Specialising in augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D printing and digital fabrication, Joucka’s practice straddles the intersection between technology, design and innovation.
When Riyad Joucka began his architecture and design career, he would consistently conceptualise bold and innovative structures. Joucka went searching for the right tools and after graduating with a Master’s degree in architecture at the Emergent Technologies & Design programme at the Architectural Association’s School of Architecture. He has gone on to utilise the technology available to him to make his ideas come to life.
In 2015, Joucka founded MEAN* (Middle East Architecture Network); a community of architects, designers, programmers and artists who amalgamate computation, material research, and design to provide innovative solutions and utilise current technological and economic trends.
Riyad Joucka was selected as a juror for the first Audi Innovation Award, and for this year's edition of Dubai Design Week, he is the chief designer behind the curvaceous lines of the Audi Innovation Hub; a pavilion of bold lines, fused with rubber surface made of recycled vehicle tyres provided by UAE waste management firm Bee’ah. The Hub will form the venue for the programme of Audi Innovation Talks as well as the unveiling of the winner of the 2018 Audi Innovation Award.
The smooth and sweeping contours of the pavilion structure are characteristic of Joucka’s wider practice. They are based on complex geometries that appear deceptively simple; something that is a key building block of the natural world. “I am really driven by looking at nature for inspiration for my work,” he says. “I am fascinated by observing how structures within nature are assembled and how that can be translated into structures that we inhabit.”
- Yeoui Naru Ferry Terminal Competition, Seoul - South Korea- MEAN* Middle East Architecture Network (2017)