29 Jun 2011

Namaste Tower

The Namaste Tower which is due to open in Mumbai in 2015 will be a landmark building standing tall at 984 feet and 62 floors. It will be housing the famous W hotel, offices & retail spaces. The design is based on the 'Namaste' yoga/greeting gesture, where in the two wings of the building will look like  clasped hands... to greet.
What is more interesting is the skin of the building will have the traditional 'mehndi' design! It looks very nice in the computer generated images, hope to see it in real. Atkins  who have their hands on projects like Burj Al Arab, The Address, Dubai Metro etc. are responsible for this too.

The tower.


The two wings of the tower in a clasping position as hands in a namaste gesture.
All images from here.


   

26 Jun 2011

Breakfast at Shakespeare & Co.

Saturday mornings are for trying out breakfast around the Jumairah area ....while the little one is in her dance class. This time it was at Shakespeare & Co. at the Village Mall. Luckily I had my point & shoot.
The place(though not my taste) has a very Cozy, old time shabbily chic Victorian  ambiance.Pastels and brights, frills, gilts, floral, laces, cameos, velvet, wrought iron, wicker......all give it a look of a cottage eatery or a patisserie from the Victorian Era. Let's  have a look at how they managed to get 'the look' here in Dubai.


The panels, lamps and the jars give the look in the patisserie 

The display of chocolates. Gilded brackets and stands are shabbily touched with paint to acquire the look. 

Ceiling adorned with golden picture frames washed with paint & some hanging lamps/chandeliers . 

Torn Victorian pictures of people stuck to one of the walls.

Victorian patterns upon walls & furniture.

This is a gilded sculpture which has been shabbily painted to give the desired look. You can see the gold peeping out at places.  


The furniture & furnishing depicting the era.
Apart from these, the outdoor seating is mainly wicker, wrought iron and endless striped & floral frills.