· Updated · Abdulaziz Ayman Aldharrab
What Darb taught me about sound prototyping
A silver-medal proposal for collecting date pits, and what two architects taught me about designing for real use.
In November 2025, I worked with Sawsan Al-Bargi and Haifa Al-Bargi on Darb. We exhibited the proposal at the Saudi Global Inventions and Innovations Expo in Jeddah on 13 November, where it received a silver medal and second place.
The proposal
Darb was a slipper designed around a specific problem at Masjid al-Haram. Date pits can be left across the floor after pilgrims eat dates, creating litter and a painful hazard underfoot.
The proposed sole used grooves intended to catch date pits as a person walked. The slipper itself was proposed to use material made from date pits and to be collected in designated bins for recycling after use. The aim was a closed loop from waste, to product, and back into recovery.
My contribution
Sawsan and Haifa designed the slipper. I proposed using upcycled date pits as its material and 3D-printed the final model. That was the full extent of my contribution to the design.
What I learned
I entered the project with a shallow understanding of architecture. Watching Sawsan and Haifa work corrected it quickly. Curves that initially looked aesthetic to me had reasons behind them. They considered load paths, pressure across the foot, and how the grooves would behave under weight.
The main lesson I carried forward was tolerance. A prototype has to account for the range of ways it will actually be used, not only one ideal case. It also needs enough margin for the variation between those cases.
I later applied that lesson while building AUJ, my university capstone prototype. Every prototype I have worked on since has started with the same question: what variation does the design need to survive?
The team
- Sawsan Hamed Hassan Al-Bargi
- Haifa Hamed Hassan Al-Bargi
- Abdulaziz Ayman Aldharrab
I had underestimated what architects do. Darb corrected that.