Art Expo in Full Bloom at Meliá Dubai - 777

Client: Opus Hotel - Dubai ME

Location: Dubai

Status: In process

Studio NousNous is about blurring the boundaries between interiors, architecture, art, and landscape. Our name, NousNous, carries a dual meaning: in French, it signifies "we together," and in Arabic, "half-half." This embodies our mission: bridging humans and nature, inside and outside, design and awareness.

At the heart of our practice lies a nature-inspired design philosophy that extends into biophilic design, a methodology that reconnects people with nature in the built environment. Drawing from our biophilic disciplines: interior design, architecture, art, and landscape design, we created The ZELL Frame, a holistic object that unites all of our studio's activities into one interconnected work of art.

Part of the "In Full Bloom" collective exhibition, Hakim's latest exhibition is titled 777. Hakim El Amrani presents Studio NousNous's design of seven biobased 3D-printed ZELL Frames, each featuring a 20 x 20 cm acrylic painting created by him. The paintings reflect Hakim's signature abstract botanical forms, blending elements of tulips and palm trees, symbols of his identity, into one cohesive shape. It is about the power of natural forms, about their energy and their effect on our wellbeing. About how forms are made by layers, by combinations of the known and the unknown.

Hidden beneath the top layers of paint in each of the seven artworks is another form: the shape of a date. Embodying nourishment and health, the spiritual significance of the number seven: seven dates as the core of health, seven skies as a canopy, and seven layers of earth for stability and grounding. 777.

The ZELL Frame confronts the challenges of modern design by showcasing the tension between natural and artificial materials. Each ZELL frame is parasitized by a plastic form, symbolizing the pervasive grip of plastic on the built environment. However, the energy from the painting resonates outward, pushing against the plastic shape as it clings to the artwork. The biobased natural materials and botanical natural forms, radiate their inherent power, creating a dynamic struggle where the plastic fights to hold on but is gradually fading away. This fading process is visually expressed through the Voronoi-style cutouts in the plastic, symbolizing its slow breakdown under the influence of nature's energy.

Hakim’s unique approach stems from his vision of creating biophilic cities that reconnect humans with nature. His belief is that this connection must extend across all aspects of life, within homes, offices, architectural façades, and gardens, right up to the very concept of urban development. As Hakim always says, “My design philosophy is like a living cell, with each tissue representing a biophilic design project. Together, they form a single, cohesive cell: a future biophilic city.”

In a special tribute, The ZELL Frame has been crafted exclusively for this 777 art exposition at Hotel Opus (ME Hotel) in Dubai. This iconic hotel holds a significant place in architectural history as the only hotel where the late Zaha Hadid, known for her connection to the natural world, designed both the architecture and the full interior. A profound connection between two designers who have each drawn deep inspiration from nature in their work.

Studio NousNous is founded by Hakim El Amrani, born and raised in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. With his parental roots from Marrakesh, Morocco. He is born on 7-7-’81. Keep the 7-7 and remove the 1 from the 8 of ‘81 and you get 7-7-7. He is a spatial designer, artist, conceptual thinker and visionary whose work bridges the worlds of art, architecture, and nature-inspired solutions. A graduate from the Willem The Kooning Art Acadamy. His approach combines strong concepts, artistic creativity with forward-thinking design solutions.

Through 777, Studio NousNous explores the power of many layers, blending philosophy, identity, the history and future and design to provoke thought and inspire. His work at Studio NousNous is both a celebration of possibility and a fight for a future where design and nature thrive in harmony.