Samer Yamani. Curriculum vitae

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1 I am a designer working on a broad range of designs, my work always inspired by local culture, merging high technology innovative design and traditions. Samer Yamani Curriculum vitae I teach Design and Creativity in several Design Schools and Universities in Barcelona and abroad and got selected by the British Council to participate in the CLI Cultural Leadership International Programme (design and creative economy). My grandfather was born in Yemen and my grandmother in Lebanon; my parents were born in Syria; I was born in Honduras; my children were born in Spain. Four generations of my family have moved across five countries and three continents, in an extraordinary cultural enrichment process that has continued during my entire life. Growing up in Damascus, in a region where nothing is what it seems and a kind of mystical harmony is involved in almost all actions and emotions, I had to learn to be very adaptive. Since then I have built on that flexibility due to the privilege of travelling very widely and meeting a range of amazing people along the way unique artists and visionary designers, decision-makers and members of great institutions who have allowed me to interact with their cities, their cultures and their work, and who have supported my ideas and projects. So my professional life has been as richly diverse and multifaceted as my background, evolving into a cross-disciplinary practice in design and creativity. I run my own design studio in Barcelona (Samer Yamani Design), alongside directing Creative Dialogue Association (CDA) A non-profit cultural association that seeks to raise awareness of creativity and cultural industries, pro-

2 3 1 2 voking socio-economic development through creativity. I believe that design has a function for society, so my work focuses on the social and cultural impact of design and creativity on local communities, always attempting to convey my social vision through my work and interact in a way that offers an added value beyond the immediate project. Also central to all my projects is a sense of the local specifics of the space, people, cities, food, art and other cultural elements that they concern so the outcomes of my work are as diverse as the projects themselves: from interior design to local gastronomy recipe development, from jewellery design to a street show. In September 2000 I arrived in Madrid to study Art and Design, after completing my studies as a Technical Architect at the Damascus Institute of Engineering. While studying at the School of Art 4 in Madrid I participated in several design competitions for students, winning several awards such as the Vitra Design competition for the School of Art (Madrid, 2003) and a special mention from Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Madrid, 2003). In February 2004 I moved to Barcelona to begin my postgraduate studies at Elisava Design School in Design Image and Architecture. A new phase of my learning process be , 2 Bio Madrid (Barcelona, 2004) 3 Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Madrid, 2003) 4, 5 Que es el SIDA? (Barcelona, 2005) 6 24 hrs Warm Square (Flevoland, 2004) 7 Retratos de Migración (Barcelona, 2004)

3 8 8 Arabic Contemporary Architecture Festival (Damascus 2006) gan in the design city par excellence; beautiful Barcelona became my home city. At Elisava Design School I studied and worked under the supervision of Dennis Dollens, a fervent biomimoc, in research projects such as Bio Madrid. At the same time, I began collaborating with amazing artists and designers such as Alicia Framis on the project 24 hrs Warm Square (Flevoland, 2004) ( My work with Alicia opened the door to more cultural projects, and I was lucky enough to from part of the design team at Espai Visual, a design and production agency specialising in cultural projects. I was in charge of the design and the conceptualisation of exhibition projects such as Retratos de Migración (Barcelona, 2004) and Que es el SIDA? (Barcelona, 2005). My professional life took a major step forward in May 2005 when I established my own design studio in Barcelona dedicated to cultural projects. My first contract was in Damascus with Maksoud Architecture Group (MAG): to design and produce the Arabic Contemporary Architecture Festival (Damascus 2006). This was followed by many other design projects, such as the design

