20-28 Sep
Material testimonies
Intervention IIII

  The physical process of collecting can become a site of encounter. For our fourth urban intervention, we performed an architectural analysis on a decaying mud house situated in the Alfutah neighborhood adjacent to the lab. This documentation and extraction will then serve as a critical addition to the archive, highlighting the complexities of such sites.





























2-13 Sep
Surveying Najdi typologies
Major urban intervention

    The continuity and morphology of these buildings in our recent times cite the collective memory of space, resulting in various physical and intangible narratives.

Typologies chosen:
Hotat Khaled school
Riyadh wall remenent
Alsabhan house









































29-31 Aug
The conservatory
Major urban intervention 

    The tactile extension of the mudhouse expresses the movement of displacement of Najdi adobe architecture, and memorializes a cultural and personal attachment to place.

    The intervention consists of a fabric cladded membrane that shelters the adobe structure and its existing condition. The installation falls short under the prerequisite for a formal restoration, and therefore does not touch the existing structure.








































10-22 July 
Um slaim Lab
Interviews 

We put together a few interviews to better understand the context through stories and histories. Included: Mohammed Alhoti
Faris Alosami
Abdulrahman Gazzaz
































8 July
Alfutah
Anchoring down

Conducting walks around the lab















































1 July 
  AlMurabaa/Futah
Fallen structures

Intervention II: “Don’t let it fall” poster



































13 - 28 June
  AlMurabaa/Futah
Research Lab

Physical restoration/renovation of space
Intervention includes:
Condidtion assessment
Removal of broken tiles
Sanding walls
Bathroom gut
Cleaning











































9 June 
  AlMurabaa/Futah
Research Lab





































1 June 
   Central Riyadh (Siyah)
Body(s) in situation

Following the failed applications to obtain a restoration permit for one of the deteriorating mudhouses in old riyadh, we attempted to further understand the process for aquiring these permits and the effect of the area’s proposed redevelopment on these neglected structures.

This proformative intervention explores a site that falls on the main highway south of central Riyadh. The vacant mudhouse is sinking slowly into the empty plot, which is used by truck drivers to park their large vehicles.




































12 May
  Um Slaim
Persuiting a site

The exploration aims towards a building intervention around the Um Slaim area. The available vacant buildings/plots are largely effected by the fluctuiations of the realestate market in central Riyadh. With the announcement of re-development plans in nieghboring areas, new challanges are rising in keeping heritage buildings intact.



























































5 April
  Um Slaim
Brick making

The poems are casted with earthen bricks that are made to reconstruct parts of a mud-house. The poems written in response to the site touch on both the physical and intangible spatial narratives of the place. It is a collaborative project that looks into the politics and displacement of earth as a material, as well as the implications of language in altering our perceptions of sites and memories.




































15 March
 Al Narjis
Imprints + Casts

























20 Jan
 Um Slaim
Activating the Archive

12 Jan
 Um Slaim
too many layers

Materiality/ 
The physical process of restoration on the site can become the conceptual outcome. This documentation and proposal will then serve as critical practice to highlight the complexities of the restoration process, as well as providing an alternative development process of the site while looking into reconstructing both the narrative & material of the site.

    1 Jan
 Al Najris
Site of Interest II

Al Narjis is one of the newer neighborhoods in Riyadh and is situated in the northern part of the city. The growing district is undergoing a development project that neglects its desert landscape by bulldozing topography.

    28 Dec
Um slaim
Site of Interest I

Um Slaim is one of the older neighborhoods in Riyadh and is situated on the western part of the city. Its name derives from the Acacia ehrenbergiana tree commonly known as salm, سلم , It’s a tall prickly tree known to have grown in the area a long time ago.







































The journey starts     26 Dec
Riyadh
Public discussion:
The roundtable


The session was a pilot for a series of public engagement exercises that will be carried out throughout this year. The panelists and attendees weighed in on different topics around the architectural and urban development of the city of Riyadh while sharing personal narratives of past and present experiences.
         Key members:
Dr. Saleh Alhathloul, architecture professor KSU, critic, researcher

Dr. Abdullah Almuneef, dean of College of Tourism and Heritage KSU

Ali Alshuaibi, founder of Beeah architects & urban designers.

Dr. Fahad Alsaeed, former dean of the school of architecture KFUPM