Noura al Saud

Founder at Rukun Creative Space 

My experience and deep interests:

• Culture

• Design

I was referred to THNK by Deena al Saud.

Creative, artistic and an avid problem solver, I’ve always had a passion for puzzles.  Finding order in the chaos is one of my greatest pleasures. My artistic background with OCD tendencies has pushed me to pursue a career in design where form and structure are as equally important as creativity and innovation.

After completing my masters in Contemporary Furniture from Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London, I started my own business. Rukun is a creative space encouraging all forms of creative thinking that can be translated into usable products.  Through my work, I aim to make pieces that bring the traditional design back to life in new and innovative ways. I like to look back and be inspired by my society''s rich cultural history in every piece I create. I look into the origin of things, whether iconic or every day and then explore how I can transform them into things that fit our world today.  In this way, every piece tells a story or has a message to convey spanning generations, while retaining key threads of cultural identity.

Growing up in Saudi Arabia, combined with insights from studies abroad in Spain and the UK has given me a broad perspective that enables me to view things from many facets. In the past year, the issue of waste has become a very important aspect in my life, personally and professionally.  Waste offers many challenges but it is also a greatly untapped resource offering many opportunities for innovation and creativity if we are open to it. I increasingly find myself energized by the challenge of how to effectively inspire people to change even small aspects of their lives in ways that will help to reduce waste.  I want to explore new ways of having a tangible impact in this field, armed with effective problem-solving tools to effect positive change through innovation.