, though without much fanfare or media hullaballoo.

Being a Qataris might have helped, one is bound to assume. But Ibrahim begs to differ. He feels that being a Qatari and in the

minority in one’s own country, has had more disadvantages.“It was a hurdle. There was more skepticism than acceptance; there was

doubt whether I would be able to take on huge projects. Work never came easily to me. I had to work twice as hard.”

Now he has broken new grounds, with his book The History of Qatari Architecture. A book brimming with details of immense value for those in the industry.

ThE BOOK Ibrahim wishes he had this book to refer to when he began his career.

“I have always yearned for a book to refer to on Qatari Architecture while I was doing my Masters. Life would have been easier for me if I had the book when I started off in my career. It would have saved me 10 years of research,” he laughs.

It was from this dearth that Ibrahim took upon himself a responsibility to correlate all the information he had at hand.

“I have been collecting interesting information for years. Information that has helped me in my design process, this was the learning process I went through before each design.”

He had the tools, but to process all information and to compile it into a book was a laborious challenge.

“The collection process started 15 years ago. I ended up with so much data. Business took over most of my time and this correlation took a back seat. So I started a research wing at my offices, in AEB, and took in an Architect, who had just completed her Doctors in Urban Planning, Mallika Bourennane. I placed all the material on her lap and asked her to compile everything.”

While this was going on, a representative from Skira came visiting, and he showed interest in publishing the book. The rest just fell into place and the book was born.

Architecture, Ibrahim says, is not just related to buildings but represents the identity of people and civilizations.

“The book starts with the historic background of Qatar from the dawn of human presence till the present; it then describes public buildings, residences, forts, structures that describe what the Qatari vernacular is all about.”

A question that’s been repeatedly addressed in the book is how Qatari architecture was different from other Middle Eastern architecture.

“The architecture of these places was influenced by the people who came to live here and from travelers who visited.”

The religion, climate and geography, he believes, form the main link between these countries.

“The difference is in the architectural elements.”Dubai has numerous wind towers while Qatar has only two,

says Ibrahim, citing an example that shows the variance The Architect and his buildings Bottom left: The Qatar Foundation hQ, Qatari archiecture brought to the fore.

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in architectural features.“So wind towers are characteristic of that region but cannot be called as

a feature here. “My aim and hope is that the book becomes as a guide for all those who

practice here. About 70 to 80 percent of the designers come from abroad and they have no pictures to refer to. They look at postcards and think they know about the history of architecture of the country. Now, architects either buy the book or come to me, so the education process is progressing well.”

Not one to sit on his laurels, he is already in the process of translating his first book and updating the English version with some more drawings.

“I did it in English first because there was a demand for this from expatriate community of architects.”

And now he has plans underway for another book, this time on the interiors of Gulf vernacular.

“I have it in my mind and I am collecting pictures. The results will be out soon,” he says.

BEEN ThERE, dONE ThAT? When Ibrahim purchased AEB it had just seven people working in it.

“Now we have 400 people working for us, with branches in Abu Dhabi, Malaysia, Manila and now recently an office in Sudan for a project we will be doing there.”

And that decision, says Ibrahim, to buy AEB, is till date the one life-changing, bold decision he has made.

“It was a financial burden in the beginning. I couldn’t ask money from family. There was a lot of sacrifice in the initial years but none that I will ever regret taking. The company has finally earned success but it still keeps me on my toes.

“I started the business as a part-time job. I didn’t give up the government job initially. We had small projects, residences mostly. But then business started growing and in 1992, I had to make a choice, of focusing on one of the two jobs. I gave up the government job and focused on my projects.”

Work was never less, reminisces Ibrahim, but the first big project came in 1992, with the contract for the Sheikh Ali bin Jabor building, at the Gulf Cinema junction on C Ring road.

“I was never born with a silver spoon. Projects came to me only because of my work. My family name helped me gain trust, but ultimately the client would invest his hard-earned money only if he is truly convinced of your capabilities.”