4 9 research for the renovation of Cristal Itsandra Beach Hotel (Moroni-Comoros Islands, 2006). At the same time as setting up my studio, I took up the post of Editor in Chief of Architecture Creation Magazine, published by MAG, the first design and architecture magazine in Syria, developing the publication over the three years to 2008, whilst also teaching at the faculty of Fine Art and Design at the Arab European University near Damascus. When Aleppo was awarded Capital of Islamic Culture status for 2006 I had the opportunity to work on art and design interacting with local culture in Syria, allowing me to propose highly innovative projects to the committee of the celebration, in collaboration with notable Spanish institutions. Among these projects were a research trip to Aleppo by the internationally recognised photographer Miquel Arnal (project name Aleppo Culture & Architecture, 2006); The Andalusia Garden (Aleppo, 2006), a cultural project in collaboration with FUNCI, Foundation of Islamic Culture in Madrid; Prince of Aleppo, (Aleppo, 2006), the Story of Ali Bey told through a street show and an urban exhibition, in collaboration with The Barcelona Ethnography Museum. This project was awarded a special mention by The Barcelona 9,10 Exhibition, FAD Fostering Arts and Design Barcelona (Barcelona, 2007) 11, 12, 13 Cristal Itsandra Beach Hotel (Moroni-Comoros Islands, 2006) 13 12

5 Ethnography Museum and the Institut de Cultura of Barcelona (2007). We concluded the year of cultural activities in Aleppo publication of a very special book: Aleppo, History of Civilisation (Aleppo,2006: City Council of Aleppo). Alongside the Aleppo projects, 2006 saw the beginning of my collaboration with Cloud 9, Barcelonabased architecture studio and sustainability champions, founded and lead by the visionary architect Enric Ruiz Geli ( This phase of my professional career at Cloud 9 from was marked by my introduction to a plethora of very progressive and creative 14 Aleppo Culture & Architecture (Aleppo, 2006) 15 Ali Bey Returns (Damascus, 2008) 16 Prince of Aleppo (Aleppo, 2006) 17, 18 Bio Naturel Company (Damascus 2011) 19, 20 Microsoulution show room (Damascus, 2011)

6 design methodology and innovation in design and art research. The array of projects I collaborated on in Barcelona, San Sebastian, USA, Venice, Bahrain, Damascus, Qatar and elsewhere all involved extensive research and great innovation, and introduced me to such legendary people as the economic and social theorist Jeremy Rifkin, or the avant-garde visionary Robert Wilson, among others. My role at Cloud 9 was varied, from designing a project to co-ordinating international scale tenders and competitions. Three intense years of relating with Enric Ruiz Geli that were formative for me, both in terms of my way of thinking and of my network. With the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, I started to think of sharing my knowledge with my people, as I believe that cultural relations and the artistic creative force together form a powerful engine of positive social and civic change. These convictions led me to found Creative Dialogue Association (CDA) a private, independent and nonprofit association, based in Barcelona. CDA s objective is to promote and stimulate creative dialogue and interaction across various creative disciplines, in order to encourage socio-economic development ( Enric Ruiz Geli, Samer Yamani, Mohsen Maksoud 22 Centre Arts Santa Monica (Barcelona, 2009) 23 Biennale d Architecture (Venezia, 2008) 24 New Bahrain Polytechnic Campus (Bahrain, 2009) 25 DHUB (Barcelona, 2009) 25

7 26 27 CDA projects started to expand across the MENA region, and through them I began to have contact with some very interesting and creative Arab thinkers such H.E. Sheikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa, Minster of Culture of Bahrain, who commissioned me to undertake several design projects there: Lukmatina, Bahrain Gourmet Local Restaurant (2011), Pearl Road Information Centre (2011), Bab al-bahrain Exhibition (2012), and Bab al-bahrain Police Station Exhibition (2012). Other notable new professional connections made through CDA were Faeq Alowalit, a pioneer thinker of creative cities in Bahrain, and Sofana Dahlan, founder of Tashkiel in Jeddah, KSA, among others. 26 Bab el Bahrain, GCC Exhibition and information centre (Bahrain, 2011) 27, 28 Pearl Road (Bahrain, 2011) 29, 30 Lukmatina (Bahrain, 2010)