THE

PROFESSIONAL

THE
ARCHITE

IT ALL STARTS
FROM HERE
Left: James Law
stands beside
a model of
Technosphere to
be built in Dubai.
Right: Concept
design of The
Pad in Dubai.

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GLAM INTERIORS + DESIGN

 CT OF

JAMES LAW DOESNT BUILD TO STUN, BUT HIS

BUILDINGS ARE ALL STRIKING NONETHELESS. HIS
DESIGNS ARE A MARRIAGE OF TECHNOLOGY,
ARCHITECTURE AND INNOVATIVE ENGINEERING.

BY SINDHU NAIR

TOMORROW
Architect James Law, the owner of the
firm Cybertecture in Hong Kong which
works on projects internationally, has
a curious fascination.
For the mystical sound of Hindu origin,
the Om that is said to embody the essence
of the entire universe. This fascination
started almost ten years ago when Law
was on a history-inspired sojourn to Sri
Lanka, which steered him to the design
of the most controversial residential
building in India. My friends, some of
whom were historians, told me that the
ohm embodies a sense of total-ness and
instils timelessness. It was this sense that
I wanted in my building, to remind us of
the core values of mankind, bring in the
elements of nature (water in this building)
and dwell on the harmony that the building
wants to achieve with the coming together
of the elements. Law aspires to bring in
value through his buildings and, in this
age of instant gratification, to understand
the strong value of beliefs and cultural
principles.
This is the level that architects aspire to
in their career, buildings that transcend
space and time, and that is the level that
Law intends to achieve. It is close to

what we can see at the I.M. Pei building,

the Museum of Islamic Arts, that I aspire
to create. The building, according to
the architect, transcends all notions of
age and time and will stand testimony to
the greatness of the architect for years to
come.
While the residential building, Bandra
Ohm, is stalled due to property deal
concerns, this creative exuberance, which
is ingrained in James Law, explores the
depth and the power of the Om and its
origin.
Bandra Ohm, a 140-metre tall
residential tower in Mumbai, India, is a
design concept inspired by the flow effect
generated by water drops, which is also
known as the capillary wave.
The outline of the tower demonstrates
the fluidity and dynamic nature of
the ripple. The outline and the ripple
pattern can be imagined as an abstract
representation of the Ohm symbol. The
design features a central void containing
an orb-shaped clubhouse. Even more
striking, however, are the glass-walled
swimming pools on the balconies with each
unit featuring a narrow vertigo-inducing
infinity pool with no railing. The dynamic
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THE

PROFESSIONAL

THE CENTRE
left: Most of
Laws designs
follow either an
elliptical design
or a circular
form. Right: The
Capital building
in Mumbai and
Dickson Cyber
Express in Hong
Kong

nature of using water as the design feature

and as a safety aspect is a concept that
hasnt been explored before and that
naturally brought forth reservations and
criticisms.
Many questioned the safety of these
whimsical ski-fi inspired designs, and
some commented that such futuristic
designs both overwhelm the imagination
and challenge our understanding of
material strength.
Are we seeing in the plans of the Bandra
Ohm the design trends of the future, asked
some. Can this building be constructed as
designed, and more importantly, should it,
asked a blogger.
More than any buildings that I had
done, this one catapulted me from
someone who does innovative stuff to
someone who transcends material and
design constraints to create residential
spaces that are more than just functional
buildings, says Law. The building
broke the mould for typical conventional
residential buildings in Mumbai, all of
which were square or rectangular, safe and
functional driven buildings. My design was
to embody a unique kind of architecture,
a deeper feeling to the meaning of
architecture.
That in its true sense has been achieved,
but looking at the history of architectural
work from Laws drawing boards, the need
to exhilarate, to surprise and to surpass the
ordinary has always been present.
His architectural firm, Cybertecture, is
the point where architecture, technology
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GLAM INTERIORS + DESIGN

and innovative engineering get together,

in order to sculpt the urban environment.
Another building of his, the Cybertecture
Egg, in Mumbai, India, is an astonishing
egg-shaped building with 33,000 square
metres of office space, stacked in 13
storeys with highly intelligent building
management systems and three levels of
basement providing 400 car
parking spaces.
But Law doesnt aspire to create
controversial projects for the sake of
recognition or notoriety, since that would
be a very hollow way to live ones life
for artists love their work and that is the
essence of their life.
Laws fascination for architecture
started at the early age of 7, after watching
the movie The Fountainhead and it is his
love for the profession that guides his
entire life.
That movie has many interpretations
but it gets to the heart of the matter that
the creator has to create to satisfy his
own inner convictions. Society can either
put him on the pedestal or destroy him,
but that doesnt mean you create for the
society but incorporate the need to match
your convictions, he says. Stay true to
yourself and some parts of society will
appreciate your work.
Elliptic love
Many of Laws buildings seem to follow
a very organic pattern; they seem to
take the elliptical or the egg-like shape
(Technosphere building in Dubai and the

The future will be about new forms, whether

they are in the shape of eggs, elliptic or hexagonal,
I am not sure, but I want to keep doing what
we havent been doing so far.