Another milestone in Ibrahim’s career was the tower in West Bay, the building that earned him various accolades.

“Barzan Towers is the one project that I will be always indebted to the owners for. The owners challenged me to give a local flavor in a high-rise building. This was at a time when there were no high-rise buildings in the

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area surrounding Corniche.”Another building, the QF building was printed on the QR 100, another

honour for the architect.Five steps to the big notes; Ibrahim is indebted to one person, someone

who guided him to follow his passion.“My mother influenced my thinking, she guided me to realize my

dreams. From a very young age, my toys were buildings and my mother helped me to channelize all that zeal in the right direction.”

ARChITECTURE, pAST, pRESENT ANd FUTURE Ibrahim feels that the school of architecture has evolved over the years.

From the ‘gorgeous’ classical past to ‘my personal favorite’ renaissance era to the time when architecture became a commodity, when buildings becoming fashion statements, there has been a marked change in the way architecture is perceived.

“I am hoping that after all the changes that we have been through a distinct school of thought will evolve. A movement that has learnt its lessons from past mistakes and kickstarts a movement that will bring in a ‘Gulf vernacular’. A contemporary Qatari architecture that uses all modern

materials from around the world and puts it to create unique buildings to suits us. Not to import buildings or materials from other places but to adapt them to our needs while having our distinct flavor.”

And among all these buildings, which is his personal favorite, the one in which he that has put all his ideals to practice?

He answers without hesitation, “It is yet to come...”

sheikh ALi biN JAboR building, at the Gulf Cinema junction on C ring road was the first main project done by aeB.

This could be classified as one of the first office spaces that had the distinct Qatari trait in features with clean straight lines, a modern perspective to a traditional form of construction.

Though the West Bay area is now home to numerous other high-rises, Barzan Towers, still manages to stands out from the plethora of glass towers. In a simple blend of glass and concrete and a Qatari fort that forms the main design character of the building, it bears the distinct Ibrahim touch. The project was also nominated for the aga Khan award

in 2004.

al dana Club, another project of aeB, was awarded the arab Town organizations award in 1996 and was nominated for the aga Khan award in 2001.The diplomatic Club, al Shaqab Institute for Girls later known as QF building and al dayyan Complex were all projects that were noted for their design excellence.

But to Ibrahim, the QF headquarters holds a special place.

“It was printed on the Qr100 note and that was a milestone,” he says.

ARChITECTURAL MILESTONES

A growing portfolio: 1. The interiors of QF building; 2. a building designed by Jaidah appears on the Qatari currency; 3. al Fardan residential properties; 4. The tallest tower in Qatar, the Kempenski Towers; 5. The Barzan Tower.

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Identity through fictionLeILa abouLeLa

By vAIdA v NAIRN

family arrived here only a few months ago, but we have already

stopped settling down and started living, ”laughs Leila Aboulela, with the smile of a person who knows the nuances of an expat life inside out.

The critically-acclaimed author sits down for an interview in her new cozy habitat in Doha, where several unpacked boxes betray her recent arrival.

Her last stop was Abu Dhabi, but she has also lived in England, Scotland, and Indonesia. As Leila names the countries she has had a chance to dwell in, I ask if it has always been as easy as she makes it sound. With that question, her smile quietly leaves her face and a hint of nostalgia appears in her deep brown eyes.

She took her first move away from her homeland, Sudan, quite painfully, she says. She missed her family, friends and culture in which she thrived. Cutting down the ties with the environment she belonged to made the writer feel ‘much uprooted’.

And this is how writing found its way into Leila’s life. “It gave me a purpose, a structure to my life.” The author confesses that in the beginning, in a new and foreign land, her life was more about ‘drifting around’. “I did not have a community. I did not have a country. So, taking up writing became the connection with all that,” she says.

