• Innovator and Co-Founder of Oxara, Dr. Gnanli Landrou, has collaborated with Emirati-founded design practice, MULA Design Studio, using Oxara’s sustainable building materials made from construction waste to create an art installation, which is on show at Dubai Design Week

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Inspired by his childhood growing up in traditional clay-brick and cement houses in Togo in West Africa, inventor and Co-Founder of Oxara, Dr. Gnanli Landrou, has developed a sustainable construction-binder with technology transforms construction-waste into alternative-cement material that is more sustainable than regular cement, potentially helping to lower construction-industry related CO2 emissions by up to 90% compared with the traditional cement-making process.

Dr. Gnanli, 35, unveiled the art installation, STOOT, at Dubai Design Week, taking place from 5-10 November at the Dubai Design District (d3). The installation was created in collaboration with MULA Design Studio, a Dubai-based design practice founded by Emirati architect Abdalla Almulla. The piece has been crafted using Oxara’s eco-friendly materials, with the support of Ready Mix Beton, a regional leader in high-performing concrete-production. STOOT highlights how sustainable construction can be both innovative and aesthetically inspiring, symbolising a new era of more sustainable building in Dubai and around the world.

In 2023, Oxara featured in the annual Dubai-based exhibition of Prototypes for Humanity, a global programme convening and supporting academic talent working on tangible solutions for the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges. Marking the programme’s tenth exhibition later this month, a new milestone partnership between Prototypes for Humanity and the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) – creating Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity – seeks to pave the way and offer research-backed innovations, like Oxara, unrivalled access to industry partnerships and help grow Dubai as a global innovation hub.

Together with Thibault Demoulin, Dr. Gnanli founded Oxara in 2019 after the two became friends and co-workers during their PhDs at ETH Zürich, a top-10-ranked university in the world.

Oxara, which means ‘community’ in a Togolese language, embodies their visionary dream to revolutionise the construction industry by making sustainable construction and affordable housing a reality through groundbreaking material-technology and processing innovation.

While Oxara places a strong emphasis on pioneering materials and innovation, the company's commitment goes further towards finding the most effective applications for these materials and developing the right business models to ensure that this transformative technology reaches and benefits people around the world.

Through his invention, Dr. Gnanli and his colleagues hope to make a valuable contribution towards reducing CO2 emissions by up to 1.2 billion tons per year, reusing up to one billion tons of waste globally and offsetting resource depletion, savings which the technology can potentially generate, all whilst enabling the construction of badly needed but affordable housing.

The patented technology uses mainly construction waste or excavated material, and similar production infrastructure as the regular cement-making process but, crucially, no kiln or furnace. It is also cost competitive with regular cement.

Dr. Gnanli Landrou, Co-Founder of Oxara said, “I am fortunate to be part of a driven and creative team that wants to help make the world a better place, and we believe enabling access to sustainable, safe, comfortable and affordable housing for everyone can help do this. In the year since the last cohort of Prototypes for Humanity, we have secured building contracts and completed projects in Switzerland, Portugal and Cameroon. These are real-life examples of how we can repurpose waste materials, excavated earth and demolition waste without the use of regular cement, to produce low carbon, circular-building materials, and healthier homes. We are thrilled to be unveiling STOOT, a very important step in the validation of our technology in the UAE. Our target is to accelerate decarbonisation in the construction industry globally and we are confident we can achieve major milestones in this respect in Dubai.”

Tadeu Baldani Caravieri, Director of Prototypes for Humanity, an Art Dubai Group initiative, added, “Dr. Gnanli’s journey exemplifies how personal experience can drive innovative solutions for global change. With strategic partnerships like those fostered by Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity, Oxara is demonstrating the real-world impact of sustainable solutions in urban development, affordable housing, and beyond. We believe industry partnerships are essential to enable science-backed solutions to grow faster – and Oxara’s recent journey in Dubai is a testament to that. From the engagement with designers, architects and developers, to the production of the first batch with Ready Mix Benton, we are very pleased to validate the solution’s potential in the region.”  

