The The Architecture and Design Authority, yesterday, Saturday, concluded the first edition of the “Designathon” challenge, held in the capital Riyadh, by honoring the winners in the challenge’s three categories: Design for Healthy Living, Design for Social Impact, and Design for Sustainability.
More than 500 participants took part in the initiative, submitting numerous creative entries over the course of three days within the competition’s designated categories, which aim to develop innovative solutions in the design sector, to find solutions to global challenges, and to raise awareness of the importance of participatory design.
Of these participants, 30 teams advanced to the final round, where they presented their designs to the judging panel, which selected the winners across the three categories.
In the Public Health Design track, the Sabil team won first place and was awarded a prize of 100,000 riyals, while second place went to the Mamatar team, which received 50,000 riyals, and finally, third place went to the “Step by Step” team, which was awarded 25,000 riyals.
In the Social Impact Design track, the ”Ahlam“ team won first place and was awarded 100,000 riyals, while second place went to ”Rans Team,“ which was awarded 50,000 riyals, and third place went to the ”Hayak" team, which was awarded 25,000 riyals.
In the Design for Sustainability track, first place went to the "Wasim" team, and was awarded a prize of 100,000 riyals, while second place went to "Table Mo1," which received 50,000 riyals, and finally, third place went to "Waste No More,“ which received 25,000 riyals.
Designathon provided participating teams with the opportunity to benefit from experts in these fields through a rich program of panel discussions and workshops, focusing on the application of the concept of ”participatory design“ by ensuring that team members came from diverse disciplines, including design and other supporting fields such as technology, sociology, statistics, engineering, medicine, and more.
The CEO of the Saudi Architecture and Design Authority Dr. Sumaya Al-Suleiman, emphasized that more than 500 participants contributed directly to advancing the sector by exploring its challenges, and then forming teams with diverse backgrounds that reinforce the concept of participatory design, and solving these challenges using the design thinking methodology, which will inspire the development of unconventional solutions that go beyond what is typically expected from such a community.
It is worth noting that over the course of three days, “Designathon” featured numerous panel discussions and workshops that enhanced the quality of this edition’s outcomes. On the first day, the Authority organized an introductory panel discussion on each track, as well as another session titled “Design Thinking Methodology.” On the second day, workshops on design thinking methodology were held, and on the third and final day, a workshop on the mechanism for registering intellectual property rights was conducted by the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property.