Leila found creative writing to be a perfect way of expressing her thoughts. This choice came at a price as it impelled the writer eventually to give up her career in statistics. But it was the right decision, one that

“Mybeatified her life enormously.

As she found a way to handle her homesickness through writing, her homeland fever became the source of inspiration that led her to write a collection of short stories. These stories later were published under the title Coloured Lights and were transfused with the descriptions of Sudan – its culture, traditions, and people, just like most of Leila’s writings so far. Sudan has never ceased to be the ‘compass or benchmark’ in her peripatetic life. These short stories are pulsating not only with the yearning for home, but also with the depiction of cultural shock, and spiritual challenges.

LEILA’S FIRST NOVEL IS THE TRANSLATOR. When asked about this work, she straightens her floral scarf that lightly falls on her shoulders and smiles shyly. “Oh, that was the time when I started falling in love with my new home abroad, when I finally started settling down.” This novel tells the story of a Sudanese widow, Sammar, who works as a translator and falls in love with a Scottish professor of Middle East Studies. “The tension in this novel comes from the fact that Sammar is a deeply religious Muslim and that, Rae, the man she is in love with, is an irreligious person,” Leila says.

Leila’s second novel Minaret is a sensitive story about an upper-class Sudanese woman, Najwa, who comes to England after a coup in her country. Najwa’s attempt to find her own path in life while juggling work, love and her search for genuine faith lands her right in the middle of realization that she ‘has come down in the world’.

Her writing is also a manifestation of her deep solicitude on religion, because it has always played a very important part in her life. “I am influenced by my grandmother who was very religious. I am inclined towards it, and religion was my favorite subject at school.” The author still remembers what she learnt about Islam at a young age.

Thus, living in a non-Muslim culture, it was quite challenging to practice her faith in the West. “It was like swimming against the tide.” Observing daily prayer times and observing Friday Sabbath was the toughest.

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LEILA IS ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT HOW ISLAM IS PRESENTED TO THE WESTERN AUDIENCE. “In 1992 during the first Gulf war, when I moved to Britain, there used to be quite a lot of anti-Arab feeling in the media,” she says. That inspired her to use word as her arms and fulfill literature’s duty to ‘bridge the gap’ between the West and the East. Leila attempted to explain Islam and also to defend herself as a foreigner living abroad. “I wanted people around me to realize that I have my own culture, traditions and past.”

However challenging Leila’s topics may sound, she writes in a calm and lyrical manner. “I write realistically. And I also write about ordinary and innocent people. That is why I write about cultural clashes in my stories.”

Though at the beginning her target readership was the Western audience, she is garnering a following amongst the Arabs as well. The reactions of the two groups are contrasting. For example, Western readers appreciate Leila’s novels more from an anthropological view point, whereas Muslim and Arab readers, especially the ones living in the West, are able to ‘connect to her depicted experiences more personally and they find them quite comforting.’

MUSLIM NEWS ACKNOWLEDGED THe TRANSLATOR AS THE FIRST HALAL BOOK WRITTEN IN ENGLISH. Leila is gently dismissive: “Most likely they did not mean it seriously.” She points out that ‘Halal’ in Arabic means ‘allowed – the opposite of forbidden’. Pouring another cup of tea, she says, “What they have probably meant was that the book presented an authentic point of view and that I am ‘one of them’.” After a pause, she adds that support from her own community means a great deal to her as a person and a writer.

Readers’ appreciation apart, she has also received formal accolades. In 2000, her short story The Museum was awarded the Caine Prize for African Writing; The Translator was nominated for the Orange Prize in 2002 and was also chosen as a Notable Book of the Year by The New York

Times in 2006. Leila’s work has also been translated into 12 languages. These acknowledgements motivate her. “It makes me take my work more seriously and it definitely encourages trying harder.”

The door bell rings. Leila’s youngest daughter Manaal is back from school, and we return to everyday reality. On whether she finds her life in Qatar inspiring, Leila remarks, “I am not the sort of writer who writes about what is happening now. I usually write about things that happened a long time ago. It takes time for me to sort of translate what is happening around me into fiction.”

