Latest news with #VeniceBiennaleofArchitecture
The National
07-05-2025
- General
- The National
Majlis and the Manameh installation showcases Gulf architecture at Venice biennale
A familiar structure from the Gulf will be on display at the prestigious Venice Biennale of Architecture, demonstrating how a gathering space can be built and adapted amid rising global temperatures. An elevated structure designed to promote airflow and to keep heat trapped within the ground, manameh are often found in the mountains and along the coast of the UAE. The name hints at its function, translating from Arabic as 'a place to rest and sleep'. Traditionally, the manameh uses sustainable forms of construction. Its simplicity allows for modifications to further promote its passive cooling, as well as design changes to accommodate various purposes. These qualities will be highlighted in Majlis and the Manameh, an installation on show at the 2025 biennale. The work was curated by Emirati architects and urban researchers Ahmed and Rashid bin Shabib, with the support of Expo City Dubai. It comprises three interconnected manameh structures, which will be presented at the Giardini, the heart of the biennale. As its name suggests, the work also weaves in the idea of the majlis as a thoughtful, intentional gathering. The Bin Shabib brothers were invited to present their project by the Carlo Ratti, curator of this year's biennale. The installation marks their return to the event after they had participated with the National Pavilion UAE in 2021, penning the exhibition's accompanying publication The Anatomy of Sabkhas. 'Ahmed and Rashid's returned participation to the Biennale of Architecture sheds light on their region's vernacular and offers forms of revival through the concept of the majlis,' Ratti tells The National. The brothers are known for being the founders of Brownbook, which examines cities around the world while highlighting points of cultural intersection. However, they have long worked on coaxing concepts of sustainability from vernacular architectural practices. In 2015, during the Milan Expo, the brothers created an exhibition for the National Pavilion UAE that looked at how dates, the palm tree and the falaj system produced a social and environmental ecosystem. They also highlighted the falaj and majlis concepts in an exhibition at Tokyo's Atelier Muji Ginza in November. They similarly highlighted the role of the manameh as a communal space in a 2023 presentation at Louvre Abu Dhabi. The project was a collaboration with Cartier. It featured three manameh structures, each conceived with a specific purpose. One housed a majlis, another was designed as a library, while the third featured a recessed seating area as well as a video component. The idea, Ahmed bin Shabib notes, initially came from their grandmother. She would often recall how people would gather at manamehs during summer, saying it was as much a majlis as it was a respite from the hot climate. 'Our grandmother Mama Moza al Dowais was the first person who told us about the manameh,' Bin Shabib says. 'She told us that during the summer, they would wet fabric, place palm fronds to endure the summers of old Shindagha [neighbourhood in Dubai]. They would soak sails to make shade and make a wind tower. But for them it was also was communal, a summer majlis where they would speak and made friends.' Majlis and the Manameh builds upon that idea, reimagining the structure in a contemporary setting and with a touch of colour. Similar to the presentation at Louvre Abu Dhabi, the installation in Venice will feature three manamehs. They will also feature shades and fabric walls, which, when wetted, will cool the breeze ventilating the space. 'If we wrap this structure with fabric, and you're able to cool it, you're producing what effectively is a building as an air conditioner,' Bin Shabib says. Speaking about the colourful fabrics adorning the top portion of the installation, he adds: 'We wanted to use colour patterns that would both be playful and draw on the regions visual typology. Along with the geometric structure of the manamehs both elements combined continue a historic visual narrative, in a contemporary sense.' While the structures are built upon the basis of passive cooling, Bin Shabib says that as technologies develop, the potential and function of the manameh will grow. 'You can now roll solar panels like cloths,' he says. 'Imagine wrapping a structure like a manameh with a similar fabrics, effectively creating a solar-powered tent.' Bin Shabib says he hopes the presentation in Venice will spark new ideas of how to take the manameh and reimagine it in different global contexts. 'The universality of this typology is that it can be applied to any circumstance,' he says. 'Climate is changing and adaptation measures are critical, maybe this structure can respond to these conditions.' 'The manameh can be assembled out of scaffolding and tarp from a construction site. You can have a user manual in a pdf and construct a manameh anywhere. It's not a static concept. It can be a bus stop, a social gathering space, a house. It could be applied to a building.' Majlis and the Manameh echoes the mission of Expo City Dubai to share local stories on a global platform, says Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and chief executive of Expo City Dubai. 'Continuing the legacy of Expo 2020, Expo City Dubai serves as a vibrant platform for ideas and culture,' she says. 'It champions initiatives such as Majlis and the Manameh that ensure the city's vision and stories are shared with the world.' Amna Abulhoul, executive creative director of Expo City Dubai and member of the Majlis and the Manameh team, adds that the project also underscores the city's ethos of merging innovation with tradition. 'In the heart of Dubai, we learnt that innovation and tradition are not opposites they are threads of the same tapestry,' she says. 'The manameh pavilion is a tribute to the wisdom of our ancestors to the elevated platforms where dreams floated with the desert breeze, wrapped in the vibrant colours of Sadu weaving. Expo City Dubai proudly carries this legacy to Venice, reminding the world that sustainability and soul have always been at the heart of Emirati living. Through the manameh pavilion, we reimagine ancient solutions for the cities of tomorrow. Cooling through wind and shade, beauty through craft, this is the art of living with nature, not against it.'
