Noha Jaheen
Egyptian architect and academic Noha Jaheen launched her
own practice, Jaheen’s Design and Creative, in Dubai Design
District in October 2018.
Integrating three elements including cultural, intellec-
tual and green building forms (each of which has its own de-
partment within the company’s structure), Jaheen’s Design
and Creative aims to deliver public buildings and landscape
designs that adapt design elements and tools of the past for
the present and future.
“We built Jaheen’s upon a vision,” said Jaheen. “To design
your sustainable future, you need to first recognise your sus-
tainable past, and we translate that into a mission of redefin-
ing architecture. The point here is to grab all the sustainable
tools of the past and use them to grow the future and create
buildings that are in harmony with their environment.”
Having only launched a few months ago – previously,
Jaheen worked as a researcher at various universities around
the UAE – Jaheen has announced her proposal for what she
calls the ‘Notre Dame Diamond’, a project she hopes will be
a collaborative effort with different cultural entities around
the country, such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi and UNESCO.
Employing her ‘Modern Antique Technique’, which falls
under the company’s department of art and heritage and
which aims to revive old building techniques and adapt
them for the present, Jaheen hopes to create a modernised
gothic form for the church’s reconstruction following its fire
in April 2019.
“We believe that we now need a new path for gothic archi-
tecture,” she said. “Behind each problem, there is the oppor-
tunity. The opportunity here is not about what Jaheen’s will
build alone, but what we can build together. This is our inten-
tion and hope from the UAE to the world.”
While Jaheen said her and her team would need to visit the
Notre Dame site in order to develop a concrete design con-
cept for the reconstruction, she aims to propose innovative
materials that respect the heritage of the site while speaking
to the present.
In addition to the Notre Dame Diamond, Jaheen also re-
cently published a paper in February 2019 in cooperation
with the British University in Dubai on green building in the
emirate and its new regulations. She is currently working on
another project focused solely on material innovation.The Egyptian architect, who recently
launched her own practice in Dubai
Design District, announces her proposal
for the ‘Notre Dame Diamond’
Written by Rima Alsammarae
Images by Rajesh Raghav12 / INSIGHT: NEW ARCHITECT