From 18 to 21 November, and alongside the Dubai Future Forum, professors and students from leading institutions from around the world will come together in Dubai for the 2024 exhibition of the Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity programme. The top 100 projects out of 2,700 global applications from prestigious global universities including, Stanford, MIT and Oxbridge, will be showcased during the 4-day event.

For more information ahead of this year’s Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity, please visit:
Prototypesforhumanity.com | Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn @prototypesforhumanity

For press information please contact
Emma Barber |emma.barber@secnewgate.ae
Ihab Youssef | ihab.youssef@secnewgate.ae

About Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity:

The Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity initiative, established under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), is a global platform that invites innovators, researchers, and visionaries to develop transformative solutions for the benefit of humanity. Overseen by Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, the initiative aims to foster future-driven innovations by supporting prototypes and pilot models that address critical global challenges, while advancing Dubai’s position as a global innovation hub. 

Led by Prototypes for Humanity, an Art Dubai Group initiative and supported by strategic partners, including the Hussain Sajwani – DAMAC Foundation, which has committed AED100 million to this cause, Dubai Culture and the Dubai International Financial Center, Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity connects government entities, the private sector, universities, and creative institutions worldwide to accelerate the growth of pioneering ideas. Through its annual event at the Dubai Future District, the initiative showcases the top 100 innovations, driving community improvement, entrepreneurship, and market expansion. By nurturing talent and turning innovative concepts into reality, the initiative strives to build a better future from Dubai to the world.

About Dubai Design Week

Dubai Design Week is the largest design festival in the region, held in strategic partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), a member of TECOM Group PJSC, managed by the Art Dubai Group, and supported by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority. Taking place annually across d3, Dubai Design Week hosts a diverse programme of installations, new commissions, exhibitions, workshops, talks, and a marketplace.

The festival acts as a platform for designers from across the region to showcase their work to an international audience, promoting responsible and impactful design and encouraging designers to consider the broader implications of their work; from traditional practices and emerging technologies to environmental sustainability and design-led social impact solutions.

The anchor event of Dubai Design Week is Downtown Design, the leading fair for contemporary high-quality design in the Middle East, which has become the annual meeting point for the creative community bringing together established and emerging names from the international design scene to d3’s Waterfront Terrace, featuring the latest collections and innovative solutions by brands and manufacturers from around the world, with a spotlight on rising talent of the region.

About Dubai Design District (d3)

Dubai Design District (d3), a member of TECOM Group PJSC, is a global creative ecosystem dedicated to design, fashion, architecture and art. In line with Dubai’s position as the leading business destination for the region and beyond, d3 is an industry-pioneering concept that enables people and businesses to grow and co-create, whilst simultaneously providing a strong platform for creativity. Strategically located in the heart of Dubai, d3 is one of the city’s lifestyle and business district that challenges thousands of people to rethink the regular.

With state-of-the-art infrastructure designed to meet the needs of the industry and a business-friendly framework, the community offers creative talent the tools for collaboration and growth, further reinforcing Dubai’s status as a UNESCO Creative City of Design.

d3 is a cutting-edge retail district offering a variety of multi-brand boutiques, fashion brands, art galleries and showrooms. In addition, d3 is home to leading companies and talent including architects, interior designers, photography studios, product and fashion designers.

Some of the region’s most popular events take place in d3 and attract international artists and audiences to cultural and fashion exhibitions and gatherings such as Dubai Design Week, Arab Fashion Week and Sole DXB. The district also regularly hosts a roster of industry talks, workshops and educational programming, accessible to people of all ages.

d3 is home to TECOM Group PJSC’s business incubator – in5 – that aims to support the fashion and design industries by offering students and entrepreneurs the opportunity to transform their ideas into successful commercial ventures. This ecosystem is further supported by the Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (DIDI), the region’s only university exclusively dedicated to design and innovation, which offers a curriculum crafted with the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and The New School’s Parsons School of Design.

The district also features the city’s first canal side recreational development, The Block. The open-air destination offers a range of different outdoor and leisure areas including a basketball and volleyball court, a skate park, outdoor gym and climbing wall.

For more information, please visit: www.dubaidesigndistrict.com/