18 November 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Download press release (pdf).

Core facts

traffic launches the Middle East’s first annual design competition in its continued efforts to encourage, promote and nurture the emerging design scene.

High-profile jury panel includes rising local star architect Khalid Al Najjar (DXB-LAB), Karim Rashid and Konstantin Grcic.

Advisory panel includes George Katodrytis (American University Sharjah), Antonia Carver (Bidoun magazine) and Ahmad and Rashid Bin Shabib (Brownbook magazine).

Three categories: i) a decorative object; ii) a lounge chair; iii) interior design of a design retail space.

Winning designs to be put into production.

All Middle Eastern designers and designers residing in the Middle East are eligible to enter.

The Region’s First annual Design Competition Launches

traffic launches the Middle East’s first regional annual design competition in its continued efforts to encourage, promote and nurture the emerging design scene. Launching with a heavyweight international panel of judges and an advisory panel with deep roots in the region’s creative communities, the competition aims to uncover the layers of latent design talent in the region and amongst the global diasporas. It aims to provide a platform for exceptional talent to reach out to influential international and regional audiences within and outside the world of design.

The inaugural year’s competition features a world-class jury comprising such illustrious figures as Karim Rashid, Konstanin Grcic and Khalid Al Najjar which lends the awards instant credibility.

traffic is confident that these awards will be a vital catalyst in the development of the nascent regional design industry. The Middle East and the GCC in particular has experienced an unprecedented development boom that has helped expand the broader creative industries. Recent initiatives including Qatar’s Tasmeem Annual Design Conference, Dubai’s International Design Forum, the Media City’s Ibda’a Awards and the blooming of regional art fairs all have roles to play in the burgeoning growth of the regional creative industries and these awards mark another important milestone.

The Brief

There will be three categories for the awards, applicants will be asked to design one (or more) of the following:

A Decorative Object (limited to a maximum volume of 0.25m3);

A Lounge Chair (limited to a maximum volume of 2.5m3;

A Design Retail Space (1,000 sq ft) to be built at a prestigious address in Business Bay Dubai.

The Awards

The awards, which will be announced at a special event that will take place at traffic in June 2008, aim to shine an international spotlight on exceptional design talent from the region, with the winning designs going into production and sold exclusively at the traffic design gallery. The winner of the third category will have their design built at a high-profile location in Business Bay Dubai (planned to open in Q4 2008).

There will also be cash prizes for the winning designs of each category:

A Decorative Object US$2,000;

A Lounge Chair US$3,000;

A Design Retail Space US$4,000.

Designers will have the opportunity to be identified by some of the leading creative minds in the fields of architecture and product design while seeing their designs go into production, both of which should prove highly attractive for designers.

The Criteria

The awards in all categories will be judged on the following criteria:

Innovation;

Aesthetic / design quality;

Functionality;

Ergonomics;

Ecological compatibility;

Commerciality;

Durability;

Symbolic and emotional content;

Manufacturabilty;

Cultural relevance

The Jury

Karim Rashid is a leading figure in the fields of product, interior, fashion, furniture, lighting design and art. Born in Cairo, half Egyptian, half English, and raised in Canada, Karim now practices in New York. He is best known for bringing his democratic design sensibility to the masses. Designing for an impressive array of clients from Alessi to Dirt Devil, Umbra to Prada, Miyake to Method, Karim is radically changing the aesthetics of product design and the very nature of the consumer culture.

Konstantin Grcic was born in Munich, Germany in 1965. After training as a cabinet maker at Parnham College in England he studied design at the Royal College of Art in London from 1988-1990. Since setting up his own design practice KONSTANTIN GRCIC INDUSTRIAL DESIGN (KGID) in Munich in 1991 he has developed furniture, products and lighting for some of Europe's leading design companies such as Flos, Magis, Moorman and Muji. Konstantin Grcic creates industrial products widely described as pared down, simple, minimalist. What sets him apart from the minimalism in fashionable currency today is that he defines function in human terms, combining maximum formal strictness with considerable mental acuity and humor.

Khalid Al Najjar studied at Columbia University, New York, and the Southern California Institute of Architecture, before moving back to his hometown, Dubai, and setting up dxb.LAB in 2000. The firm has since been recognized as one of the most innovative in the region, recently winning the Best Design award in the Mohamed Bin Rashid Awards for Young Business Leaders. dxb.LAB were recently selected to design one of the Biennale Park Pavilions at Abu Dhabi’s Cultural Saadiyat Island.

