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(07)  تفكير عملي

A short column on architecture, cities and the everyday spaces of the UAE.

I'm Omran. I explore spaces, I fall for good design far too easily, and I hunt the city with a camera for the corners nobody bothered to draw.

If you're one of the four people who check on me and my rants, welcome. You know who you are.

I'm an architect, a researcher and, on a good day, an explorer. Born in Sharjah in 1979, I spent most of my life in Dubai and have now moved to Abu Dhabi for a new chapter.

Life is short, so the introvert in me has decided to come out and share.

أنا عمران. أستكشف الأماكن، وأقع في حب التصميم الجميل بسهولة مفرطة، وأجوب المدينة بكاميرتي بحثاً عن الزوايا التي لم يكلّف أحد نفسه عناء رسمها.

إذا كنت من الأربعة الذين يتابعونني ويتحمّلون ثرثرتي، فأهلاً وسهلاً بك. أنت تعرف نفسك.

أنا معماري وباحث، ومستكشف في أيامي الجيدة. وُلدت في الشارقة عام 1979، وعشت معظم حياتي في دبي، وانتقلت اليوم إلى أبوظبي لأبدأ فصلاً جديداً.

الحياة قصيرة، فقرّر الانطوائي الذي في داخلي أن يخرج ويشارك.

Columns  المقالات

Omran Alowais
(01) Sketch for It Was the Pencil, Then the Mouse, and Now the "Partner" 25 October 2026It Was the Pencil, Then the Mouse, and Now the "Partner""AI", the new thing?Read → (02) Sketch for The Idiot Genius 25 October 2026The Idiot GeniusYou may well wish you were one.Read → (03) Sketch for The Dark Side of the Highway 25 October 2026The Dark Side of the HighwayCycling in a city is one of two things: a hobby, or a way to get somewhere.Read → (04) Sketch for The Roadster, the Rocket and the Tunnel 25 October 2026The Roadster, the Rocket and the TunnelThere is a particular kind of man in this country who buys a 4x4 with low-range gearing, locking differentials and a snorkel, a car built to cross the Rub' al Khali (الربع الخالي), and then drives it, exclusively, between his villa and the mall.Read → (05) Sketch for The Most-Used Doorbell 22 October 2026The Most-Used DoorbellThe car horn is the most-used doorbell in the country.Read → (06) Sketch for The Size of the Table 22 October 2026The Size of the TableWhy a city’s tables tell you how its people talk.Read → (07) Sketch for Scale and Perspective 21 October 2026Scale and PerspectiveThe tradition was scale and perspective, and it works in two directions.Read →