Dubai: American University in Dubai teamed up with Dormakaba to provide students with an opportunity to design lever handles to be proposed for an Expo 2020 pavilion.
The idea came from one of the AUD students, Tania Mary George, who collaborated with Simon Beckers of dormakaba to create designs for Expo 2020 Opportunity and Sustainability Pavilion. They wanted to translate the design philosophy of the pavilion to the lever handles.
Following this, a competition was launched to create design proposals of lever handles for Expo 2020 Mobility Pavilion. What followed was a series of interactions between dormakaba and the students, under the guiding leadership of Prof Chadi Al Tabbah.
Dormakaba supported the students by printing the 3D samples of the proposals to make the presentations realistic with touch and feel.
Salwa Hassan won the first prize for her design that put emphasis on the organic form conveying the feel of a secure hand.
The second prize was won by Lena Kinj while Nour Al Jaroudi won the third place. George Philip, vice-president, dormakaba Marketing Europe, Middle East and Africa, said, “We are delighted to invite young minds to share with us some futuristic designs that we could propose for the upcoming Mobility Pavilion for Dubai Expo 2020. We would like to complement the vision of Dubai Expo 2020 by bringing in world class standards and inviting the youth to partner with us.”
Prof El Tabbah, associate professor of interior design, said a “product to serve the human behaviour was our target”.
“During this journey, each student was a unique individual, they all learnt how to be sensitive to how people experience products and recognise the emotional connection to their surroundings.”
