Today, the Art Dubai Group announces the 2016 lineup for its acclaimed Global Grad Show, the largest exhibition of student work from universities across the world ever to take place.   

Following in the footsteps of famed student inventions, such as the electron microscope from the University of Toronto, the television from the University of Berlin, and Google from Stanford, Global Grad Show will showcase thought-provoking projects capable of transforming our future by the world’s next generation of design innovators.

Now in its second year, Global Grad Show returns with 135 projects from 50 leading universities in 30 countries and six continents, to offer unparalleled insight into the visions of these ground-breaking designers, and a glimpse into our world as it might be tomorrow. Alongside the exhibition, which is free to attend for the public, the designers of all the projects, along with representatives from each participating university, will meet for what will become the world’s most diverse design education summit, helping enhance Dubai’s reputation as a global hub of innovation.

Curated by Brendan McGetrick, Global Grad Show showcases the world’s emerging designers and the products, solutions and inventions that will shape our future. The works are categorized not by school but across universal themes of 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 that will be exhibited address underserved populations and demonstrate new ways of thinking.

Far-reaching and about more than the aesthetic and construction of the designs, each Global Grad Show project has been selected for it 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. “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.”

Marking a significant milestone and achievement in design education within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, graduate design talent from MENA institutions have been selected to have their work shown alongside globally-recognised leaders such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), Royal College of Art (UK), and Tsinghua University (Beijing).  Rab McClure, Interim Director of MFA Design Studies, VCUQatar said: “Global Grad Show is a unique platform, giving our students a chance to showcase and exchange ideas with students and educators from top programs around the world. It is a true incubator for the best new and exciting work in education.”

Paul Thompson, Rector of Royal College of Art, which has supported Global Grad Show from the onset commented: “At the Royal College of Art we believe strongly that collaboration lies at the heart of transformative design, so the Global Grad Show is a great way of working across borders to bring about change and improvement in society. We’re excited by the show’s rapid growth.”

Global Grad Show is held at Dubai Design District (d3) and plays a key role in Dubai’s transformation into an innovation-led economy. Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi, COO of d3 commented: “Building on the success of last year’s Global Grad Show, d3 is once again delighted to be welcoming such a wealth of rising international talent from wide-ranging regional schools, here in Dubai. As we witness the growth of the design industry and talent in this region, it is important to have a global outlook so that our regional design students and business partners can seek inspiration from each other. Initiatives such as the Global Grad Show directly underpin d3’s objective of supporting education across the region, whilst inspiring a collaborative approach to creativity and fostering a genuine community spirit for the design sector.”

Examples of projects exhibited in the 2016 Global Grad Show:

• Oud/Kanun – A device designed to make complex traditional music more accessible, intuitive, and widely appreciated, designed by Nesma Khodier at VCUQatar in Qatar.
• Micro Wind Turbine – A miniature wind turbine that can charge mobile devices in harsh conditions with minimal light, designed Nils Ferber at ECAL in Switzerland.

• Bottlelight – A combination water purifier and camping light, designed by Christoph Kuppert and Helena Wendtat at University of Wuppertal in Germany.
• Algae Harvester – An algae-eating drone that cleans the water and powers itself with biofuel produced by the collected algae, designed by Fredrik Ausinsch at Umeå Institute of Design, in Sweden.
• TippyTalk –  An app that allows a person with a verbal disability to communicate by translating pictures into text messages, designed by Robert Laffan at Limerick Institute of Technology in Ireland.
• Synchrony – A touch-based music therapy platform designed for Autistic children, designed by Kenneth Tay at ArtCenter College of Design in the USA.
• 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 of Sharjah in the UAE.

The 50 participating schools are:

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, United Kingdom)

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)

For more information, please contact

Alpha-Kilo

Lauren Busto / Amanda Kasper

[email protected] / [email protected]

+1 408 332 2346 / +44 7766 661009

Notes to Editors

Global Grad Show held at d3 (building 6) during Dubai Design Week, 24-29 October 2016.

