More than giga-projects: Discovering humanity-centered design in a time of rapid urbanization.

Last week I had the privilege of moderating a panel on inclusionary practices at the Architecture and Design Educators Forum in Riyadh, in addition to keynoting on design diplomacy and participating in human-centered design gatherings in the Architecture and Design Research Conference.

These events were hosted by the ????? ??????? Ministry of Culture and the Architecture & Design Commission. They brought design leaders, regional experts, international academia, urban and heritage practitioners and enthusiastic students to discuss and debate current and new visions for the profession.?The range of topics covered included everything from designing cities for multi-species, design for good, participatory design practices to cultural and heritage integration in growth.

During both gatherings I had the pleasure of listening to some incredibly thoughtful - and thought provoking - speakers.? Externally we see development in the country is moving at breakneck speed and, while exciting to watch unfold, it is great to encouragement and support of voices from within the country to ensure that cultural identity is not erased by transnational modernity.?It is also worth noting that there was gender parity on all the panels and in the future the percentage of female practitioners may overtake the US and UK.

The work of Sami Angawi , Ezio Manzini ?and?Hanif Kara OBE resonated with a more human centric approach to design and the research and initiatives presented by Dr.?Sumayah Al-Solaiman on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and the Architecture & Design Commision are beginning to bear fruit.?

It has been a while since I’ve been part of a design conference that was driven by optimistic change to climatic and social challenges and gave space to theory and development of the design practice over a commodified value system or dominated by technological advances. Shyhnan Liou also spoke on how we can transition from human-centered to humanity-centered design - something Worldchanging Institute can wholeheartedly get behind.

There is a unique opportunity here. With intentional civic engagement, a new critical regionalism and adapted design methodologies can being embedded in all future urban and peri-urban developments. This will allow the country to support and develop a professional capacity that will no doubt leapfrog western systems that are struggling to keep up with over-industrialized society and broken infrastructure. While the world may be mesmerized by The Line and other multi billion dollar giga-projects by firms like BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group , Zaha Hadid Architects , Kengo Kuma, Morphosis, Peter Cook and others, there are other spokes to the umbrella of design happening here. Certainly they may not be as flashy but, if integrated, will be just as avant-garde as the ones that push the boundaries of what can be built. Don't just look up, look deeper at the opportunity for design innovation.

Special thanks to all involved including Dr.?Sumayah Al-Solaiman ?and all the contributors including;

Adrian Lahoud, Anna Horkai, Ashraf M. Salama, Asmaa Ibrahim, Assem El-Torkey, Badr ALHamdan, Branko Kolarevic, Cindy Walters, Dr. Fahad Alotaibi, Dr. Sultan Alotaibi, Zati Hazira Ismail , Dr.Fahad Alyami, Duha Engawi, PhD ??? ??????, Ezio Manzini, Fatima Ameen, Fouad Makki, Hala El-Wakeel, Hana Al Maktoum, Hans Neubert, Kathryn Firth, Madeleine Houbart, Márk Markóczy, Mashael AlShalan, Miram Ali, Mohammad Hafez, Mostafa S., Mysan Ashgar, Nawal Al-Hamwi, Noha Essam, Pedro Segreto, Péter Schillinger, Renad Alsekait, Shyhnan Liou, Sukaina Adnan Almousa, Yusif A. Alghamdi, MEngMgt, PhD, Rezan Gassas , prof.?Hanif Kara OBE and the national treasure of architect and heritage advocate Sami Angawi

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