The nano man

Claude Berube
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After spending eight years enhancing the UAE’s built environments, Claude Berube has moved to Malaysia to concentrate on his other passion: nanotechnology. CID finds out more.

A regular fixture on the region’s interior design scene, Claude Bérubé’s UAE experience began eight years ago, with a teaching position at the American University of Sharjah’s interior design department. Bérubé then spent time with the interior design department at Ajman University, before heading up the interior design division of the State of Sharjah Directorate of Public Works.

All the while, he was pursuing a separate, if not unrelated passion: nanotechnology. A good number of years ago, Bérubé became convinced that nanotechnology could be a key contributor in the creation of a more sustainable society. He subsequently established the Malaysia-headquartered Nano Solutions Corp, to develop and commercialise nano-structure materials for the architectural, construction, fashion and design fields.

Marking a brand new chapter in a career that has spanned the globe, Bérubé left the UAE at the beginning of the year to take up permanent residence in Malaysia, and focus on his nanotechnology work. CID caught up with him before he left.

Why did you decide to become an interior architect?

My father wanted me to become an archeologist. He was an electronic engineer, but was more interested in archeology, antiques, numismatics and philately. Thus, I grew up surrounded by artifacts, and developed a strong interest in our interior surroundings.

That became a real love for making the interior environment reflect one’s individuality. Creating furniture was a way to express my contemporary culture – just as those who had designed the artifacts I had around me.

I studied product and interior design in Montreal, Quebec and in Birmingham, England, where I received my Masters degree. I returned to Montreal and after two years opened my own office, which by 1980 had become a major player in the design scene in Canada.

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FEATURED COMMENT Ahmad and Steve...you can email me at: claude@berube.com for questions.   3 Comments Read more comments »

Nearly nine years ago, I was invited by the dean of the American University of Sharjah to give a talk on ‘New Ways of Working in the Electronic Communication Driven Office’. I then returned to Denmark where I was living at the time. One month later, the dean sent me an offer to teach. I accepted the offer and moved to the UAE.

The interior design department was small and the American University of Sharjah (AUS) did not seem to be interested in improving the status of the course; some ‘architects’ proposed at the time to eliminate or downsize the already small attendance of this course. After three years at AUS, I wanted to return to practice, but was then invited to become the co-ordinator of the interior design department at Ajman University.

With an impressive 300 interior design students, Ajman had the largest interior design department in the UAE. I accepted to do it for two years with the firm intention of going back into practice afterwards. After this, a student of mine at AUS, Sheikh Khaled Al Qassimi, the director general of the State of Sharjah Directorate of Public Works, offered me the opportunity to create an interior design division and gave me direction of this division. I was given total freedom and I implemented design policies regarding the interiors of buildings. This included museums, exhibition centres, hotels, child development centres, university projects, theatres, government buildings and offices.

I spent two years with the Directorate of Public Works and during that period, my nanotechnology solutions provider company in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, became very busy and required me to be there on a permanent basis. So, from the beginning of January 2010 I have been living in Malaysia, but still travelling around the world.

How did you first become involved with nanotechnology?

Several years ago, I came to the conclusion that interventions by interior and industrial designers, as well as architects, were highly important in ensuring the balance between our material culture and a more sustainable society. Unfortunately, that came with a cost that several clients were just not
ready to assume.

Just have a look at the Copenhagen Conference on Climate held in December and you can see the concerns of countries wanting to balance infinite human needs based on continual unsustainable economic growth, with the social equity our environment requires.

It became evident to me that economic concerns were not going to fade out and be replaced by a sudden desire to become unconditionally sustainable. The fact remains that the ‘deciders’ will not subscribe to a solution that places them in an economically weak position.

I believe that the designer’s ethical concerns contribute to the authenticity and elevation of our profession, and therefore decided to investigate other avenues. I have been fascinated for nearly ten years by nanotechnology.

Elevating the profession is not a goal in itself but a process of inner growth in which working toward a sustainable environment can play an important part. Our profession has changed in recent years and, just as we change ourselves, the world around us also changes.

I believe that nanotechnology will lead to dramatic changes in the use of natural resources, water and energy production, and distribution. Waste and pollution will be minimised and therefore a major impact on a sustainable environment can be expected.

Nanotechnology offers major potential benefits in numerous fields, and holds the promise of contributing significantly to sustainability, based on enhanced properties with decreased use of materials, energy and reduced waste. Nanotechnology forces us to review over a century of industrialisation but also requires us to reconsider irreversibly our cross-disciplinary approaches and perhaps brings up the need for integrating a more scientific approach in the design-development-construction process.