LONDON: Architect Hani Rashid has a clear view of what his profession demands.

“For me our job is to bring out the best in people and their culture and turn this into a permanent reality – into buildings that may last for many lifetimes. That’s a big responsibility. Everything we thought we “should” do as architects – help clients become wealthy, design icons as places of worship for large individuals or entities, or beautify the sky – it just doesn’t make sense. That’s not our job, “he told Arab News.

Rashid emphasized the importance of people maintaining their own unique identity.

“Every culture carries a very rich and strong tradition. Unfortunately, at times, we see that self-inflicted neurosis and misplaced shame emerge in certain cultures, and it is (often) closely related to the domination of another, more powerful culture at its doorstep that makes people feel their roots and heritage need questionable and sometimes discarded. “It happened historically in countries like India and Egypt under British rule, and in many ways American culture has prevailed all over the world and sometimes the places affected don’t always get better,” he said.

Rashid’s father’s job as an artist kept his family moving frequently. Rashid was born in Cairo to an Egyptian father and a British mother, but lived in Italy, Algeria, England and Canada as a child. She credits this experience for developing her sensitivity to other cultures.

“I had to speak Italian fluently as a child in Rome. I have to speak French in Algeria. I have to hang out with kids on a playground in London. “When I was a teenager in Canada, I played hockey and learned a Canadian accent,” he says. “Now, after nearly three decades living in New York, I am basically New Yorker. I am a kind of cultural sponge with a desire to understand and immerse myself in places as deep as I can. “

He recalls, for example, how on his first visit to Medina he was captivated by the “surreal and impressive” urban atmosphere. “I arrived at four in the morning on Eid al-Fitr and the streets and mosques were full of people from all over the world. I was blown away and fascinated by the whole place, its extraordinary spirituality and the celebration of the beauty and power of the human soul, ”he said.

When Rashid and partner Lise Anne Couture, co-founder of New York-based architectural firm Asymptote, designed the W Abu Dhabi –Yas Island hotel, which spans the UAE capital’s Formula One racetrack, they paid particular attention to local traditions and culture. Their designs, Rashid explained, incorporate rich abstract art “drawn specifically from looking at the tradition of nomadic movements across the desert combined with the precision of ancient Islamic arts and crafts traditions, as well as architecture.”

“When the Grand Prix takes place every year, around 700 million people around the world watch it,” he added. “Every round, this building is featured on a live feed and I think this brings pride to the people of this region.”

His work has taken him all over the world with projects in the Middle East, USA, China, Russia, Azerbaijan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Belgium, and Asymptote Architecture has won. various awards in recognition of his contribution to the advancement and amalgamation of art and architecture.

Progress has its drawbacks, the Rashid warned. While he is impressed by the ambition to capitalize on high-tech innovation in architecture – a trend increasingly prevalent in the Gulf region – he believes there also needs to be a better understanding of the nature of buildings and the relationship people will have with their buildings. the immediate environment.

“I firmly believe that architecture has to inspire – it has to be strong and beautiful. I think for now there is too much emphasis on the technological aspect and not enough on the equality of the human side, “he said. “It pisses me off that many architects are too busy justifying their work through technology and slogans like ‘environmental sustainability’ and ‘smart’ buildings. As a profession, we need to step back and realize that we owe it to the world to design some really beautiful things that not only solve problems but also inspire and enhance our understanding of what it is to be human. “

Rashid recently designed a large sports complex to be built in the Qiddiya Entertainment City – Qiddiya Sports Park – and said he had been approached for a possible hotel and hospital project at NEOM, but those discussions were still in the early stages.

In March, Rashid participated in Healing Arts London, a five-day cultural program in response to the mental health crisis caused by COVID-19, hosted by Culturunners’ “The Future is Unwritten” as part of the World Health Organization Solidarity Series of Events. .

Over the past year, Rashid has looked at the design of future hospitals and how medical networks can function better. He has researched the subject with his students at the Institute of Architecture at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, where he held the post of International Dean.

“When we design a luxury hotel or residential tower, we spend a lot of time in the lobby and public spaces and consider how someone feels when they enter a building,” said Rashid. “The thinking has to be the same for hospitals – you have to feel welcome in a well-designed and beautiful environment with all the amenities you would need in any public space.”

He believes the pandemic will cause some major changes in both work patterns and lifestyle.

“We will all come out of this pandemic and realize that we must maximize our environment. “In architecture and design we will see the urge to take advantage of our local situation and not see local as something less valuable than a place far away,” he said.

“Also, no doubt we will see less focus on the office environment as we know it. The idea that to be productive you have to work in a skyscraper 50 stories high and sit shoulder to shoulder in a room full of other people who potentially have no operable windows, is a sight we will one day look back at in the same way. like today we look back at the people crammed into the factory at the end of the 19th century, “he concluded.