The American University in Dubai (AUD) in cooperation with Swedish Wood, part of Swedish Forest Industries Association, has announced the winners of a student design competition that creates a link between Scandinavian wood culture and Arabic design.

The winners of the Swedish Wood Meets Arabia  are Mariah Sobh and Syeda Salwa Hasan for the design ‘The Hybrid’, which won them an invitation for a one-week study trip to Sweden fully covered by Swedish Wood.

The second and third place went to ‘Sarab’ by Mona Al Ghussein, Lina Al Medanat, and Mariez Barsoum; and ‘The Cruise’ by Bhawna Ludhani Tilokani, Zeina Al-Khoury, and Lisa Harpalani respectively.

The competition was launched at AUD in September, where AUD students – from the School of Architecture, Art and Design - were tasked to exchange ideas, design, and develop a project with the help of experts from Swedish Wood and the support of their faculty members, in order to produce innovative contemporary design projects using the potentiality of Swedish softwood.

The competition gave the students an opportunity to work in teams and to design a piece of furniture or decoration made of Swedish softwood and adapted to Arab traditions and culture.

The chair of the AUD Interior Design Department Prof Albert Fakhoury, said: “The uniqueness of this competition is that it has taken the challenge to the next level where our future designers create and build something new. These five projects are quite impressive with their real scale and proportion. This process is a vibrant statement of the successful collaboration we witnessed between the supplier, the designers and the contractor.”

Annamaria Lambri, AUD associate professor of Interior Design and Competition Coordinator, said: “This competition is joining creativity, technical skills, and presentation skills. One of the challenges was to understand a different culture, which has enriched our students. It is a good starting point and significant accomplishment for their future as professionals.” – TradeArabia News Service