http://www.gulf-life.com/2007/ 10/01/blueprint-3/
Place this book on your table to appear 10 times smarter
Since it first appeared in spring 2004, the quarterly magazine Bidoun has become essential reading for those interested in the arts and culture in the Middle East. It's the Arab world equivalent of Wallpaper*, but with less gloss and more guts. The same team has just published With/Without, which is Bidoun in attractive, shelf-friendly book form. Between its fashionable, coarse grey-card covers, 14 chapters of essays, interviews and fine photography investigate architecture and society - from mall culture in Dubai to designing a new Iraqi flag. There's satire too: computer drawings of man-made islands fashioned to look like ubiquitous global logos. "We wanted to keep the content eclectic," says co-editor Antonia Carver, "with personal and whimsical pieces mixed in with the more serious." Look for With/Without in bookshops - or order online.
