Dubai

One of the great perks of being a designer is the opportunity to travel around the world to see thrilling cities and meet fascinating people. In the past I’ve found traveling in the Gulf region to be stressful because of the heat and workload, so this trip was a breath of fresh air with cool weather and great client.

Dubai is quite conflicting for the urban-obsessed. For many people, it seems to have appeared overnight and in many ways it has. The city seems entirely new and growing at the edges. Most of my time is spent in cars or skyscrapers, which makes the rare moments on foot and at ground level feel very strange.

Kuwait

There’s something magical about flying into the Gulf at night. The cities appear and disappear in the horizon through the night air, thick with heat. As I peered through the airplane window I began to see the roads, skyscrapers, and mosques of Kuwait City. I was met with that sensation familiar to travelers- a delicious and overwhelming sense of not knowing but wanting to.

Kuwait was such a surprise. This Gulf nation is small compared to its neighbors but it has a lot of gravity. Its economy is growing and that could be seen with what seemed like an endless sea of construction.

The three days were a blur of site visits, meetings, and car trips on the massive freeways. Although it can be difficult to not be able to be a tourist, I got to see a side of the city that most visitors won’t. A backstage architectural tour filled with kind, generous, and fun Kuwaitis.

Jakarta

I left London on a snowy December morning, 17 hours later I stepped into the most humid air I’ve ever experienced. The heat took my breathe away and was a great welcome to my first time south of the equator.

Jakarta is almost impossible to comprehend. The vast size of this city was unlike anything I’ve every seen before. It’s difficult to orient one’s self as you drive through the maze of roads. Clusters of skyscrapers seem to be dotted in all directions along the horizon.

Rotterdam / The Haag

I’ve been lucky to spend a great deal of time in Holland for work. Most of this has been in Amsterdam but occasionally I venture out to see new cities. The modern steel and glass architecture of Rotterdam and Den Haag are so different from the narrow, wonky, and historic buildings in Amsterdam.

Thorpe Park

Roller coasters are more than a passion in my life, they are an obsession. Since childhood I have studied, drawn, and rode them. The United Kingdom has an incredible collection of rides and today I sampled the variety at Thorpe Park.