The Art Dubai Group has announced the 2016 lineup for the Global Grad Show that will be held during Dubai Design Week.
The Global Grad Show is the largest exhibition of student work from universities across the world, this year including seven schools from the MENA region showcasing innovative works that could shape the future.
University of Arts Bremen (Germany)
Now in its second year, the exhibition will include a total of 135 projects from 50 leading universities from 30 countries, including the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.
The projects at the exhibition, curated by writer, editor and designer Brendan McGetrick, are categorised by universal themes rather than by schools. These themes include health, construction, home, work, memory, mobility, and play.
From a system of collapsible hydroponic farms that grow food in empty shipping containers, to a touch-based music therapy platform for autistic children, the works exhibited will demonstrate new ways of thinking about every day tasks and behaviors.]
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Each project has been selected for its distinct ability to create real possibilities and lasting impact on the world.
“With each submission, I asked myself, ‘why does this need to exist?’” McGetrick said of the selection process.
Sleeping Bag Coat project by Royal College of Art (UK)
“Different localities bring new and exciting solutions based on their particular cultural and material conditions. My goal for the exhibition is to give visitors a glimpse of projects that identify poorly addressed problems, provide new tools, and demonstrate new ways of thinking.”
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Alongside globally-recognised universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), Royal College of Art (UK), and Tsinghua University (Beijing), this year will see a number of universities from the region including American University in Dubai, American University of Sharjah and NYU Abu Dhabi (UAE), German University in Cairo (Egypt), King Abdullah University of Science Technology (Saudi Arabia), Middle East Technical University (Turkey), as well as VCU Qatar.
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Some of the projects that will be exhibited during the exhibition ranges from a device designed to make complex traditional Arabic music more accessible, intuitive, and widely appreciated, designed by Nesma Khodier from VCU Qatar, entitled Oud/Kanun; a miniature wind turbine that can charge mobile devices in harsh conditions with minimal light by Nils Ferber from ECAL in Switzerland and a project called Bottlight which is a combination water purifier and camping light, designed by Christoph Kuppert and Helena Wendtat from the University of Wuppertal in Germany.
Algae Harvester project by UMEA Institute of Design (Sweden).
Other projects include an algae-eating drone that cleans the water and powers itself with biofuel produced by the collected algae, designed by Fredrik Ausinsch from the Umeå Institute of Design, in Sweden; an app called TippyTalk that allows a person with a verbal disability to communicate by translating pictures into text messages, designed by Robert Laffan from the Limerick Institute of Technology in Ireland, as well as a motion-operated shower system designed for communities that lack running water by Núria Molina and Anastasia Melnikova from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
More projects include:
Favo: A motion-operated shower system designed for communities that lack running water by Núria Molina and Anastasia Melnikova at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil
Ziggy: A personal hand-operated washing device, based on an accordion, designed by Mohololo Nkoana at Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa
Growframe: A system of collapsible hydroponic farms that can grow food in empty shipping containers returning to China, designed by Philippe Hohlfeld at Royal College of Art in the UK.
Oneware: A sink extension that makes food preparation and dish washing easier for users with only one hand, designed by Loren Lim and Tian Hwee at National University of Singapore, in Singapore.
Flat World: A set of maps designed to reveal that arbitrary nature of political borders, designed by Yosra Gamal at German University in Cairo in Egypt.
Exacto: A social networking application that identifies and maps accessible spaces for people with physical handicaps, designed by Patricia Landeta at National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico.
Hilla: A night light system helping the elderly and the visually impaired to move about their homes safely, designed by Tilda Jyräsalo, Lara Jasim, and Jaakko Raami at Aalto University, in Finland.
Shelters for Extended Families: A system of inhabitable roofscapes designed for the Jerash refugee camp in Jordan as a means of providing communal spaces without compromising currently existing private and service spaces by Dina Samara of American University.
Here is a list of all 50 participating universities:
Aalto University (Helsinki, Finland)
American University in Dubai (Dubai, UAE)
American University of Sharjah (Sharjah, UAE)
Anhui University of Technology (Ma’anshan, Anhui, China)
Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, USA)
Auckland University of Technology (Auckland, New Zealand)
Cambridge University (Cambridge, UK)
Centro (Mexico City, Mexico)
Design Academy Eindhoven (Eindhoven, Netherlands)
ECAL (Renens, Switzerland)
École de design Nantes Atlantique (Nantes, France)
École Supérieure d’Art et Design de Saint-Étienne (Saint-Étienne, France)
Eindhoven University of Technology (Eindhoven, Netherlands)
Emily Carr University of Art + Design (Vancouver, Canada)
FH Joanneum (Graz, Austria)
German University in Cairo (Cairo, Egypt)
Higher Institute of Industrial Design (Havana, Cuba)
Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hung Hom, Hong Kong)
Ibero-American University (Mexico City, Mexico)
Istituto Europeo di Design (Milan, Italy)
KAIST (Daejeon, Republic of Korea)
Keio University (Tokyo, Japan)
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Thuwal, Saudi Arabia)
Limerick Institute of Technology (Limerick, Republic of Ireland)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, USA)
Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Turkey)
National Autonomous University of Mexico (Mexico City, Mexico)
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taipei, Taiwan)
National University of Singapore (Singapore, Singapore)
Northeastern University (Boston, USA)
NYU Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi, UAE)
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (Lima, Peru)
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Pratt Institute (New York, USA)
Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, USA)
Royal College of Arts (London, UK)
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Melbourne, Victoria)
Samsung Art and Design Institute (Seoul, Korea)
Santa Catarina State University (Florianópolis, Brazil)
Srishti Institute (Bangalore, India)
Tshwane University of Technology (Pretoria, South Africa)
Tsinghua University (Beijing, China)
Umeå Institute of Design (Umeå, Sweden)
University of the Arts Bremen (Bremen, Germany)
University of Design Schwäbisch Gmünd (Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany)
University of Guadalajara (Guadalajara, Mexico)
University of Illinois Chicago (Chicago, USA)
University of Wuppertal (Wuppertal, Germany)
UPC Barcelona Tech (Barcelona, Spain)
VCU Qatar (Ar-Rayyan, Qatar)