Leila is working on a novel which is due to be published in December. ‘It’s different from what I have written so far as it does not have the West vs East theme. The book is called Lyrics Alley and the story is set in Sudan, in 1950s and it’s a tale about ‘a husband who has two very different wives and the tragedy that strikes the family members changing their lives and future forever.’ n

Minaret is the tale of najwa, a Muslim woman in London.

The Translator is Leila’s debut novel,

and is about Sammar, a Sudanese widow

who falls in love with a Scottish professor.

Leila with her youngest daughter Manaal.

LeiLA AbouLeLA was born in 1964 in Khartoum, Sudan to a Sudanese father and an egyptian mother. Leila has received a British secondary education, and graduated from Khartoum university in 1985 with a degree in economics. Later she earned her Ma degree in statistics at the London School of economics. Leila and her family lived for many years in Scotland where she has created most of her work. She has also lived in england, Indonesia and uae. She now lives in doha with her husband and their youngest daughter.

Bibliography

1999 The Translator

2001 Coloured Lights

2005 Minaret

Plays

2002 BBC radio 4 Broadcast a five part adaptation of The Translator and a dramatization of The Museum

2003 The Mystical Life

2005 The Lion of Chechnya

LEILA TIMELINE

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Shikh al hilah

Al Gamilah & al Wahash (the Beauty & the Beast )Islam Kamil ali

Haboba (Grandmother)Women from Sudan

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Islam Kamil AliIn the heart of thIngs

By Vaida V NairN

I

slam Kamil Ali is a painter to whose memory and imagination all the colors of the world succumb. He is an artist whose muse is beauty and diversity of his homeland as much as everyday life. His creative work testifies Islam’s aspiration always to look deeply, always to look into the heart of things.

A Sudanese artist, he graduated from Sudan University College of Fine and Applied Arts in 1996.

Islam Kamil Ali, what is your story?I grew up in the heart of Sudan, in the heart of Khartoum. This place is as special to me as it is beautiful and inspiring. I find it so interesting and so alive. You can find myriads of its colors conveyed in many of my paintings.

After graduating from university, my uncle who lived in Qatar at the time encouraged me to follow his footsteps. The adverse economic situation in Sudan and a desire to find my own way in the world encouraged me to accept his invitation. So, here I am – after all these years, still working and living in Qatar where I did actually find everything I was looking for: a more stable economic situation and cultural environment in which I am able to grow as a person and an artist.

So do you consider Qatar to be your true home?Well, Sudan is my childhood home. It is a home of my heart and we carry our hearts wherever we go, right? I think your true home is where you establish your life, where you are respected. And most importantly, people you live with. I started my own family in Qatar, my children are growing up

here, and so this country has definitely become our home.

Do you still think of yourself as a Sudanese artist?To say the truth, I think that the years spent at Sudanese Art University have definitely set an indelible seal on my artistic character. Thereafter, I have only improved my style and technique, crystallized ideas. I believe that with every day, I become a better Sudanese artist no matter where I live.

However, the environment I dwell in does influence my work as well, thus it would be just to say that I am a Sudanese artist with a remote Qatari influence. I am sure people who are well acquainted with art would be able to recognize in my paintings some techniques, styles that are unique to Qatar.

Where do you draw your inspiration as an artist from?To date, Sudan is still an inexhaustible fount of inspiration for me. I find its traditional markets, multi-cultural and multi-religious atmosphere very stimulating. There are around 1000 tribes in Sudan, so imagine all these different customs, languages, traditions, history... It adds so much color and spice to the Sudanese scene. Also, Sudan’s scenery, varied from yellow and hot desert to green and lush jungle, spark my work constantly.

