hani rashid / asymptote: (lise anne couture and hani rashid) .............................................................................................................................................
......................... shop .................. competitions .............. education ................ interviews ................... snapshots ................... history .......... contemporary ---
hani rashid / asymptote hani rashid was born in cairo, egypt in 1958 to a british mother and egyptian father and raised in england and canada (by the way - hani is the brother of karim rashid). he received his bachelor of architecture degree in 1983 from carleton university in ottawa, canada and a masters of architecture degree in 1985 from the cranbrook academy of art in the usa. in 1988 he co-founded with partner lise anne couture (*1959), asymptote, architectural design and research practice, based in new york. hani has been a professor of architecture at the columbia university graduate school of architecture and planning since 1989. in 1995 he co-developed the school’s advanced digital design program and has also been taught at numerous universities including the royal danish academy in copenhagen, the southern california institute of architecture in los angeles, the university of lund, sweden, the graduate school of design at harvard university and the stadleschule in frankfurt. asymptote has produced a body of work that has placed the practice at the forefront of architectural and interactive digital design. asymptote's projects range from spatial experimentation and installations to building and urban design to computer generated environments and architectures. they have created a virtual trading floor for the new york stock exchange and the guggenheim virtual museum, which are fully navigable interactive multi-dimensional architectural environments. other clients include the osaka gas, the kyoto research park and knoll international. hani rashid was also one of two united states representatives who exhibited in the american pavillion during the venice biennale in 2000. the work of asymptote is in various museum collections including moma, sfmoma, the canadian center for architecture, the netherlands institute of architecture and at the solomon r. guggenheim. http://www.asymptote.net	hani rashid © designboom
----------------------------------------------------------------- new york, march 5, 2002 ------------------------------ what is the best moment of the day? there are two, very early in my office before anyone gets there, and the other when my cell phone is turned off and I switch to private-life mode. what kind of music do you listen to at the moment? anything somafm.com streams do you listen to the radio? only in NYC taxis. what books do you have on your bedside table? a guidebook to beijing, asymptote flux final proof, a apple power book. where do you get news from? live news feeds such as newsnow.co.uk do you read design magazines? with reluctance. do you notice how women dress? do you have any preferences? yes and yes! what kind of clothes do you avoid wearing? tight, shiny, bright, beige, used and labeled. do you have any pets? no…however my son has become quite attached to his robot dog. when you were a child, what did you want to be? an artist like my dad. where do you work on your designs and architectural projects? airplanes, trains, beds, hotels, showers and at the office sometimes. who would you like to design something for? airbus the city of rome and any sea frontage in scandinavia. do you discuss or exchange ideas with other creatives? absolutely, with the asymptote team, various NY artists I know and respect, web designers and crack programmers, museum directors and curators, other architects and designers like my brother and his buddies, my students and some people I respect in advertising, music ( my sister and her buddies) and people involved in the IT and web industries as well. describe your style like a good friend of yours would describe it. adequately neurotic, slightly fanatic and inquisitive as hell. form follows function in the digital environment? form follows means, means follow tools, tools yield to desires, and desire is everything. which of your projects has given you the most satisfaction? the virtual trading floor for the NYSE, our office system for knoll, and our first completed building opening next month in holland. are there any designer and/or architect, you appreciate a lot? andre bloc, eric mendelson, bruno taut, vladimir melnikov… frederic kiesler, georges maciunas and john cage and above all marcel duchamp (these last three are not really designers or architects but crucial to our work) and those still active, are there any particular ones you appreciate? rem koolhas’ naiveté and zaha hadid’s spirit to name two... any advice for the young? curiosity, humility, optimism and lots of gumption will see you through almost anything. what are you afraid of regarding the future? small mindedness, fanatics, the banal, and the insidious voiding of cultures.	floriade pavilion, hydr-pier, being built near schipol airport in holland ... opens to the public on april 28th, 2002. knoll A3 furniture system, 2002 motionscape study, 2002 eyebeam digital art museum, new york, 2001
the questionaire of marcel proust (1871 - 1922) ...................................................................................................................................................... (in age of fourteen proust was given an english album "confessions : an album to record thoughts, feelings". seven years later marcel proust published this questionaire) in the literary salons in nineteenth century paris, this parlour game was a popular amusement. for designboom hani rashid has answered these 'old fashioned' questions. ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
the main traits of my character. curiosity and a need for space (physical and otherwise). a quality I desire in a man. intelligence and generosity and vision. a quality I desire in a woman. intelligence and vision and generosity. what I appreciate most among my friends. vast horizons, ceaseless optimism and lots of tolerance. my principal defect. being on time. my favorite occupation. conceptual artist. my dream of felicity. endless time spent with the people I love. what would be the biggest misfortune for me. no more ideas. who I would like to be. a newborn. were I would like to live. new york city. the color I prefer. silver-blue. the flower I love. real. the bird I prefer. digital. my favorite authors. huysmans, roussel, rabalais and genet. my favorite poets. tzara and cocteau. my heroes in fiction. ulysses (joyce) my heroines in fiction. rose selavey. my favorite composers. terrance riley, john cage and glen branca. my favorite artists. tom friedman, sophie calle, maurizio cattelan. my favorite names. tynan, theo and luca. what I dislike the most. routines and self inflicted boredom. the historic characters I dislike most. evil ones. the military enterprise I like the most. absolutely none. the reformation I appreciate the most. the human ones. nature’s gift I would like to have. harmony, perfection and morphogenesis. how I would like to die. quietly and quickly. my soul's present condition. sound, secure and whole. the faults I can bear. absent mindedness, tardiness and in some, self grandizing. my motto. no motto is a good motto.	guggenheim virtual museum, 2000 NYSE advanced trading floor operations center, new york, 1999 virtual reality trading floor, new york stock exchange, 1998 book 'flux' studio works 1997- 2002, published by phaidon press, 2002 https://www.phaidon.com
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