Living Mosaic was one of the several startups supported through the Heart of Amman Programme (HoA), which is a flagship programmee implemented by UNDP in partnership with the Government of Japan and Greater Amman Municipality (GAM).

Living Mosaic is an architectural firm specialized in designing innovative and sustainable spaces. Like how a mosaic is composed of juxtaposed pieces, Living Mosaic focuses on five core services: Living Home, Living Garden, Living Commercial Space, Living Office, and Living Roof. Through architecture, it aims to offer the world an impactful change: to redefine the way people interact with spaces throughout their five mosaics' lenses.  

The Living Roof was born after their successful implementation of a project under the previous phase of the UNDP’s HoA Programme. The Living Mosaic team proposed to renovate a rooftop of the Roman Hub Hotel, one of the oldest hotels located opposite to the Roman Amphitheater and Odeon. The project was intended to provide a gathering space for the community, connect diverse people, and serve as an innovative, sustainable, and multipurpose space. Since the renovation, the Living Roof has hosted several events that gathered the participants of the HoA program. 

The initial success taught them how to build meaningful relationships with others and create more sustainable impacts by using adequate resources while producing minimal waste. They managed to double the project's scope areas while maintaining the same budget and using the same resources. This mode of practice has become their philosophy for future operation.

The Living Mosaic was initially founded to address the shortage of safe, open, and green spaces and playgrounds for kids in Jordan. The renovation of the Roman Hub Hotel rooftop was based on this goal. From serving only kids, they moved on to include more beneficiaries. The startup now takes on more local challenges. Renovating spaces with diverse programmes, the Living Mosaic team continues to provide people with various spaces that all stimulate comfort and happiness. 

Living Mosaic is a team of 7 youths in their mid-20s, and they remain faithful to their approach in order to design and provide principles for service. They strive to have people, mentally and physically, "live" through every space delivered by them. The team always designs and tries to bring innovation to cater to occupants’ comfort and productivity. The young startup seeks to elevate communities, engage with youth, build sustainable partnerships, and promote healthy living through innovative architectural design.

“We advocate for capturing the happiness of people through the designs we create, in the hope that these spaces imbue the user with a sense of comfort, creativity, and productivity,” Abdel Haleem shares.

They are grateful for having learned how to work closely with local communities and local businesses. Getting a chance to understand the beneficiaries’ needs has helped make Living Mosaic’s social impact model more scalable.

The Government of Japan and UNDP's support during the Heart of Amman programme empowered them to create their very first prototype, the "Living Roof." They could test the community's acceptance, behavior, and engagement with open space. UNDP has also supported Living Mosaic to register as a startup and officially kick off operations. 

“We are proud to not only have further developed our architectural design skills through UNDP Heart of Amman Programme but also to have taken our project management skills to another level. We managed to exceed the expectations by using limited resources to renovate large spaces, and that made our donors bubbling with enthusiasm,” Abdel Haleem recalls.

A lesson valued by the Living Mosaic team was about how to create real and direct impact while implementing any project. They believe that all social impact projects should be based on the needs and challenges of the targeted community. They have realized that problem-solving skills should dovetail nicely with the opportunity given in any community challenge.

“Design thinking requires us to put our ego aside and seek to meet the underserved needs of individuals and communities surrounding us. This is the value we should keep in mind at work. This methodology is for creating a culture that blends the rationality and emotion”, Abu Taleb mentions.

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