A NEW FORM
A computer
generated image of
theTechnosphere,
the love for elliptics
continues here.

Mumbai Convention Centre) and this,

according to Law, is part of his breakaway
from the conventional.
I am a futurist. We live in a world of
octagonal structures. The future will be
about new forms, whether they are in the
shape of eggs, elliptic or hexagonal, I am
not sure, but I want to keep doing what we
havent been doing so far, he says.
We have been very stereotypical in
our reflections of spaces; confined by the
floor and set in by walls and contained by
ceilings, he says. Isnt it time we think
beyond the norm and conceptualise spaces
like in the international play (space?)
stations where there are no strict walls or
ceilings?
Law emphasises that he doesnt say
this in a patronising voice but as an
encouragement to himself to innovate and
go beyond the set structural perimeters
like in the elliptical structures, where
there is no need for columns and where
the ceilings seamlessly continue to be the
flooring.
We are living in a renaissance period
where art and design oscillate around
every object of our daily life. Everything
is designed, measured, processed and
photo shopped. There is an immense
consciousness of the aesthetic, of
functionality and the dynamics of design.
Design out the wars
Law gets more passionate about the
possibilities of design in this new age
and goes as far as to emphasise that we
are constantly weaving the very fabric of
mankind, of manufacturing processes and
ability. We are living in an urbanised age
where we build to our convenience. Design
is at an incredible age of development; we
have reached the threshold where design
can shape our lives and we should now
think how design can be used to drive out
poverty, to design out war and terrorism
and to design in education, he says.
He considers the possibility of designing
out wars and using design to solve world
issues and not just become an aesthetic
principle in the world. There is a
possibility design can answer and solve
these issues, he says confidently.
These are the questions that architects
should be asking and even working
towards, says Law: Can design be used
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THE

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THE CONTROVERSY
Left and Above:
The Bandra Ohm has created
a lot of reaction from around
the world on its futuristic
and seemingly dangerous
design, the swimming pools
overhangng on each of the
floors in the residentail building
is the point of discussion.
Right: Law has executed
many buildings inThe Bahrain
Business Bay.

and architecture, Law

has designed some of
the most innovative
projects in the world,
including the worlds
Stay true to yourself and some parts of
first artificial intelligent
society will appreciate your work.
media laboratory
for the Hong Kong
government;
the
worlds
first Bricks &
to solve the world problems instead of
Clicks shopping mall called Dickson
designing just for us?
Cyber Express, also in Hong Kong; and
And this is the latest venture that
the worlds first morphable house in
Law has stepped into, Cybertecture for
partnership with IBM in Denmark.
Humanity, to formulate a meeting of
He was also responsible for the worlds
like-minded people to contemplate on
first Electronic Arts Experience where
issues as simple as providing technology
he brought a unique and innovative
for humankind and doing it in a way that
entertainment experience to millions of
information is made available to everyone.
visitors at The Peak in Hong Kong. This
We may go to poverty-striken countries
two-storey architectural edifice, built in
to educate, innovate and help make the
the foyer at the top of the shopping centre,
lives of the people easier by harvesting
is more than just an architectural marvel.
water, providing technology, he says.
Law has a grand vision of things to come; It enables visitors to take part in various
game simulations by Electronic Arts that
in fact, he has always had it, as reflected in
bring entertainment to a whole new level.
his earlier designs. Combining technology
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Taking architecture to a whole new level

of technological innovation is something
Law excels in and so it is no surprise that
Apple Inc. got in touch with him when he
envisioned the IPAD building in Dubai
long before the iPad was launched
by Apple.
To comply with the laws of copyright,
Law had to change the name of his
building to The Pad in 2006, the design
of which was handed over to the architect
after a competition that had design
participation from architects Zaha Hadid
and Norman Foster.
While The Pad is being constructed in
Dubai and is a clear representation of the
technological marvel whose name and
shape it replicates, Law is waiting to leave
his creative stamp on Qatar, a country
he has close ties with because of his
involvement as a jury member in the Stars
of Science project. It is also the country
that houses one of the most inspiring
buildings from I.M.Pei, he says.