Final?

References

http://www.atrissi.com/new-site/index.html
Tarek Atrissi Website Contact Details
http://www.arabictypography.com/flash.html
http://www.khtt.net/person-39-en.html
http://29letters.wordpress.com/category/arabic-typography/

Developments

Designed A Guggenheim Museum to be opened in AbuDhabi.

The signing of the memorandum of understanding was witnessed by General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The MoU was signed on behalf of Abu Dhabi by Shaikh Sultan Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Chairman of ADTA, TDIC and Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage Authority and Thomas Kerns, Director of Guggenheim Foundation. William Mack, Chairman of the foundation, was also present.

Frank Gehry to design Guggenheim museum
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/07/08/10052308.html

07/09/2006 07:58 PM | By Ahmed Ameen, Staff Reporter

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi is set to become the home of the world's largest Guggenheim museum.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed yesterday between Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) and the New York-based Guggenheim Foundation to establish a world-class museum devoted to modern and contemporary art.

The museum, to be called the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (GAD), will be built in the Cultural District of Saadiyat Island and will cover 30,000 square metres. It is expected to be completed in five years.

The museum is to be designed by the internationally-acclaimed architect Frank Gehry.

Collection of works

GAD will be the only Guggenheim museum in the region and will be larger than any existing Guggenheim worldwide, said Thomas Kerns, Director of the Guggenheim Foundation.

"It will be 20 per cent bigger than our existing 25,000-square metre Bilbao museum," he said.

According to the MoU, TDIC, which manages the authority's tourism assets, will own the museum.

The Guggenheim Foundation will establish and manage the museum's programme, which will include collection development, exhibitions and educational initiatives.

The museum will form its own major collection of contemporary art and will also exhibit masterworks from the Guggenheim Foundation's global collections.

"Today's signing represents the determination of the Abu Dhabi Government to create a world-class cultural destination for its residents and visitors," said General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, at the ceremony.

"This is a major step forward in our plans for Saadiyat Island and its Cultural District which will become an international cultural hub for the Middle East on par with the best in the world."

The MoU was signed on behalf of Abu Dhabi by Shaikh Sultan Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), TDIC, and Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage Authority, and Thomas Kerns.

"Abu Dhabi's museum will join exclusive Guggenheim museum network which currently includes New York, Venice in Italy, Bilbao in Spain, Berlin in Germany and Las Vegas," Shaikh Sultan said.
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Abu Dhabi building - PR from Zaha Hadid Architects 310107:

Abu Dhabi building

Zaha Hadid Architects announce the design of the Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre:
a new cultural institution for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation on behalf of
the Tourism Development and Investment Company of Abu Dhabi (TDIC).

Zaha Hadid unveiled the design of the new Performing Arts Centre at a press conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE today.

Abu Dhabi architecture


Hadid’s Performing Arts Centre concept, a 62 metre high building is proposing to house five theatres – a music hall, concert hall, opera house, drama theatre and a flexible theatre with a combined seating capacity for 6,300. The Centre may also house an Academy of Performing Arts.

The Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre will be one of five major cultural institutions on the new 270-hectacre cultural district of Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi - developed by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation on behalf of the Tourism Development and Investment Company of Abu Dhabi (TDIC).

Abu Dhabi Arts Centre


Zaha Hadid described the design of the Performing Arts Centre as “a sculptural form that emerges from a linear intersection of pedestrian paths within the cultural district, gradually developing into a growing organism that sprouts a network of successive branches. As it winds through the site, the architecture increases in complexity, building up height and depth and achieving multiple summits in the bodies housing the performance spaces, which spring from the structure like fruits on a vine and face westward, toward the water.”

“The Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre is a continuation of the long-standing relationship we have with the Guggenheim Foundation and with the Emirate. We are very honoured to be a part of the project,” states Hadid. “Our first Guggenheim exhibition design, ‘The Great Utopias’, was in 1992 whilst the very successful mid-retrospective of our work closed at the Guggenheim Museum in New York less than two months ago. We’ve also been working in Abu Dhabi for many years, the Sheikh Zayed Bridge was a seminal project for the office and its construction is well underway”.

Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre


Thomas Krens, Director of the Guggenheim Foundation said, “In Abu Dhabi we have had the good fortune to discover a partner that not only shares our point of view, but expands upon it. The plans for Saadiyat Island and the cultural district, envisioned and developed by the Abu Dhabi Government, are, quite simply, extraordinary. When this comprehensive and inclusive vision is realised, it will set a standard for global culture that will resonate for decades to come.”



