CAAD faculty and students showcased at Dubai Design Week

From a hands-on green furniture design workshop to a showcase of exceptional architecture and furniture designs by faculty and students, the College of Architecture, Art and Design (CAAD) at American University of Sharjah (AUS) is well-represented at this year’s Dubai Design Week, which runs from November 12 to 17.

Dr. Varkki Pallathucheril, Dean of CAAD, said faculty and students from the college will present concepts of compact architectural solutions, sustainable architecture, green furniture design, and contemporary furniture design and fabrication throughout the event.

“We’re excited to be able to showcase the work of our talented faculty and students at Dubai Design Week as we continue to lead and shape the future of architecture and design for the region,” said Dr. Pallathucheril.

Front-lining this year’s Dubai Design Week, the exhibition Abwab—which means “doors” in Arabic—features five custom-designed pavilions by Associate Professor of Architecture Faysal Tabbarah in association with Architecture + Other Things. These pavilions, composed of recycled branches and twigs and other sustainable materials, were created to house works by selected designers from five Middle Eastern communities, including Amman, Beirut, Dubai, the Eastern Provinces of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The exhibition will be featured in the center of d3 from November 12 to 17.

Award-winning designer and Associate Professor of Architecture at CAAD Jason Carlow presents a decade of work in his exhibition Compact Dwelling. The exhibition is open to the public from November 12 to 17 on campus at CAAD, room AD1-101, and features a collection of models, drawings, photomontages and diagrams of a series of projects that present alternative concepts for high-rise development, such as pencil towers and micro-apartment buildings.

ProtoPieces is an exhibition of unique contemporary furniture designed and fabricated by Ammar Kalo, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Director of CAAD Labs, along with 12 students from the IDE 335 Furniture Design Basics course at AUS. It features a collection of sketches, prototypes and scale models developed over several months. The pieces highlight the various stages of furniture design, from conceptualization and prototyping to fabrication. The exhibition will be held in the Atrium of d3’s Building 7 from November 12 to 17.

Following the success of last year’s event, Green Designers Workshop: Second Edition, will be led by Assistant Professors of Architecture Camilo Cerra and Juan Roldan. Members of the public are invited to participate in the hands-on workshop. Participants will work with scrap wood and use facilities and tools from CAAD’s Fabrication Lab to create full-scale furniture prototypes. The final pieces will be exhibited and documented at the end of the workshop. The workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, November 16 at a cost of AED200 per person. Participants are encouraged to register early as limited seats are available.

Neonomads Shelter is an installation by students of architecture at CAAD, under the guidance of Gregory Spaw, Assistant Professor of Architecture, and will feature as part of the Global Grad Show during Dubai Design Week. The structure is a tent that was designed to serve as a research facility for scientists in a protected desert site, and consists of a shaded area for rest, a fireplace and storage units. A reinterpretation of traditional tent design, the structure retains ease of assembly, a lightweight nature and basic functionality while experimenting with component materials, overall form and connection details. The installation will be on display at the College of Architecture, Art and Design at AUS.

Finally, Professor George Katodrytis, Head of the Department of Architecture at CAAD, will be part of the panel discussion, Architectural Education: From the Future’s Perspective. The panel will respond to the question of how architectural education will adapt to incorporate the hyper-evolution of cities, and whether students will be taught to predict the future or define it. The event will be held on Thursday, November 15, at 6:00 p.m. at d3’s Mainstage, Building 4, Atrium.