Dynamic creative work done by students from the College of Architecture, Art and Design (CAAD) at American University of Sharjah (AUS) went on display, at a special exhibition held at the CAAD Gallery on campus. Entitled “Proto-Pieces: Furniture work designed and fabricated by CAAD students,” the opening of the exhibition drew a large, enthusiastic audience comprising Dr. Varkki Pallathucherill, Dean of CAAD; along with other senior members of the university; faculty members; students and members of the public.

Proto-Pieces is an exhibition of furniture work designed and fabricated in CAAD by 12 students, along with Ammar Kalo, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Director of the CAAD Labs, for his Furniture Design Basics course held last semester. Each student worked very closely with Kalo to develop unique pieces of furniture that explored a specific type of joint or detail that he/she was interested in. Over the course of several months, the students worked on their designs through various stages of conceptualization, prototyping, and finally fabrication. The exhibition also showcases this process with a number of sketches, prototypes and scale models developed during the design process on display.

Commenting on the quality of work on display, Dr. Pallathucherill said:

“I congratulate Professor Kalo and his students on this accomplishment. The pieces on display are impressive because they evince a deep, personal and purposeful engagement with materials. I believe this collection of work clearly demonstrates the advantage of learning design at CAAD.”

Speaking about the exhibition, Sheikh Sultan Sooud Al Qassimi, founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation, said:

"The impressive array of student furniture pieces reflects the quality not only of the execution of the designs thanks to the available advanced Labs in CAAD but also the theoretical concept development processes overseen by the instructor."

Over the years, CAAD students have been recognized with a number of national and international awards for the quality of their work. This exhibition reaffirms that contention and showcases the high quality of work achieved by CAAD students with their design skills, the support and knowledge of their faculty, as well the fantastic facilities available to them at the college.