The Abu Dhabi Cultural District on Saadiyat Island
The Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation has been working with the Tourism Development and Investment Company of Abu Dhabi (TDIC) to develop all five institutions of the Saadiyat Island cultural district. The five institutions of the the Abu Dhabi Cultural District on Saadiyat Island:

1. Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre by Zaha Hadid Architects
2. Contemporary Arts Museum (Guggenheim Abu Dhabi) by Frank Gehry Partners
3. Classical Art Museum by Jean Nouvel Studios
4. Maritime Museum by Tadao Ando
5. Sheikh Zayed National Museum: (Architect to be confirmed)

Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre - PR from Zaha Hadid Architects 310107

Research- Merging arabic and western type

TheMix Arabic Bold - TheMix Arabic font has been designed by Lucas de Groot and Mouneer Al-Shaarani.

This project is a collaboration between the renown Dutch type designer, Lucas de Groot, and the renown Arab calligrapher and designer, Mouneer Al-Shaarani, and with technical support from Pascal Zoghbi.















The design concept.
The idea of matching a western designer with an interest in mixing Latin styles with an Arab calligrapher with the same interest in mixing Arabic calligraphic styles, both proficient with lettering yet interested in more simplified contemporary design, seemed like the perfect solution at the time. This choice and team also fitted the idea of developing the Arabic version of the hybrid family member of the Thesis font family — TheMix. For me, TheMix embodied some of the subtle experimental approaches to type design ( specially indicative of the typographic design trends of the 90s). I always felt that kind of approach was also necessary for Arabic type design, especially knowing how easy it would be to develop such experiments with a script that is inherently rich with variety and flexibility. TheMix was also the best font to start with since it carried serifs on some letters and not others, and it had some cursive qualities and roman/ humanist proportions and strokes, though it is almost a monolinear sans serif. Both these latter qualities made it more easily compatible with the Arabic lettering tradition. It was also the best font to start from, since it is the one that would eventually be a nice match for both the serif and sans serif fonts of the Thesis family. And so the concept of a fresh and contemporary- looking Arabic typeface was born.








Looking below. The first set is SADA and the second is TheMixArab. Sada is based on the Naskh style while TheMixArab is based on the Kufi Style. Notice the guidelines in each typeface. Since Sada is based on the Naskh style, the letters are more flowing and they do not all have the same heights. In Sada there is two tooth heights, two loop heights, one ascender height and two descender heights. On the contrary, TheMixArab has one guideline used for loop height and tooth height, one descender and one ascender. Since the Kufi style is more geometric, TheMixArab does not need as much guidelines as Sada. The Naskh based typeface is more calligraphic then a Kufi based typeface and hence needs more guidelines to make all the letterforms harmonious. So depending on the Arabic typeface designed and the purpose of its design, the guidelines will be decided on by the type designer. There isn’t one rule that fits all Arabic typefaces as in the Latin typefaces. The guidelines in Arabic type designing replace both “Nizam Al Dairah” and “Nizam Al-Nuqat” in calligraphy. The third writing system “Nizam Al-Tashabuh” is replaced by components. Components in type designing are pen strokes that are used to create several letters. Examples of letters that use components are the same as the ones listed in “Nizam Al-Tashabuh” previously. In the Arabic alphabet there is 17 basic pen strokes that build up the whole alphabet.

Inspirational

Here are some very interesting Arabic typo, and the first one looks like its arabic when it really isnt.
Maybe I could research more into Logos that have double meanings and are universally understood.. or at least between 2 languages. Also, still not sure if this is the direction I want although i know i should have a clear idea by now!!!

confused

what interests me about peggy?
mainly the fact that she lived such an interesting life and im still stuck and confused on what aspect to look into. well, one idea was examining the way she perished, which was sad. its my ultimate fear, dieing alone without anyone.. well she had her dogs. but im not really a dog person.
another idea was working on Freehand (which ive been trying to master) and creat something interesting that illustrates her life, kinda like a dedication to peggy.
also she reminds me of my mother just a little. peggy was an heiress she could of just spent the rest of her life spending money.. instead she found interest in art and wanted to collect as much as she could. mainly her interests were in the modern and contemporary artists of that time. like pollock. she made him.. she advertized and presented his work to the masses. which i think is cool. artists flocked to her.. were gratful just to have her look at their paintings which means she had an amazing reputation.
also another interesting thing i discovered is that a guggenheim museum is going to be opened in dubai! also the louvre... which im not sure if its just gossip or really going to happen. maybe i can try and design a logo or identity to represent peggy to the arab nation? so confused.
i need some direction!!!