As a student, I got to see a great deal of my homeland; we used to travel a lot in order to know our culture, traditions, folklore and we were taught by our teachers to find inspiration in it. But it is not only the past that influences my work. I still visit Sudan regularly, which allows me to rejuvenate and enliven my memories.

When it comes to Qatar, I have noticed that here I am more inspired by small, but significant details, such as multicolored dress materials that you can see being sold in the souqs, colorful handmade crafts, toys, carpets, etc. These are so inspirational! Lots of people see only the grey sky here, whereas I do my best to look deeper and what I discover under this grey sky is beauty and richness of color. And it can be found everywhere! Take a closer look and you will be able to grasp all these bright, pure, harmonious colors – brown, cream, white and also red with blue and black.

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So, how do you retain the images that inspire you until they are externalized in your paintings?Wherever I am or wherever I go, I study closely the environment I find myself in. I study people, colors, and sometimes I memorize it, sometimes I draw sketches. For example, one of the scenes that I find very interesting is Sudanese women and men selling hot tea in the streets. I can study them for hours. It intrigues me how they dress and sit; make, pour and sell their tea; how they talk and deal with their customers. I strive to grasp not only the specific details of this occurrence, but its unique atmosphere as well. When you look at life like that, when you look at the very heart of things, it enormously enriches you. And you do not have to be an artist to experience that. The true beauty of life is accessible to everyone.

Islam, what about Islamic or religious theme in your paintings?(The painter laughs) Oh, you are asking about my name as well, right? Islam is a popular name in Sudan and my parents chose it for me to honor our religion. Religion is an important part of my life and you can trace some religious motives in my paintings as well. However, as an artist I do not advocate any ideologies in my paintings. I want art to be free of religion and politics.

You have just presented the second part of your painting project ‘Faces from Memory’. Can you tell us a little about this whole project? The project ‘Faces from Memory II’ is the continuation of what I started more than a year ago. I used oil on canvas and mixed media techniques to create these paintings. It is quite likely that Part III, enriched with new ideas and techniques, will follow sometime in the near future.

Whom do the faces from these paintings belong to and why was it important for you to picture them?Some of these faces come from an incredible past, even though I might not remember all of the people’s names; some are imaginary characters and come from my grandmother’s tales and the world of fantasy. Few others I might have seen somewhere passing on the road in Sudan. Also, some are born of homesickness – for my beloved homeland.

Wherever these faces came from, I have managed to keep them in my memory – alive and complete with emotions: smiling, crying, protesting, fiddling.... And here past and present become interwoven and to my surprise I realize that time is the subtlest artist I have ever known. Time is creating its own art on the faces of people and sometimes it feels like time itself decides what we are to remember and what we are to forget.

I started painting these impressions when I realized that some of my memories are passing into silence, into oblivion. It was important for me to paint these people before I start forgetting their faces, because all of them, in one way or another have made an impact on my life. Even if I have met some of the portrayed people only briefly their images are deeply engraved in my mind.

1 Islam Kamil with Qatari artist Mohamed al atig and the Sudanese ambassador 2 rihlat al Kojoor-13 Peace from Sudan4 The Shadow5 rihlat al Kojoor–26 Women & 3 men7 rijal al hilah8 Lailat al Qamar

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ال�سوارع ويمكنني اأن اأقوم بدرا�ستها لعدة �ساعات. ومن

الأمور التي تاأ�سر لبي الطريقة التي يرتدون بها مالب�سهم،

وبيعه، لل�ساي و�سبه اإعدادهم وكيفية جلو�سهم، وطريقة

اأعمل جاهدا وطريقة تحدثهم وتعاملهم مع عمالئهم. واأنا

لي�س لفهم تفا�سيل كل ذلك فح�سب واإنما اأي�سا ل�ستيعاب

فاإننا الطريقة بهذه الحياة اإلى ننظر فعندما الفريد. جوه

ولي�س كبير. ب�سكل يثرينا وه��ذا الأ�سياء، قلب في ننظر

بذلك. ي�سعر ك��ي ف��ن��ان��ا الإن�����س��ان ي��ك��ون اأن ب��ال�����س��رورة

فالجمال الحقيقي في الحياة هو في متناول الجميع.

