More than 200 nationalities are living in the UAE, from all over the world.

How many languages are we exposed to in the UAE?

How many accents, cultures, colors, smells and forms?

These are some of the things that fascinate me about the UAE.

Sound Steps is an art and design investigative project that focuses on the intersections and overlaps between the languages of the diverse ex-patriot communities who live within the UAE. My objective is to record and study the sound waves of a group of words spoken in different languages by expats living in Abu Dhabi. I will then analyze and study the sound waves generated by special audio software. These studies will be used as the basis for a physical construction of a public space/urban product/public installation.

The combination of design, a HI-TEC design process, and the sound waves of the recordings by the diverse expat communities will create a unique art and design piece where each of the diverse contributions can be easily identified and each can FIND its own space. My mapping of the most spoken languages in Abu Dhabi is an attempt to FIND an intersection between the different communities; I want to create an undivided design that works as a unifying social unit.

Sound Steps will be a clear intersection between design, art and the multinational diversity in the UAE. It will give me the opportunity to be introduced to the diverse and rich expat communities living and working in the UAE, not from a visitor’s point of view, but through an artistic and a cultural research-based investigation. In addition, it will give me the liberty to express the final message through an open format investigating sound waves and potential physical presentation.

Inspired by the rich international cultural map in Abu Dhabi, Sound Steps aims to create a dialogue between the people and the city through the expression of shared values and dreams. This experimentation project will add a new layer to the social, cultural and human levels of integration, phases and process.