Arab News
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Spotlight on Saudi architecture at Venice Biennale panel
RIYADH: A discussion on Saudi architecture will be held on the sidelines of the Venice Biennale of Architecture on May 7. Diriyah Art Futures, or DAF, announced their collaboration with Italian architecture firm Schiattarella Associati to host a panel in Venice, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday. The panel, titled 'A New Era for Art in Saudi Arabia: Building Future Institutions and Pioneering Architectures,' will discuss the role of contemporary design and digital innovation in Saudi architecture. Speaking at the panel will be Mona Khazindar, adviser to Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture; Haytham Nawar, director of Diriyah Art Futures; and Andrea and Amadeo Schiattarella, principal architects of Schiattarella Associati. The session will be moderated by acclaimed architect and art critic James Steele. The panel talk is part of 'Building of the Future,' an initiative highlighting leading global architectural projects that redefine contemporary design. The panel will be held in the Querini Stampalia Foundation, one of Venice's most prestigious cultural institutions. The event will bring together architects, cultural leaders, artists and media to engage in a dialogue about Saudi Arabia's evolving role in the international creative and architectural landscape. The foundation will also host an accompanying exhibition curated by Schiattarella Associati displaying models, sketches, videos, drawings, photographs and objects, inspired by the rocky escarpment of Diriyah's landscape. The exhibition, from May 7 to June 15, will showcase the Saudi Museums Commission's contributions to Riyadh's cultural development as part of Vision 2030. Developed by the Saudi Museums Commission in partnership with Diriyah Co., DAF contributes to the global new media and digital art landscape by integrating regional voices and pioneering practices in art, technology and innovation.
The National
28-04-2025
- Politics
- The National
Lebanon Pavilion at Venice Biennale highlights environmental damage of Israeli invasion
For decades, Lebanon's captivating natural environment – from its verdant forests, lush mountain valleys and sandy beaches – has been collateral damage due to war, political instability and unregulated urbanisation. The recent invasion and heavy shelling by Israel has resulted in more urban and environmental destruction. At this year's Venice Biennale of Architecture, which runs from May 10 to November 23, the National Pavilion of Lebanon hopes to rethink the approach to architecture and rebuilding, by making the healing of the land – deeply rooted in Lebanon's identity, livelihood, history and well-being – an essential part of the recovery. To be created by Collective for Architecture Lebanon (CAL), co-curated by Edouard Souhaid, Shereen Doummar, Elias Tamer and Lynn Chamoun, The Land Remembers at Arsenale responds to the biennale's overarching theme Intelligens: Natural, Collective, Artificial by Carlo Ratti. In this instance, it's about tapping into the intelligence of the land, which is able to regenerate overtime, and the ancient methods used by the land's custodians. 'Architects need to take a more active role in environmental preservation and post-conflict regeneration, so the pavilion addresses ecocide as an urgent crisis, and it's not merely an exhibition,' Doummar tells The National. 'It's going to be a call for action, confronting the visitors with the reality of ecocide and inviting them to participate in reshaping the future of that environment, through petitions for policy changes. 'As architects, the instinct would be to rebuild right straight away after a conflict, but before we can seek to rebuild, we need to go beyond that, and we need to prioritise the healing of the natural environment first. 'There's the poisoning of the land via the contamination of soil and water, from heavy metals in the missiles and white phosphorus debris. 'There's all the debris from the destruction of the urban environment, which affects the natural environment, and the deliberate destruction of agricultural fields and olive groves. 'We're not negating that the urban environment was destroyed either, but we're looking at the intersection between that and the natural environment, which led to the displacement of entire communities. 'When you destroy somebody's agricultural land, you destroy their livelihood. You're purposely destroying their reason to return. It's easy to rebuild a house. It's harder to heal a land that has been poisoned.' The pavilion assembles documentation of the destruction, exploration of centuries-old agricultural techniques, extensive mapping and potential strategies for land recovery, from a host of researchers, architects and cultural practitioners. Assembled as a fictional ministry of activism, striving to enact change and encourage architects to take a more political and social role, the pavilion will be split into four 'departments.' The first will showcase reports and evidence of intentional destruction, from images and video to sound mapping, and the second is dedicated to charting the changes to the environment through mapping. The third department will focus on endemic species, preservation work and biodiversity conservation, looking at initiatives that are safeguarding the DNA of the land. The final department will look at strategies to address the problems and alternative solutions for land rehabilitation, such as biomimicry, reforestation and bioremediation – low-tech methods, some of which have been practised locally for generations, passed down through families. At the centre of the pavilion, the team will build a structure from compacted soil bricks with wheat seeds embedded. Over the course of the six months the bricks will sprout, symbolising nature's ability to regenerate and hope for the future. 'We chose wheat to anchor the historical significance of Lebanon's natural environment,' Doummar says. 'One of the reasons why the natural environment has been targeted so deliberately is to erase that historical significance and relationship with the land. 'Many don't know, but Lebanon is actually the birthplace of the DNA of wheat. Any type of wheat you see today is a variant of the first grains to have been domesticated for reproduction in the Bekaa Valley 10,000 years ago. 'The most consumed food in the world today, contains DNA that comes from Lebanon. It felt right to have this be the symbol of Lebanon's special relationship with its environment, which has thrived for so many millennia, and that is in recent times being so deliberately targeted. 'It's a very tactile space. We also have sound elements that are like a mix of the sound of the drones that were flying over Lebanon and the buzzing of the bees, which uncannily sound quite similar, but one represents the destruction, and the other represents the healing of nature.' A publication is also being produced alongside the exhibition, collecting the research and strategies explored during the forming of the pavilion, to act as an archive that will be built on through a website, long after the end of the biennale. 'The natural environment holds not only the memory of the land to regenerate, but vital resources that we as architects need to safeguard,' Doummar adds. 'And in order to do that, we need to redefine our relationship with the land. We just need to help it to preserve itself and remember how to heal.' Venice Biennale of Architecture 2025 runs from May 10 to November 23
