Remain calm. It’s an instruction commonly used in emergency situations and evacuations. Meant to encourage compliance and prevent panic, the phrase can also exist as a kind of mantra to stay present, a plea for steadiness in chaos.
It’s a fitting subtitle for the ongoing Sharjapan 3 exhibition at the Sharjah Art Foundation, which offers a meaningful look at architecture’s role in providing us with spaces for rest, tranquility, healing and connection, particularly in the age of a global pandemic and the climate crisis.
Now in its last week, Sharjapan 3 – Remain Calm: Solitude and Connectivity in Japanese Architecture, is the third in a four-year series that brings aspects of Japanese culture to the UAE. Previous shows, for example, have explored book design and performance art.
Sharjapan is curated by Yuko Hasegawa, who also curated the Sharjah Biennial 11 in 2013 and is the director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan.
Featuring scale models of architectural projects in Japan, photographs and multimedia installations, Remain Calm takes inspiration from the 12th-century Japanese poet Kamo no Chomei, who became a hermit and travelled in his small, mobile hut to live on hillsides and by riversides.
For Hasegawa, Chomei’s shelter reflects much of what we require from living spaces in the midst of the pandemic – how can we create a place of safety, while still remaining connected to our surroundings?
The oscillation between solitude and connectivity is present in the architectural projects highlighted in Sharjapan 3, including in architect Kazuo Shinohara’s Tanikawa House, located in the mountains of Nagano prefecture and built in 1974.
Minimal in design, the summer house sits on the slope of a hill, its flooring only partially covered, leaving the ground exposed in certain areas. By keeping the earth and the artificial in close proximity to one another, Shinohara’s design almost dissolves the barrier between the two, as though the inhabitants were now part of the natural surroundings, instead of simply living in it.
When lockdowns were set in place across the world in 2020, gardens, balconies and rooftops became prized spaces as people sought some form of dialogue with their surroundings. Even as cities and countries reopen, the anxieties of quarantine in enclosed spaces have left a deep mark, and future architectural projects may be able to find solutions.
Sharjapan 3 also proposes ways in which architecture can be sites of healing. A scale model of Toyo Ito’s White U from 1976 shows how the architect created a shelter for his sister Nobuko, who was widowed, and her two daughters.
The all-white structure appeared enclosed from the outside, but its absence of dividing walls on the inside permitted more contact between family members. Like Shinohara’s design, a portion of the house, specifically its central courtyard, was left unpaved, so that the soil and vegetation were left exposed.
During its existence – the house was demolished in 1997 after the residents felt that they had outgrown it – White U perched between its function as a kind of fortress, enabling solitude and recovery, and a communal, open space for its inhabitants.
What also emerges in Hasegawa’s selection of architectural projects is the emphasis in Japanese architecture on responding to surroundings, whether it is the natural environment or in urban contexts.
The Art Biotop Water Garden by Junya Ishigami exemplifies this consideration for nature, having been designed to save forest trees from being cut down for a new hotel. Over four years, a total of 318 trees were relocated to a meadow next to the hotel site. The architect then designed 160 biotopes, or artificial ponds, to surround the trees and serve as homes for various flora and fauna.
In urban settings, the Double Helix House, designed by onishimaki+hyakudayuki (o+h) architects, demonstrates imagination and an understanding of space, even in limited circumstances. Built in a very narrow area of a Tokyo neighbourhood, the house is accessed through an alley, its various living areas stacked on top of each other with a winding corridor around its central core.
Remain Calm also includes a performative installation by artist Nile Koetting named Remain Calm (Compressed +), from which Hasegawa drew the exhibition’s subtitle. The artist recalls the evacuation drills from his childhood in Japan, where schools prepare for natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis.
Remain Calm proves that an ethos of compassion, care and harmony can exist within architecture, without stripping it of functionality or beauty
Koetting’s installation of miniature models depicts an art institution – set in a science fictional universe – in a state of emergency. The work contemplates on the types of solidarity that could take shape under such instances. The work takes on even more contemporary resonance as climate disasters, including deadly floods and wildfires, have struck several countries this year alone.
How has architecture served to protect us thus far, and how can architects, designers, urban planners, environmentalists and governments adapt and rethink moving forward? Can art institutions and museums also play a role?
Such key questions arise repeatedly throughout the show, which also includes beautiful photographs of various Japanese architecture in one gallery. Remain Calm proves that an ethos of compassion, care and harmony can exist within architecture, without stripping it of functionality or beauty.
At the same time, the projects within the show act as reminders of the possibilities of architecture outside of vanity and grandeur, aspirations that go hand in hand with cities vying for global dominance. It is timely that the show should end just as Expo 2020 Dubai, with its promises of magnificence and spectacle, takes centre stage.
Above all, Remain Calm reinforces a belief in architecture’s ability to fulfil the spiritual and emotional needs of its inhabitants. That, at its roots, architecture should be human.
Sharjapan 3 – Remain Calm: Solitude and Connectivity in Japanese Architecture is on view at Galleries 1, 2, and 3, Al Mureijah Square, Sharjah Art Foundation. More information on sharjahart.org
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fasset%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohammad%20Raafi%20Hossain%2C%20Daniel%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.45%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2086%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-series%20B%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Investcorp%2C%20Liberty%20City%20Ventures%2C%20Fatima%20Gobi%20Ventures%2C%20Primal%20Capital%2C%20Wealthwell%20Ventures%2C%20FHS%20Capital%2C%20VN2%20Capital%2C%20local%20family%20offices%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
Jetour T1 specs
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More on Quran memorisation:
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
