‘Art allowed my architecture to flow and dance’

Matthew Brace

• Last Updated: July 02. 2009 5:07PM UAE / July 2. 2009 1:07PM GMT

Is Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi primarily a work of art or a work of architecture? How about one of the practical but forgettable towers on Airport Road? Where does one discipline end and the other begin?

The New York-based painter, designer and architect Dinesh Doshi has a neat way to sidestep this aesthetic dilemma. “Art and architecture have been connected from their inception; one cannot be without the other.

“Art is the expression of one’s soul to the rest of the world, while architecture is the binding of multiple visions and needs into a structural form. True architecture encompasses the fundamentals of form and space; its ultimate goal is to arouse the mind and provide an individual with a visual and tangible canvas, creating physical art that engages all five senses.

“Art allowed my architecture to flow and dance. I had not realised that when working on architectural commissions I was always painting; the projects became my canvas and I enjoyed creating commercial successes while meeting my client’s goals.”

Doshi’s clients’ goals have been met in Bahrain (Jawad Center, Manama), Saudi Arabia (Al Raya Shopping Center, Jeddah), and Qatar (Co-op Market, Doha) and he has consulted in Abu Dhabi (Co-op Market) and Kuwait (Sultan Center, Kuwait City).

His latest exhibition of ‘physical art’ is close at hand: he has designed the striking Z10 Towers complex, which is to be built on Dana Island in Ras al Khaimah.

The three main towers will harbour lavish residential apartments, a hotel and office space. Lucky inhabitants will be able to choose apartments with private lifts, party terraces, jacuzzis and swimming pools.

When sketching and then drafting the project, he was influenced by the American architect, designer and visionary, Buckminster Fuller, (the creator of the geodesic dome, a prominent example of which can be seen at the UK’s Eden Project) but also by the wealth of Middle Eastern art.

“The Middle East has a rich history of both art and architecture. In recent years the region has seen amazing growth, becoming a melting pot of ideas and structural beauty,” he said.

“The architecture was allowed to pounce from an open canvas not bound by any margins; minds were set free upon this canvas of beautiful vistas. The result: architecture that will withstand time and be venerated for years to come. It was this open-mindedness of the region that has been most influential in allowing this freedom of expression.”

Doshi spent his childhood in Africa and his adolescence in India and feels his most recent Z10 project is almost a homecoming.

“Z10 has been the ultimate expression of my freedom, taking a few steps away from nature yet organic in its form.

“Its structure is unconventional, provoking questions of its stability yet achieving its strength through technological thinking and articulation. The towers artistically represent body mind and soul, interconnecting the three to create a structure working in unison.”

The most unconventional aspect of the towers is their significant lean, which requires a counterbalanced foundation. This means that those private lifts – in fact all vertical transportat – are going to rise and fall on an incline, similar to the somewhat unnerving but thrilling lifts at the pyramid-shaped Luxor Hotel on The Strip in Las Vegas. It’s a completely different sensation and can cause even the most stable of us to totter as the car draws to a halt.

Doshi said he wanted the Z10 project “to serve as an inspiration to the next generation of dreamers and technicians” and there’s certainly more than a touch of the dreamer and technician in him – attributes that have been honed by a lifelong love of art.

“I received very structured architectural training in school but spent every spare minute on my art or studying the varied works of master artists. This was an interesting balance because painting provided freedom while academics kept me focused. To this end, I struck a balance within myself.

“Before I was graced with the privilege of presenting a one-man show at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai in 1971, I studied at the library above the gallery the works of Van Gogh and his contemporaries who broke conventional artistic paradigms.

“This intrigued me and drove my own work and, as I study some of my early paintings that adorn the walls of my home, I’m continually amazed that these varied interpretations completed so long ago still influence my approach to design concepts.”

If you are still in any doubt that Doshi’s Z10 is a work of art as well as work of architecture, just focus on the poles emerging from each tower, painted in brilliant primary colours and looking not dissimilar to Caran d’Ache colouring pencils left neatly in a pot after a painting is finished and the artist has moved on to the next canvas.