Changing States

This article was first published in Hadara Magazine, March 2023

Since winning the Van Cleef & Arpels Middle East Emergent Designer Prize, Moufida Mohideen is looking ahead at a successful career.

Moufida Mohideen. Photo by Alin Constantin Photography.

Inspired by desert rose crystal formations, Moufida Mohideen designed a sculptural bookcase, titled Ascension, as a symbol of everlasting growth. Mohideen, a student of interior architecture and design at the University of Sharjah, used contrasting raw materials—damas wood and mother of pearl—for the design, which won the ninth edition of the Van Cleef & Arpels Middle East Emergent Designer Prize.

Judges—from Van Cleef & Arpels and partner Tashkeel, as well as Saudi interior designer Nawaf Al-Nassar—commended the piece for reinforcing the importance of sustainable approaches to creation and for the use of materials sourced locally and ethically (the damas wood Mohideen used was reclaimed). Conceptually too, it fitted with the theme of the 2022 award, which was Renewal. 

Mohideen drew on her upbringing in Sharjah. “The UAE inspires my design process by opening my eyes to new ways of approaching innovation and sustainability in a local context,” she says. “There are so many stories that bind this country together which reflect on the city skylines, the arabesque designs of the mosque and vernacular structures like the barjeel and mashrabiya. I have always loved the desert, too. So, the inspiration for this bookstand has been a time-borne inclination.”

Passionate about environmental protection and influenced by biophilic, or nature-inspired, design, Mohideen became absorbed by the scientific phenomenon of evaporation and crystallization that creates the desert rose. “The idea of something that was once a coarse and fine grain of sand that is now transformed into an eternal crystal intrigued my design thinking,” she says. She set about a process of sketching, 3D modelling and prototyping.

Since winning the award in October, Mohideen has been offered teaching and research assistant posi- tions at her university. She aims to start working on her own product line on graduation in 2024.