The UAE Centennial, May 2022
A project by Dina El Sebaai, Haniya Shoaib, Dunia Tarahi
Junior Multi-Media Design Studio, Prof. Zlatan Filipovic

American University of Sharjah, College of Architecture and Design (CAAD)

The ‘UAE Centennial’ is an artificial reality experience that showcases the past of the majlis being compared to the future of the majlis that we envision. We made an interactive 3D space along with 2D elements to portray our idea. We were initially inspired by the UAE union, which consisted of all the Sheikhs to unite and sign the union which was supposedly done in the majlis. Therefore, our very first section of this experience is dedicated to the Sheikhs and educating the people about them and their contribution to the making of the UAE. The experience is then moved onto showing a traditional majlis and allow them to experience how it is like being a part of a majlis. Then, we show the elements of the majlis that are preserved even in the future that we believe will always be part of the majlis.

The future of the majlis is then shown in AREA 2071, which is 50 years from now. The future side is introduced by an interactive robot that leads the experience, but making the user follow it. Several elements like floating hologram text and informative texts allow the user to understand the space even better. Lastly, the user is led into a room which consists of the past majlis with the future majlis where the Dubai frame shows a comparison between the two sides of the majlises. The entire experience is designed to be loop-able.

See more projects: