DUBAI SHOWCASES THE WORLD’S LARGEST GATHERING OF STUDENT INNOVATORS AT GLOBAL GRAD SHOW 2016
DUBAI SHOWCASES THE WORLD’S LARGEST GATHERING OF STUDENT INNOVATORS AT GLOBAL GRAD SHOW 2016
- Unprecedented 145 projects from 50 universities take the limelight this year
- Design innovations promoting the good for humanity highlight the show
- Supports Dubai’s vision of becoming an innovation hub
DUBAI, UAE: On its second year, the Global Grad Show is opening in Dubai on October 24-29, 2016 attracting an unprecedented number of student innovators exhibiting their unique designs.
The show returns with 145 projects from 50 leading global universities, representing an almost three-fold increase in participation over last year and, for the first time, includes schools from the region. The growing interest in exhibiting one-of-a-kind designs aimed at improving and transforming lives is evident this year in response to the call for ideas with distinct ability to create real possibilities and lasting impact on the world.
One of the highlights of the diverse designs is the focus on humanity. From a jacket that transforms into a sleeping bag, a system of inhabitable roofscapes designed for the Jerash refugee camp in Jordan to a set of geometric figures for intravenous pole designed to change how child patients relates to medical treatment, students provide creative and practical solutions to modern day issues.
Designed by Gabriella Geagea and Anne-Sophie Geay from the Royal College of Art, the wearable shelter is a direct response to the Syrian refugee crisis. The jacket with large storage pockets converts into a sleeping bag enough to shelter a parent and child or as a tent that can sleep four adults.
American University of Sharjah’s architecture graduate Dina Samara has designed shelters for extended families at Jerash refugee camp in Jordan with inhabitable roofscapes allowing for shared activities and communal spaces while providing privacy and service spaces.
“We are seeing the future now,” says Brendan McGetrick, Global Grad Show Curator. “This year’s designs could be the solution to some of the pressing problems that the world is facing. The Global Grad Show is providing the platform for graduate students to introduce their brilliant thought-provoking designs to a wider audience. We encourage leaders and decision-makers to take part and see the myriad of possibilities and new ways of thinking to transform lives.”
Introducing new levels of technology and innovation that will shape the future is also a highlight in this year’s Global Grad Show. From Japan, a virtual reality suit was created by designers Yukari Konishi, Nobuhisa Hanamitsu, Benjamin Outram and Kouta Minamizawa from Keio University. The Synesthesia Suit provides a full body sensation wherein a user experiences being immersed in the virtual world, enclosed by variety of texture and sound.
Global Grad Show is held at Dubai Design District (d3) and plays a key role in Dubai’s transformation into an innovation-led economy. Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi, COO of d3 commented: “Building on the success of last year’s Global Grad Show, d3 is once again delighted to be welcoming such a wealth of rising international talent from wide-ranging regional schools, here in Dubai. As we witness the growth of the design industry and talent in this region, it is important to have a global outlook so that our regional design students and business partners can seek inspiration from each other. Initiatives such as the Global Grad Show directly underpin d3’s objective of supporting education across the region, whilst inspiring a collaborative approach to creativity and fostering a genuine community spirit for the design sector.”
Global Grad Show is part of the Dubai Design Week happening at Building 6 of Dubai Design District (d3) on 24-29 October 2016. Alongside the exhibition, which is free to attend for the public, the designers of all the projects, along with representatives from each participating university, will meet for what will become the world’s most diverse design education summit.
For more information, please contact:
Ciara Phillips
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Notes to Editors
Global Grad Show held at d3 (building 6) during Dubai Design Week, 24-29 October 2016.
For more information about Global Grad Show and Dubai Design Week, please visit, www.dubaidesignweek.ae. Supporters can also keep up to date with the fair on the following social media channels: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and via regular newsletters (sign up on website).
@globalgradshow | #globalgradshow | #globalgradshow16
@dubaidesignweek | #DXBDW2016
ABOUT BRENDAN MCGETRICK
Brendan McGetrick is an independent writer, editor, and designer. His work has appeared in publications in over twenty countries, including Wired, Art Review, Domus, and Vogue Nippon. His projects include the books MAD Dinner (Actar), Urban China: Work In Progress (Timezone 8), and Who is Architecture? (Domus/Timezone 8). In 2011, he curated Unnamed Design, a component of the 2011 Gwangju Design Biennale, in collaboration with Ai Weiwei. The exhibition received over 200,000 visitors and was named the year’s best contemporary design exhibition by the New York Times. In 2014, he co-curated Fair Enough in the Russian pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, for which he received a jury prize. In 2015, he created Global Grad Show, an annual exhibition of graduate projects from design schools around the world, held each October as part of Dubai Design Week. From 2002-2006, he was head writer at Rem Koolhaas’s research studio AMO.
ABOUT DUBAI DESIGN WEEK
Dubai Design Week is one of the world’s newest and most ambitious international design events, conceived to shine a spotlight on Dubai as a leading design hub, and share the UAE’s thriving design scene with the world at large.
Dubai Design Week was established in 2015 by Art Dubai Group in partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), and is held under the dedicated patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority. Dubai Design Week is also supported by Dubai Design & Fashion Council and Dubai Culture & Arts Authority.
In Dubai’s collaborative spirit, and as a reflection of the city’s global outlook, its design week is both regional and international in scope, encompasses public and private spheres, culture, education and entertainment, and spans multiple disciplines, ranging from graphic and product design to architecture and industrial design. Panels, keynote speeches, panel discussions, public performances and educational workshops all contribute to the greater discussion of what design means for the region and the world.
In 2015, 23,000 visitors from around the world gathered in the city to discover the work and ideas of over 150 designers drawn from around the region and internationally. The success of the inaugural edition cemented the future of Dubai Design Week as an annual event.
Coinciding with Downtown Design, the region’s leading, quality-driven design trade fair, Dubai Design Week also includes a number of unique headline initiatives, such as Abwab, the Global Grad Show, Destination and Iconic City.
From 24 to 29 October 2016, the citywide celebration of design enthralls Dubai with design, engaging the local community and visitors alike.
ABOUT DUBAI DESIGN DISTRICT
Dubai Design District, better known as d3, is a home for the region’s growing community of creative thinkers. It plays a key element in Dubai’s vision to transform into an innovation-led economy, and it aims to engage, inspire and enable emerging talent, as well as providing a platform to showcase Arab creativity to a larger, global audience.
As a dedicated creative destination, d3 answers a growing need for the regional design industry, ensuring that this important sector is able to develop and thrive. It provides businesses, entrepreneurs and creatives from across the design value chain with an ideally located, purpose-built and sustainable ecosystem, which leverages technology to integrate ‘smart’ solutions throughout the development.
d3 is the newest of TECOM Group’s vibrant creative communities, with 11 buildings making up the core of the site already delivered and being handed over to tenants. To support its many creative partners, d3 offers individuals and businesses the choice of operating either as a free-zone entity or as an on-shore business, each with its own merits.
As d3 evolves so will its facilities, to include everything from cutting-edge workshops and renowned design institutes, to high-end homes, hospitality, retail and office space. Its public spaces will be distinct and characterised by unique street furniture and shaded walkways.
By 2018, d3 will feature a one million square foot Creative Community, which will act as the site’s cultural epicentre, inspiring emerging designers and artists, and attracting tourists to the area. By 2019, d3 will also boast a bustling, 1.8km esplanade running alongside Dubai Creek where international and design led hotels, a pop-up shop area, and an amphitheatre will all be located.
All these elements have been carefully designed to ensure that the creative thinkers using and visiting d3 every day have an energised and culturally rich environment.
