SHAK’L - شكّل - by Abdalla Almulla
For its brand new Al Safa Art & Design Library, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority has commissioned Abdalla Almulla to produce a series of playful and versatile benches.
Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture)’s commitment to design started back in 2013 when the institution supported an initiative allowing four Emirati designers to meet their peers abroad and develop their business. Since then, the authority has developed its programme with various partners like Dubai Design District, Van Cleef & Arpels and also sent designers abroad to attend international trade shows or design weeks.
In the next few days, Dubai Culture will open a brand new library opposite of Al Safa Park. This is the first of the eight libraries to get a specific focus in a brand new building. On this occasion, I suggested to work with Abdalla Almulla, an Emirati architect born in 1991.
Shak’l (Shape in Arabic) is a series of 13 benches for indoor and outdoor use, designed with pivots to allow adaptability to the moment.
That was the brief given to the designer as the library is offering public spaces.
Beside his Bachelor in architecture from Woodbury University in San Diego (2014) where he was awarded, the Grand Critique Faculty Choice Award and the Best Degree Project Award in Architectural Design graduation research based on geometric explorations, Abdalla also spent a semester at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany.
Back in the UAE, he participated to several exhibitions. He perceives his design methodology as a sequence of theoretical and visual design explorations within a focused subject.