Shumon Basar is a writer, curator and educator. He co-founded the independent publishing/event collective sexymachinery, is the architecture editor of Tank magazine, co-directs the curatorial/design group Newbetter, and writes for several art and architecture periodicals including Modern Painters, Blueprint and AA Files. He teaches at the Architectural Association and the Royal College of Art and is a PhD candidate at Goldsmiths Centre for Research Architecture, London. Shumon Basar MA(Cantab) AA Dipl studied architecture at Cambridge University and the Architectural Association, London. He worked for Zaha Hadid Architects, most notably as a lead designer on the acclaimed Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati.

Advisory Panel

George Katodrytis, B.A.(Hons), A.A. Dip., R.I.B.A. is architect involved in practice, teaching and research. He is currently Associate Professor at the American University of Sharjah, U.A.E. He studied and taught architecture at the Architectural Association in London and he has lectured and exhibited extensively. He has worked in Paris, London, Nicosia and Dubai. His current work addresses issues of contemporary architecture, urbanism and cultural theory, with a focus on design, digital experimentation and writings on the contemporary ‘city’ as it is evolving in the 21st century. http://www.katodrytis.com

Antonia Carver is co-editor of Bidoun magazine (www.bidoun.com), and contributes regularly to The Art Newspaper (www.theartnewspaper.com) and Screen International (www.screendaily.com).  She co-edited the spatial politics tome With/Without that was co-published by Moutamarat and Bidoun for the International Design Forum that took place in Dubai in May 2007.

Since 2002, she has worked as a programme consultant to the Edinburgh International Film Festival (www.edfilmfest.org.uk), primarily in selecting feature films and working with directors from the Middle East, and has curated short film programmes for the Emirates Film Competition, UAE, and was on the panel of the inaugural MINI Film Festival.

She was the project editor for the photography survey BLINK (Phaidon, 2002).

Awards timelines

The design competition officially launches December 1 2007, and first round entries will be accepted until March 09 2008. Applicants will need to submit the following:

Completed and signed Application Form scanned in pdf format;

Up to 3 pdfs including at least one glamor shot;

Up to 3 pages of explanations on design / concept.

1 Head-shot of applicant.

First round submissions should be emailed to traffic@9714.com.

The jury will then select 10 of the entries to be further developed by the applicants including the creation of prototypes. The prototypes and detailed technical drawings including material samples will then need to be submitted before April 31. Nominees will need to submit the following:

1 prototype (no smaller than 0.5mx0.5m and no bigger than 2mxm);

Technical drawings;

Material samples.

Final round submissions will be accepted at the following locations:

traffic, Al Barsha, Dubai, near Mall of the Emirates - map online at www.viatraffic.org;

9714 offices, next to The Third Line gallery in Al Quoz, Dubai;

9714, PO Box 73617, Dubai, UAE, t +971.4.340.20.90.

The jury will then meet to deliberate and choose the final winners between May 01 and June 09. Winners will then be notified and an awards event will be held at traffic in June 2008.

Eligibility

All designers (professional or otherwise) residing in the Middle East (defined as: Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Iran and Libya) or of Middle Eastern origin are entitled to enter. Entrants must be at least 18 years old.

-Ends-

About traffic

traffic is a 7,000 sq ft design gallery and showroom, event and exhibition space, gift shop and library located in Al Barsha, Dubai. It is the first design gallery in the Middle East and displays works from world-renowned designers and is a platform for up-and-coming regional talent. traffic seeks to establish itself as a gathering place for the growing design community and broader ‘creative class’ in Dubai.

More than 500 avant-garde products, from furniture to accessories, are displayed in a space that creates a unique retail experience and allows for the full expression of individuality. The gallery interior itself was designed to inspire visitors as much as the products found inside, with its white epoxy floors and ceilings of glass and wire metal.

The gallery’s opening hours are 10am to 8pm, Saturday through Thursday.

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If you would like more information about this release, or are interested in interviewing Rami Farook, please contact Lucy Freeman at +971.50.953.2344 or email lucy at 9714.com.