We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Adel Badrawy ("AB").
I am an Egyptian architect. Passionate about designing and creating solutions for our built environment. I believe this is the best way an architect can contribute to the community he/she belongs to. Architects in general are responsible for coming up and creating solutions to provide the best comfort and healthy environment inside and outside the buildings.
Adel Badrawy Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Adel Badrawy.
Adel Badrawy Design - The Tree Residential House
Adel Badrawy Design - U Villa Residential House
Adel Badrawy Design - The Hub Mixed-use Building
Designer Interview of Adel Badrawy:
DI: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
AB : I'm an architecture school graduate, I graduated from the RIBA accredited Arab Academy for science and technology university. I've always adored shapes and forming stuff with it as well as music and all that is related to art and building. I've always wanted to be involved in anything related to art and music. Collecting pieces together.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
AB : RAW -Rawasem Architecture Workshop- is an architecture design workshop founded by myself in 2015. It was created initially -and still- to experiment with different design methods according to every single project where every project designed by RAW is as unique as its case. RAW believes that every project has a key to approach.
DI: What is "design" for you?
AB : Design is simply a group of problems that need to be solved respectively in an innovative way.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
AB : I believe private residences are my personal favorite projects as it directly touches and affects people's lives hopefully in a good way.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
AB : An apartment building.
DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
AB : I like using as natural materials as I could, like stone and wood.
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
AB : When surrounded by nature.
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
AB : The cultural aspect.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
AB : Hyped, and sometimes anxious.
DI: What makes a design successful?
AB : When its existence has a better impact than before.
DI: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
AB : Functional, cultural, and aesthetic aspects.
DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
AB : It's a huge responsibility. An architect shapes the environment where people live in or around.
DI: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
AB : I think the design field is responding very well to the changes that are taking place, whether politically, environmentally or economically. The future of design is leaning more on technology and VR.
DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
AB : I'm mostly inspired by nature. It's the mother of all inspirations, and this answers the second question
DI: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
AB : Form follows function, form follows the concept. This approach is what makes a good design, to stick to your idea, and your purpose of design all the way to the final product.
DI: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
AB : I live in Egypt. My country's rich history through all the eras definitely affected my way of thinking regarding the design process and how I see things in general. The significant concepts and advanced technology in the pharaonic period and the efficiency of design in Islamic architecture, as well as the Coptic architecture, is what shaped my design mentality. The pros of design in Egypt are the heritage and the moderate weather, but the cons are mainly the bureaucracy and the lack of awareness of arts in general.
DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?
AB : My designs basically start with good listening skills, a fair amount of research, identifying the challenges, and working on each collectively and separately. There has to be an idea to follow through all the stages of design. An idea that responds directly to the brief and the challenges created by the nature of the project and it's context.
DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
AB : As a team of course. I believe there isn't such thing called a solo architect. It's always a group of talented architects.
DI: How can people contact you?
AB : By email, abadrawy@rawasemaw.com Or by phone, 00201069998041