Restoring Historic Jeddah

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'squint/opera’s' film for the redevelopment of Jeddah Central District describes a project of six million square metres, the largest city centre project in the Arab world. The narrative explains the historical importance of the city and makes the case for a sympathetic development, aiming to revitalise the city’s architectural and social inheritance whilst protecting its utterly unique character.

The style is typically refreshing (once you get past the vertical bars...)

Restoring Historic Jeddah - English Version from squintopera on Vimeo.

Archive photographs and pictorial representations of the city animated by subtly shifting two-dimensional planes give way to a long, and thoroughly impossible, tracking shot in which the viewer’s gaze seems to be the cause of a spectacular regeneration: dilapidated buildings are renovated, roads healed, trees and shades descend to provide comfort in public spaces. We have featured squint/opera many times here on du, their in-house style makes it good to have such companies around...