ما هي الموا�سيع الإ�سالمية اأو الدينية في

لوحاتك؟ )ي�سحك( اأنت ت�ساألين عن ا�سمي

اأي�سا، األي�س كذلك؟

اإن اإ�سالم هو ا�سم �سائع في ال�سودان وقد �سماني اأبواي

به تكريما لديننا. فالدين هو جزء هام من حياتي، وباإمكان

الإن�سان اأن يرى بع�س الم�سحات الدينية في لوحاتي اأي�سا.

اأية اأيديولوجية في لوحاتي. اأنني كفنان ل اأدافع عن غير

فاأنا اأريد الفن اأن يكون منف�سال عن الدين وال�سيا�سة.

قدمت موؤخرا الجزء الثاني من م�سروعك

»وجوه من الذاكرة«. هل تخبرنا قليال

عن هذا الم�سروع؟

اإن الجزء الثاني من »وجوه من الذاكرة« هو ا�ستمرار لما

بداأته منذ اأكثر من عام م�سى. فقد ا�ستخدمت الزيت على

اللوحات. هذه لإب��داع مختلطة اإعالمية وتقنيات القما�س

ومن المحتمل اأي�سا اأن يليه الجزء الثالث في وقت ما في

الم�ستقبل القريب والذي �سيكون غنيا بالأفكار والتقنيات

الجديدة.

لمن تعود هذه الوجوه في تلك اللوحات

وماذا وراء اهتمامك بهذه الوجوه؟

بع�س هذه الوجوه هي من ما�سيي حتى اإنني قد ل اأتذكر

اأ�سماء جميع هوؤلء النا�س. فبع�سهم �سخ�سيات خيالية من

راأيته اأكون ربما وبع�سهم الخيال. وعالم حكايات جدتي

في مكان ما يمر على الطرق في ال�سودان. وبع�سهم اأي�سا

ولدوا من الحنين للوطن - وطني الحبيب.وب�سرف النظر

في بها الحتفاظ تمكنت من فقد الوجوه عن م�سدر هذه

تبت�سم فهي الم�ساعر: بكامل وتتمتع حية وه��ي ذاكرتي

وتبكي وتحتج وتلهو. وفي هذه اللوحات يت�سابك الما�سي

والحا�سر، وقد اأدركت لده�ستي اأن الزمن هو األطف فنان

على الخا�س فنه باإبداع يقوم فالزمن حياتي. في عرفته

وجوه النا�س، واأحيانا اأ�سعر اأن الزمن نف�سه هو الذي يقرر

ما الذي يجب اأن نتذكره وما الذي يجب اأن نن�ساه.

اأن بع�س اأدرك��ت وقد بداأت بر�سم هذه النطباعات عندما

الن�سيان. غياهب في وتدخل ت�سمت ب��داأت قد ذكرياتي

النا�س ه����وؤلء ر���س��م اأن ل��ي بالن�سبة ال��م��ه��م م��ن ك���ان ل���ذا

اأث��ر على قد اأن�سى وجوههم، لأن كل واح��د منهم اأن قبل

التقيت قد اأنني من الرغم وعلى باآخر. اأو ب�سكل حياتي

ببع�س هوؤلء النا�س لفترة وجيزة للغاية اإل اأن �سورهم قد

تر�سخت في ذهني.

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8

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1. اإ�سالم كامل برفقة الفنان القطري

محمد العتيق وال�سفير ال�سوداني

2. رحلة الكوجور - 1

3. �سالم من ال�سودان

4. الظل

5. رحلة الكوجور – 2

6. ن�ساء وثالثة رجال

7. رجال الهيلة

8. ليلة القمر

محة من قطرلمحة من قطرل