For more information about Global Grad Show and Dubai Design Week, please visit, www.dubaidesignweek.ae. Supporters can also keep up to date with the fair on the following social media channels: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and via regular newsletters (sign up on website).

@globalgradshow | #GGS2016

@dubaidesignweek | #DXBDW2016

ABOUT BRENDAN MCGETRICK

Brendan McGetrick is an independent writer, editor, and designer. His work has appeared in publications in over twenty countries, including Wired, Art Review, Domus, and Vogue Nippon. His projects include the books MAD Dinner (Actar), Urban China: Work In Progress (Timezone 8), and Who is Architecture? (Domus/Timezone 8). In 2011, he curated Unnamed Design, a component of the 2011 Gwangju Design Biennale, in collaboration with Ai Weiwei. The exhibition received over 200,000 visitors and was named the year’s best contemporary design exhibition by the New York Times. In 2014, he co-curated Fair Enough in the Russian pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, for which he received a jury prize. In 2015, he created Global Grad Show, an annual exhibition of graduate projects from design schools around the world, held each October as part of Dubai Design Week. From 2002-2006, he was head writer at Rem Koolhaas’s research studio AMO.

ABOUT DUBAI DESIGN WEEK

Dubai Design Week is one of the world’s newest and most ambitious international design events, conceived to shine a spotlight on Dubai as a leading design hub, and share the UAE’s thriving design scene with the world at large.

Dubai Design Week was established in 2015 by Art Dubai Group in partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), and is held under the dedicated patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority. Dubai Design Week is also supported by Dubai Design & Fashion Council and Dubai Culture & Arts Authority.

In Dubai’s collaborative spirit, and as a reflection of the city’s global outlook, its design week is both regional and international in scope, encompasses public and private spheres, culture, education and entertainment, and spans multiple disciplines, ranging from graphic and product design to architecture and industrial design. Panels, keynote speeches, panel discussions, public performances and educational workshops all contribute to the greater discussion of what design means for the region and the world.

In 2015, 23,000 visitors from around the world gathered in the city to discover the work and ideas of over 150 designers drawn from around the region and internationally. The success of the inaugural edition cemented the future of Dubai Design Week as an annual event.

Coinciding with Downtown Design, the region’s leading, quality-driven design trade fair, Dubai Design Week also includes a number of unique headline initiatives, such as Abwab, the Global Grad Show, Destination and Iconic City.

From 24 to 29 October 2016, the citywide celebration of design enthralls Dubai with design, engaging the local community and visitors alike.

www.dubaidesignweek.ae

ABOUT DUBAI DESIGN DISTRICT

Dubai Design District, better known as d3, is a home for the region’s growing community of creative thinkers. It plays a key element in Dubai’s vision to transform into an innovation-led economy, and it aims to engage, inspire and enable emerging talent, as well as providing a platform to showcase Arab creativity to a larger, global audience.

As a dedicated creative destination, d3 answers a growing need for the regional design industry, ensuring that this important sector is able to develop and thrive. It provides businesses, entrepreneurs and creatives from across the design value chain with an ideally located, purpose-built and sustainable ecosystem, which leverages technology to integrate ‘smart’ solutions throughout the development.

d3 is the newest of TECOM Group’s vibrant creative communities, with 11 buildings making up the core of the site already delivered and being handed over to tenants. To support its many creative partners, d3 offers individuals and businesses the choice of operating either as a free-zone entity or as an on-shore business, each with its own merits.

As d3 evolves so will its facilities, to include everything from cutting-edge workshops and renowned design institutes, to high-end homes, hospitality, retail and office space. Its public spaces will be distinct and characterised by unique street furniture and shaded walkways.

By 2018, d3 will feature a one million square foot Creative Community, which will act as the site’s cultural epicentre, inspiring emerging designers and artists, and attracting tourists to the area. By 2019, d3 will also boast a bustling, 1.8km esplanade running alongside Dubai Creek where international and design led hotels, a pop-up shop area, and an amphitheatre will all be located.

All these elements have been carefully designed to ensure that the creative thinkers using and visiting d3 every day have an energised and culturally rich environment.

www.dubaidesigndistrict.com