This was built originally as a design research portfolio, but it has since transitioned into an “expo”; this combines the work that I have done in the past during my studies, and the work I do on the side as a one-man personal studio specializing in design research, strategy, and the intersection between design and everything (culture/politics/humanities/business/energy/etc.)
ISN’T THIS JUST A PORTFOLIO?
Not really. AL-EXPO is not a brand-new project, to be honest. My first ever portfolio when I was still a high school student applying to university had this title, but I didn’t envision it to be much else. As the years went by, I realized I wanted to have my own studio of sorts, but did not know what it would be for. However, I always knew I would have it up and running by the time I was a 4th year student. Now here we are!
WHO ARE YOU?
My name is Alex Boubou. Well, my name is AlHasan, but you can call me Alex. I am a 4th year Bachelor in Design (BID) student at IE University. I am originally from Syria, but have lived in Switzerland where I did my International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. I am a designer-in-training by education, a researcher by passion, an amateur linguist and international relations enthusiast, and finally, a semi-professional overthinker.
A lot of things! I speak Arabic (Syrian and MSA), English, French, and Spanish, and currently learning Portuguese.
(me)
WHY DESIGN RESEARCH?
I think design research is a side of the design process that is sometimes overlooked, perhaps because the main focus of the process is to provide a solution to a given problem, and not to write very long reports. However, I believe that research is an integral step to being informed about the needs and requirements of a problem, the constraints and previous attempts of its users, the pre-existing approaches and projects that may be of relevance, and non-design fields that might play a role in finding the solution. Design also does not have a well-established academic tradition as art, architecture, engineering, etc., so I want to contribute to the creation of such a tradition.
ONLY DESIGN RESEARCH?
Not at all. AL-EXPO is about the intersection between design and everything. A lot of the projects here go into not only other design fields, but into other disciplines altogether.
WHAT’S YOUR VIEW ON COLLABORATION?
I love it! If you have a project you want some help with or you want to collaborate, send me an email with the details and we can discuss from there.