VCU news

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley and Donna Duffet

DOHA, Qatar - Renowned designers from around the world will gather in Doha, Qatar, Feb. 23-26 for Tasmeem Doha 2004, Qatar's first international design conference hosted by the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar in collaboration with the Qatar Ministry of Civil Service Affairs and Housing.  The design conference - a rarity in this part of the world - will explore the role that design plays in helping to guide and secure the cultural identity of a country, especially one that is changing as rapidly as Qatar.

The conference will feature internationally recognized designers representing a cross-section of design disciplines, such as architecture, fashion, interior design, graphic design and industrial design. 

"Design is an expression of values," said Mary McLaughlin, associate dean for academic affairs, VCU-Qatar.  "Our goal is to have students, faculty and working professionals come away from the conference understanding the benefits of being in charge of their own cultural values, as expressed in their design work."

VCU-Qatar is the first American university in Qatar's Education City in Doha, a new initiative with branch campuses of the world's top universities.  VCU, with a nationally ranked, leading arts and design school, is the first four-year American university in Education City to graduate students.

"VCU-Qatar is working to ensure that graduates can pursue their careers in their home region," said Peter Martin, assistant professor, VCU-Qatar.  "Tasmeem Doha is an effort to show them how to lead the way in developing a Qatari design tradition using their own influences based on their own culture and experiences."

Conference speakers scheduled to appear include:

Hariri and Hariri (Architecture)
Iranian born sisters, Gisue and Mojgan Hariri established Hariri & Hariri-Architecture in 1986 in New York City.  Dedicated to research and construction of innovative ideas, the firm's work has been exhibited internationally in numerous museums, galleries and architectural institutions, including the National Building Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, Deutsches Architektur Museum, and Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona.  Recently, their proposal for the OLYMPIC 2012-Village sited along the High-Line (elevated railway in NYC, Chelsea area) was awarded and exhibited in Grand Central Station and they were announced as a finalist in the 200 Million Dollar master plan competition for the St. Mark's Coptic Canadian Village in Toronto.

Bo Linnemann (Graphic Design, Marketing)
Bo Linnemann is a founding partner of Kontrapunkt, one of Scandinavia's leading design consultancies.  Bo has twelve times been awarded the Danish Design Prize for Graphic Design. He has been responsible for numerous visual identity programs for prominent organizations including the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Danske Bank, Novo Nordisk, Coloplast, Tele Danmark, Danish Railways, Danish Post, The Lego Group, Weltbild Ratgeber Verlag, Carluccio's London and FAO Rome.  

Karim Rashid (Industrial Design)
Karim Rashid is an industrial designer. In 1993, he opened his own studio in New York City with clients such as Prada, Issey Miyake, YSL, Umbra, Nambe, Sony, Bozart, Shiseido, and Copco, among others. He has been awarded the 2002 ID Magazine Annual Design Review Design Distinction, Award 1998. His works are in permanent collections and museums. Karim has released his monograph “I Want to Change the World” on Universe Publishing 2001, as well as having completed editing the 2003 International Design Yearbook #18 for Laurence King Publishing. Karim has just curated two CDs for Seattle based boutique label, Neverstop. 

Ream Acra (Fashion Design)
Reem studied design in both Paris and New York, where she ultimately settled to begin her fashion career. After years of experience, she set up her own fashion house where she is both the designer and president. She opened her first NY flagship store on Madison Avenue in NY. The salon opened in February of 2003.  Reem also has a very successful eveningwear business and many celebrities including Halle Berry wear her clothes.  Her Chelsea-based atelier has gained international recognition as one of the world’s preeminent bridal salons and her bridal fashions have appeared on the pages of In Style, Town & Country, Vogue, WWD, among others.

Tarek Atrissi (Graphic Design)
Born in Beirut, Tarek Atrissi has worked and studied in Lebanon, the Netherlands and the United States.  Tarek’s work was exhibited at the Guggenheim museum in New York and was featured in several international design magazines and books, including Print magazine [USA] Novum [Germany], Create Online [UK], Item Magazine [the Netherlands] Output [Germany] and ArabAd.  He is a four-time awards winner from IBDAA99, a design competition for professional designers in the Arab world.  His multicultural background is reflected in his work both in traditional printed graphic design as well as in interactive design-information architecture.  He is the principal of his own design studio, Tarek Atrissi Design, based in the Netherlands, and recently was appointed to design the identity of the country of Qatar.

David Berman (Graphic Design)
David has over 20 years of experience in graphic design and communications working extensively in the adaptation of printed materials for electronic distribution, including Web design and software interface development.  As a graphic designer, communications strategist, public speaker, typographer and consultant, his clients have included IBM, the International Space Station, the Canadian government, the World Bank and the Aga Khan Foundation.  Winner of several design awards, David is also ethics chair of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, and was the first elected president of the first association of accredited graphic designers in the Americas.

Joseph Johnson (Fashion Merchandising and Retail Interior Design)
Joseph's experience as a fashion merchandiser includes the implementation of visual and merchandising concepts internationally in freestanding and multi-brand stores. He works jointly with architects and interior designers in developing retail store layouts as well as creative services in developing marketing and sales strategies. As the Director of International Visual Merchandising for Donna Karan New York, Joseph opened freestanding stores and shop-in-shops and coordinated on-going store enhancements in Europe, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Asia. Joseph also worked as corporate fashion editor for Donna Karan in New York and project manager for the lifestyle magazine "Qvest" in Berlin. He is currently working on European and international projects for both Burberry London and Marc O'Polo.

Paola Antonelli (Curator, MOMA)
Paola is curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.  Her most recent exhibition, Workspheres (2001) was devoted to the design of the workplace of the near future.  She has been a contributing editor for Domus magazine and the design editor of Abitare from 1992-94.  Paola’s articles also have appeared in Metropolis, The Harvard Design Review and I.D. Magazine, among others.  She currently is working on a book about foods from all over the world as examples of outstanding design and is trying to get a Boeing 747 into the collection of the MOMA.

The conference is free and open to all faculty, students and working professionals interested in exploring design in the Gulf region.  It is made possible under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development in collaboration with the Qatar Ministry of Civil Service Affairs and Housing.

For more information on Tasmeem Doha, visit www.tasmeemdoha2004.info.