Ajman Rulers Court
Client name
GOVERNMENT OF AJMAN
Category
Commercial / government
Year
2024
Scope
Concept to Execution
Designed by Roar, Ajman Ruler’s Court has been awarded several international design and architecture prizes for its stunning way of merging contemporary, upscale representative spaces and experimental working / collaborative areas.
The Royal Family of Ajman expressed the aim to complement the project through the acquisition of art pieces, specifically commissioned for the project and the city.
We delivered an art collection that celebrates the community and fosters local Emirati talent, adding the human layer to the building, while organically enhancing its identity.
Ultra Arte has won “best use of art in interior design” at the CID awards 2024 for this project.
The work is organized around four themes: Words, Nature, Architecture, Geometry, and Memories.
Words explores language through Jamal Habroosh Al Suwaidi’s Al Barwa, Juma Al Haj’s Praise Poetry, and Nadia Ricketts’ jacquard textile, all drawing from Emirati history and contemporary speech.
Nature is represented by Khalid Shafar’s Nakheel, a social space created with metal and wood palms, and Azza Al Qubaisi’s Metaphors, a mangrove-inspired sculpture. Alia Hussain Lootah’s drawings capture the movement of birds in the sky.
Architecture is seen in Afra Al Dhaheri’s Deconstruct, Settle, Rewind, a series of linen and wood panels reflecting brutalist forms, and Ajman: Soil vs Urbanism by Ultra Arte, a ceramic installation inspired by the city’s 80s-90s architecture.
Geometry, central to Arabic visual culture, is reimagined by Akil, Julia Ibbini, and Yosra Emamizadeh through forms, patterns, and calligraphy.
The space is also enriched by portraits and archival materials from the Royal Family, representing collective and private memories.
- Al Barwa – Jamal Habroosh Al Suwaidi, Location Boardroom, Typology Wall installed sculpture, Materials Etched electroplated steel, Size 2000 x 7000 mm / 2
- Nakheel – Khalid Shafar, Location Main Lobby, Typology Immersive installation, Materials Metal and wood, Size max H 4000 mm
- Metaphors- the mangroves – Azza Al Qubaisi, Location VIP Lobby, Typology Freestanding Sculpture, Materials Steel, Size overall 450 x 450 x 1850 mm / 2
- Form n. 1 and n.3, Repetition 2, 5, and 6 – Alia Hussain Lootah, Location 3rd floor Lobby, Typology Framed Art, Materials Ink on paper, Size up to 400 mm length / 5
- Construct, Deconstruct, Settle, Rewind – Afra Al Dhaheri, Location 3rd floor Cafe, Typology Framed Art, Materials Linen, wood, Size 700 x 1200mm / 4
- Ajman: Soil vs Urbanism – Anna De Florian, Location 3rd Floor Library, Typology Ceramic Wall Sculpture, Materials Glazed Ceramic, Size overall 1700 x 1200 mm
- Xxxx – Yosra Emamizadeh, Location corridors to prayer rooms, Typology Framed Art, Materials Wood, Gouache, Mirror Size 410 x 410 mm / module
- Untitled – Aki, Location Reception, Typology Wall sculpture, Materials Acrylic on metal sheet, Size 2100 x 1300mm
Abu Dhabi government office
Client name
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE
Category
Art Comission
Year
2024
Scope
CONSULTANCY AND EXECUTION
An elegant representative space for the Abu Dhabi government, where the modern look reflects the leadership’s vision projected into the future.
The art selection we conceptualized and created complements it, making it hospitable and warm.
Along with hand painted abstract art, rigorously in black and white / grayscale, we experimented with details of Abu Dhabi’s architectural masterpieces, to make them become patterns, abstracts surfaces, and taking their own life into a frame.
Oliver Wyman KSA
Client name
Oliver Wyman
Category
Commercial / corporate
Year
2024
Scope
Concept to Execution
This is the Riyadh office of a USA multinational law firm, and the sophisticated look and feel delivered by Roar is completed by Ultra Arte’s art selection.
The client’s and ID’s desire was to add a touch of Saudi direction to the space, while not losing the corporate and brand’s identity.
We took two main approaches to deliver the Saudi tradition in a contemporary form: poetry and patterns.
Keeping the client’s values in mind, we selected a poem by Khalid AlFaisal, prominent cultural and political, and we commissioned calligrapher Hazem Kurdali with a 3D Arabic calligraphy sculpture, which we fabricated. We chose to use the brand’s color and the result is a contemporary looking sculpture in the entrance, full of meaning and bringing a dash of focal color, in an otherwise neutral environment.
We design a pattern inspired by ancient local jewelry, and we used as a distressed, tridimensional texture to cover the columns across the offices. The calligraphy work also became a 2D surface applied on the glass manifestations. Both concept allow for the narrative to flourish while making those surfaces interesting and vibrant.
DIFC Corporate Space
Client name
undisclosed
Category
COMMERCIAL /CORPORATE
Year
2024
Scope
CONCEPT TO EXECUTION
3 stories HQ for a big 5’s Dubai offices. The design is empowered by the use of color, which defines the flow of the space and its functions, guided by nature snd psychology. The art selection we conceptualized and produced, playfully breaks the geometries, while characterizing the Dubai office of an international multinational with a touch local narrative.
Ultra Arte considered the whole space as a canvas in which walls, corridors and ceilings becomes an immersive experiences, allowing for a vast range of application: customized mirrors, wall sculptures, giclee prints, murals, textile art etc.
Dubai Design Week
Client name
GOVERNMENT OF AJMAN
Category
Art Comission
Year
2023
Scope
Concept
The opening outdoor art installation for Dubai Design Week, key event of the design scene in the Middle East, is an experience exploring the mutable relationship between natural and artificial. An immersive and interactive sculpture will invite the visitor to observe the play of sunlight and artificial lighting with color and form. Ultra Arte teamed up with Light and Lives, for a playful collaboration experimenting with recycled materials, maximalism, modularity, transparencies, reflections, overlapping of colors and boldness
SMBR Portrait for Noor Energy
Client name
NOOR ENERGY
Category
Art Comission
Year
2024
Scope
CONSULTANCY AND EXECUTION
The client, Noor Energy, wished to celebrate His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid, while narrating the vision of the government of Dubai in developing new sources of clean energy. We curated this large scale portrait, titled “A Clear Vision” with Lights and Lives. The space around the portrait is telling us about the desert, the city of Dubai in its magnificent shape, the myriad of mirrors which will generate the solar power. The sun is in the back of Sheikh Mohamed, illuminating the path, is tracing in the sky the infinite sign- this path is called “analemma’ in astronomy and it is observed in the way the sun changes its position during the different phases of the year.
