By Noimot Olayiwola
Three female design students from Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCU-Q) have been declared winners of top three prizes in the ‘Best Young Designer Awards’ at the International Furniture and Design Exhibition and Awards (Infdex 2009) sponsored by Qatari Diar.
Twenty-five students reached the finals. Apart from VCU-Q, Lebanon University, American University, Dubai, and several individual contestants took part.
First prize in the ‘Best Piece of Furniture’ category went to final year design student Sara al-Mulla, while Dima Masoud, an interior and design student, and Maryam al-Kuwairi won the ‘Best Interior Space’ and ‘Best Presentation’ prize, repectively.
Both Masoud and al-Mulla attributed their success to the leadership of the country and the school.
Masoud worked on a new learning technique for children aged six to 12 years, who are having learning difficulty.
“What I try to achieve with my project was to make learning more attractive for children with learning disabilities through design as against the conventional board and chalk,” she said.
Al-Mulla, whose project was part of her final year thesis, said she wanted to encourage environmental sustainability by making use of environmental-friendly material in design.
The judges panel included Lebanese design guru Aziz Rebeiz, Grey Doha Creative director Omar Gebara, Jaidah Furniture chief executive officer Mohamed Jaidah, and Qatari Diar design manager Carole Abboud.
Abboud said Qatari Diar was seeking to encourage student designers in colleges and universities by sponsoring the award. Organiser, Qatar Expo, has also announced to hold the Infdex 2010 at the Doha Exhibition Centre from November 10 to 13 next year. Qatari Diar will sponsor the Best Young Designer Awards. |
