Faheem Khan

The RAW Talent 2022

We asked special guests to choose a student whose work must be highlighted, whose talents they want to share with the world and whose names we’ll all soon know in Qatar.

Discover designer Joe Bou Abboud's pick!

Less Water, More Holy: Tools for Sustainable Ablution

Prayer is an important part of life for many people, whether it takes the form of meditation or talking to God. Muslims pray five times a day, and before each prayer, they first clean themselves by performing ritual ablution (wudu). The eight-step purification process of wudu cleanses the body from head to toe. The Hadiths of Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim tell us the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ needed just one mudd of water (650ml) to complete wudu, but most people consume many times that amount—four-to-seven liters is more common today. To visualize and better understand the nature of performing wudu with just one mudd of water, this thesis includes a two-part research investigation. The first part proposes eight individual artifacts—each one designed to analyze and illustrate the process of wudu, showing how little water is needed for each step of the process. Next, lessons extracted from this analytical phase inform a series of contemporary artifacts, designed to guide users toward a more reflective and sustainable wudu, modeled on and inspired by the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ.

www.behance.net/fa7eemkhan
@fa7eemkhan

Joe Bou Abboud
biography

Joe graduated with a master’s in interior architecture specializing in product design. After originally designing individual works focusing on lighting, interiors, and artisanal products for more than a decade, he started to adopt creative design solutions to everyday items that enhance his lifestyle, ranging from various home and personal products. “Creating memorable and meaningful designs for his home and everyone’s home,” is his design driving force. He established a global presence with his unique and unexpected designs through various publications, including articles, magazines and blogs and exhibitions in galleries for design week from Beirut and Dubai to Milan and Paris.

https://www.booabbood.com

@booabbood

About the Selected Project: 'Less Water, More Holy: Tools for Sustainable Ablution

“Tools for Sustainable Ablution” raises awareness among religious individuals in the community. It asks us to return to our origins, to the true core of religion. This project creates a perfect balance between religion and sustainability by educating people about their religion’s genuine beliefs.

This attempt was dedicated entirely to bind people together as a sustainable community. Brass prototypes served as a firm foundation for the project, providing a clear, solid base for the entire project, allowing the designer to build the gesture and observe the amount of water required. The transformation of the end product was an intriguing part of this project because it was not the outcome I had envisioned. I expected an artistic approach, but the designer was able to develop an end product that has the potential to be revolutionary within the religion, and it is almost ready to be released to the community.

This project creates a perfect balance between religion and sustainability by educating people about their religion's genuine beliefs

Designer Joe Bou Abboud

The MFA in Design Department

The Master of Fine Arts in Design at VCUarts Qatar is a two-year graduate degree in applied interdisciplinary design research. We train students to understand audiences, collaborators and clients in original and authentic ways, combining aspects of fine art studio practice, graphics, digital craft, architecture, fashion and product design, to form a hybridized education. Designers, increasingly, need to navigate between and blend disciplines, maximizing resources and working adaptively to create new environments, visuals, messaging and products. Our program’s strength lies in its ability to support each student’s unique interests, providing a custom education, tailored to each individual.
Alaa Albarazy
Abdulrahman Al Muftah
Faheem Khan
Gente Retkoceri
Anurag Wallace

Faculty: Rab McClure, Director Robert Bianchi, Marco Bruno, Stella Colaleo, Reema Abu Hassan, Giovanni Innella, Yasmeen Suleiman and Michael Wirtz

Rab McClure, Department Director

Well-designed objects have a positive impact. They reflect the values of the people who make them. Less Water, More Holy: Tools for Sustainable Ablution, by Faheem Khan, does these things by addressing a problem that is both easy-to-grasp and also mind-boggling: 1.9 billion Muslims, times 4-to-7 liters of water per ablution, times five prayers a day, equals a LOT of water. Offering to accomplish the task—in alignment with Islamic principles—using just 650ml, these well-designed objects employ upcycled bottles, intuitive graphics and elegantly functional caps to transform a routine, everyday activity into a sustainable, reflective and sacred ritual.

The RAW Talent

MAY–AUG
2022