Latest news with #YourHouse
Zawya
05-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Build Your House and inspire exhibitions successfully conclude with over 16,000 visitors
DOHA, QATAR: The 6th edition of the Build Your House (BYH) Exhibition and the inaugural Inspire Exhibition drew to a successful close on May 1, 2025 at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC). Held under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, the co-located events offered a significant platform for the construction, interior design, and architectural sectors in Qatar. Build Your House was inaugurated by His Excellency Sheikh Faisal bin Thani bin Faisal Al Thani, Minister of Commerce and Industry, and His Excellency Abdullah bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al Attiyah, Minister of Municipality and Environment, along with other officials. The exhibitions, which ran for four days, provided a venue for homeowners, consultants, suppliers, and industry professionals, facilitating trade and business, and establishing meaningful industry connections. Build Your House showcased the latest developments in home construction and renovation; while the co-located Inspire Exhibition presented a diverse array of premium home décor, furnishings, and lifestyle products. The exhibitions generated substantial economic activity, with preliminary figures indicating a total deal value of approximately 800 million QAR. With the participation of 250 exhibitors and co-exhibitors showcasing a wide spectrum of products and services relating to home construction and interior design solutions, 9,700 unique visitors contributed to an overall footfall of 16,309. Visitors had the unique chance to learn about the industry and market trends. They also gained relevant knowledge and information from esteemed speakers at the 40+ Conference sessions, who provided deeper insights on topics ranging from sustainable and smart home solutions to the future trends shaping Qatar's homebuilding process. The event was further supported by 5 ministries and administrations, 31 sponsors and partners, and 26 media partners, highlighting its significance in the industry. Government entities have also played a significant role and greatly contributed to the events' success, with representatives from the Ministry of Municipality, the Ministry of Social Development and Family, Kahramaa, and the Civil Defense of Qatar providing essential information and guidance on regulations and services. The popular Mostashari program continued to offer invaluable one-on-one consultations with industry experts, assisting homeowners at various stages of their building journey. Rawad Sleem, Co-founder and General Manager of NeXTfairs for Exhibitions and Conferences, the event organizers, commented, "I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all our visitors, sponsors, exhibitors, and government representatives for their valuable support to Build Your House and Inspire Exhibitions. The success of these events has demonstrated the value these platforms bring to Qatar's ever-growing construction and design sectors. We have designed these events with the aim to empower Qataris and residents with the tools and connections needed to build their dream homes, and we look forward to even more successful editions that will continue driving growth and innovation in Qatar's industry. We remain committed to continuously develop and expand these events in order to effectively meet the evolving demands of the Qatari homebuilding and design market.' For media enquiries, please contact: Abuzar Iqbal, PR Manager, MUSE; +974 66999189 ABOUT NEXTFAIRS NeXTfairs is an experienced and established event organizer that has been providing exceptional services for over 17 years. With a team of seasoned professionals, NeXTfairs offers comprehensive end-to-end event management solutions, including exhibitions and conferences tailored to meet the unique needs of the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) sectors. The company aims to position Qatar as a global leader in conferences, exhibitions, meetings, and events, building a global reputation as a premium destination for world-class business events.
The Guardian
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Your House review – scavenger hunt through a delightfully difficult puzzle
Your House is inspired by a remarkable true story. Back in the 2000s, a rich New York couple paid architect Eric Clough to renovate their new apartment, with the slightly odd request that a poem about their family should be hidden away in one of the walls, like a time capsule. Inspired by this, Clough took it upon himself to make a few unorthodox modifications to the dwelling without his clients' knowledge. Just over a year after the couple and their children had moved in to their home, Clough sent them a cryptic note. This clue led them to a hidden panel, behind which was a book, which in turn led them on a scavenger hunt through their own apartment. Clough had crammed the rooms with hidden messages and complex puzzles that it took the family weeks to solve. One involved wrapping a piece of leather cord around a bed post to reveal a message. Another involved removing two decorative knockers then joining them together to form a crank, which was used to wind open a hidden panel in the dining room, behind which were various keys and keyholes. All of this eventually led to the hidden poem. Spanish indie studio Patrones & Escondites replicates this puzzle gauntlet in Your House, but rather than rich New Yorkers, you play as the troubled Debbie, who is having a terrible 18th birthday. She's just found out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend – and she's been kicked out of boarding school to boot. But at midnight she receives an anonymous postcard with a key and an address, which leads her to a mysterious, deserted house. Your House acts as a standalone prequel to the 2020 game Unmemory, but whereas this previous title utilised photos and film, Patrones & Escondites has adopted a comic book style here, reminiscent of artists like Daniel Clowes (Ghost World) or Jaime Hernandez (Love and Rockets). These illustrations – created by artist Jon Ander Torres – look gorgeous, but the majority of the game is delivered via text, presented like the chapters of a book. The occasional interactive word is highlighted in bold, and clicking on it will, say, take you to the named room or let you interact with a particular object. This mechanism works best when the text gets playful, such as when Debbie walks through a narrow tunnel and the words spool out in a long horizontal line while the margins get smaller and smaller. But the ingenious puzzles are the real star of Your House, involving things like working out the correct sequence of notes to play on a piano to open a secret panel, or looking for the hidden pattern in a series of portraits. Most will require copious notes on pen and paper. The very best ones will leave you fruitlessly scratching your head, only for the answer to pop into your mind with a sudden rush of adrenaline, followed by a sense of elation as the combination clicks into place. The third of the game's five chapters in particular is truly wonderful, presenting a warren of secret corridors and a series of interconnected puzzles that are particularly satisfying to solve with the help of night vision goggles that can reveal hidden writing. But sadly the game can't quite keep up this pace to the end, and despite the odd flash of brilliance, the quality of the final puzzles never quite reaches the height of those in the middle of the game. The plot, too, fizzles out unsatisfyingly, with a solution to the house's mystery that seems obvious and yet doesn't make much sense when held up to scrutiny. Still, the idea of a house with conundrums built into its very fabric remains tantalising: I couldn't help but give my own house a sweep after playing, just on the off-chance there might be a previously unnoticed hidden message or two. Your House is released on 27 March
