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| breaking bread (video) . 2018 |
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| breaking bread (process, samples, prototypes) . 2018 (photo courtesy of design ras al khor) |
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| breaking bread at dubai design week . 2018 |
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| breaking bread at dubai design week . 2018 |
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| breaking bread at dubai design week . 2018 |
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| breaking bread at dubai design week . 2018 (photo courtesy of reem falaknaz) |
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| breaking bread presented to international press by khalid shafar at dubai design week . 2018 (photo courtesy of design ras al khor) |
if you made it to this year's edition of dubai design week, i hope you had a chance to check out my project 'breaking bread' for design ras al khor (drak). design ras al khor is a platform that invites designers each year to respond to a theme based on the ras al khor area. for it's fourth edition, the selected designers (myself, amal haliq and faissal el-malak) had to respond to the theme 'from rak to drak', focusing on assigned commercial outlets that cater to the community of the ras al khor industrial area.
i’ve been researching the afghani bakeries scattered across the area. these humble spaces make and sell one dirham bread to the men working in and around ras al khor. while observing the baking process, i was amazed at how the bakers pressed dots onto the dough using just their fingers, before slapping it onto the interior walls of a baking oven, leaving a decorative impression on the top face of the bread.
through researching current bread stamping tools and methods, i wanted to create a tool that marks dotted impressions on the baked bread inspired by the visuals found in the ras al khor area. the final outcome were three prototypes of bread stamps, made from wood and steel, with designs inspired by decorative truck aesthetics, porta cabin mosques and the plants that sprout between pockets of factories within the industrial landscape.
this was definitely one of the most challenging projects i worked on, moving outside my comfort zone and exploring new materials i haven't worked with before. as these are still just prototypes, i plan to pursue this project further to have fully functional bread stamps that these bakeries can use in the near future.
a few thank you's are in order – thank you to the drak trio (khalid shafar, nadine kanso & khulood bint thani) for inviting me to be a part of this year's edition of drak. you were the first project that came my way after i graduated from risd so thanks for the opportunity. a huge thank you goes to the wood luck carpentry team for helping out with the manufacturing of the stamps and meeting an extremely tight deadline! i look forward to working with you again. thank you to everyone that came down to the atrium of building 7 at dubai design district (d3) during dubai design week to check out the project and share their feedback. i felt much better about my project after hearing what you all had to say. lastly, thank you to the 'al ras' and 'mirza muhammad' bakeries that were patient enough to let me into their spaces to understand their daily activities, and give me their time to test the stamps to see if they work. this project is dedicated to you.
i end this post with a photo of the participants of drak '18 (from left to right: amal, myself, faissal)
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| design ras al khor (drak) 2018 participants . 2018 (photo courtesy of design ras al khor) |
