Abu Dhabi University class mission to preserve Emirati culture in furniture design

Dr Sadeka Abdel Shakour, Assistant Professor Of Furniture & Interior Design , left, and Dr Magdy Mohamed Ibrahim, Assistant Professor Of Architecture both of the College of Engineering & Computer ScieShow more

ABU DHABI // Emirati culture is being preserved in household furniture thanks to a design class introduced at Abu Dhabi University.

Second-year interior design students were charged with coming up with new concepts for furniture that integrated traditional symbols of the nation’s heritage.

Dr Sadeka Shakour, an Egyptian who teaches the class, said she noticed the absence of Emirati-inspired furniture at the various design exhibitions she attends in the country. She wanted to challenge her students to think locally and perhaps even inspire them to continue the tradition beyond graduation.

“Every time when I ask my students to design contemporary or postmodern furniture, they start to design something inspired by French style, Rococo style or Egyptian style, they ignored completely the UAE style,” Dr Shakour said.

“UAE style has a lot of motifs and icons. It is very rich. So I started to think, I wanted to focus on the UAE style.

“So I ask students to start to inspire their designs from UAE style — like, burqa, henna traditional tattoo, from the architecture, hosn, our castle, the traditional castle, the boats.”

The 30 women students immediately embraced the challenge, said Dr Magdy Ibrahim, associate professor and architecture programme coordinator at the university.

“They were very inspired,” Dr Ibrahim said. “The local Emirati students, they are always very proud of their heritage and we see it in so many different ways.”

About 10 per cent of the school’s student population is Emirati, he said.

“They are so proud of themselves, so proud of their heritage and they will try,” Dr Ibrahim said. “So when something like this comes out, it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, this is what we want to do.’ You’ll always find them on the front line.”

The experiment, which was introduced in 2012 and will be offered again next term, has resulted in 30 diverse pieces of furniture ranging from chairs, tables to a large dresser being produced within 10 weeks.

Students first built small scale models to show their concepts were adhering to the standard design rules. These designs were then sent off to local carpenters who turned their designs into full-scale, functional furniture pieces.

“That’s one of the challenges that the students faces, the manufacturing, how will they manufacture a particular idea, since we don’t have a workshop that they might be able to use to manufacture,” said Dr Ibrahim. “So, how they can convey their design to whoever will manufacture it?”

One of Dr Shakour’s favourite pieces is a round white wooden table shaped like a ghutra.

“It’s like a piece of art,” Dr Shakour said, noting the student received high marks for applying Emirati fashion into the design.

Another student was inspired by the metal burqa and applied its unique geometric shape to the legs of a coffee table. A traditional dhow fishing boat was the inspiration for a table shaped like a ship. One of the largest pieces of furniture was an ornate vanity shaped like an old fort. Patterns seen in traditional eyeliner bottles and henna tattoos were applied in several of the pieces.

The furniture has been exhibited during the school’s National Day activities and for the anniversary of a hotel. They can still be viewed at the school, where they are normally on display near the school’s reception area.

Applying local motifs in design helps give students a leg up on their competitors, said Dr Ibrahim.

“If you want to compete globally, you need to be so local, you have to have something that is really coming out from your local home,” said Dr Ibrahim. “Design’s a big thing now, and without a proper foot where you’re coming from, where you’re getting your inspiration from, how are you going to compete with someone coming from Italy where it’s the world of design. So you have to come up with something original with a unique inspiration.”

The professors said their goal is to help Emirati art and design to be recognised on a global scale.

“This most likely won’t happen from us, we’re just teachers, but the students are the ones who can carry the torch. We have high hopes all the time,” said Dr Ibrahim.