The UAE pavilion at the architectural exhibition of the Venice Biennale examines various qualities of arid climates

Aridly Abundant, as the UAE pavilion is called this year at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, is a welcoming space built with natural materials in the middle of the medieval Arsenale, Venice’s former navy yard. Here, the Republic of Venice launched the ships that patrolled her maritime empire. And here today, much of the Venice Biennale always takes place.

The curator of Aridly Abundant is Faysal Tabbarah, an architect born in Aleppo who serves as Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Architecture at the American University of Sharjah. Tabbarah co-founded Sharjah-based experimental architecture and design studio Architecture + Other Things (A+OT).

The UAE pavilion perfectly responds to the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale’s central theme — the Laboratory of the Future, directed by Lesley Lokko, a Ghanaian-Scottish architect, academic, lecturer, novelist and the first African woman to head the Biennale. This year’s edition, which runs through November 26, pays extraordinary attention to climate change and the promotion of a more sustainable model for design.

Aridly Abundant comprises a series of immersive installations and a body of research. “It transformed the National Pavilion of UAE into an environment that exhibits spatial, material and tactical qualities of arid climates, creating a backdrop for architectural provocations suited for future global dry contexts,” Tabbarah tells wknd.

Architect Tabbarah’s research delves deep into the arid landscapes of the UAE and their relationship to architecture. It inspires conversations and helps develop tools to create a more sustainable future. It also aims to change the perceived character of spaces improperly seen as being depleted of resources. It shows how the ecosystem is, in reality, rich.

Somehow, the Venice show symbolises the mysteries of the desert’s concretions, that mastery of nature and its beauty. In a conversation with Khaleej Times, Tabbarah spoke at length about the ideas that informed these artworks. Edited excerpts from an interview.

What is the aim of the exhibition?

The exhibition asks what architectural conditions can become possible if we reimagine arid landscapes as spaces of abundance. Specifically, the exhibition examines how arid environments can be spaces of abundance by exploring architectural possibilities within arid landscapes in the UAE’s desert plateau, wadis and coastal plains within the Al Hajar Mountain range and its environments. The exhibition focuses on integrating land-based practices in architecture with contemporary technology, and explores how we can share these practices with other countries facing similar impacts of climate change.

Could you explain the architectural provocations proposed in the exhibition? And how can the UAE pair traditional architectural practices with contemporary technology?

I wanted to bring the UAE’s land-based knowledge to the forefront, something that has been overlooked in the past, and in doing so, provoke construction tactics that would put the least amount of strain on our natural resources.

Given the versatility of the techniques in Aridly Abundant, we have opted to focus on harnessing the benefits of 3D scanning and 3D printing. We used 3D scanning in the exhibition to scan stone fragments sourced locally from Veneto, here in Italy, as we looked to utilise materials available locally that would otherwise have been discarded. Reusing materials also decreases energy consumption, helping relieve the strain on natural resources. The discarded stone fragments we used were originally destined to be ground to a powder to be employed for other purposes. Still, by intervening, we proposed ways to repurpose them for architectural use.

By translating the tactics we learned from the UAE’s arid landscapes in Italy, we showed how they can be of use to other places around the world that face the threat of aridity and desertification, such as southern European regions, including Italy, Spain, and Greece.

As you highlight, a planetary desertification process involves unexpected countries like Italy. In some Italian regions, rivers turned into hiking trails, and rocky canyons famous for rafting transformed into climbing walls. We see barren landscapes instead of large fishing lakes. Do Westerners need to prepare to change their way of life?

The research presented in Aridly Abundant benefits all regions that face the risk of aridity to help them adapt to the inevitable terrain change. As such, this research aims to prove the adaptability of the methods proposed in the exhibition. Using materials sourced from the region and creating the exhibition elements on the ground in Venice help demonstrate the feasibility of the research and how we can apply it to various environments. It shows that integrating land-based practices with technology can be a long-term and sustainable method to respond to climate change from within the construction industry.

What specific land-based practices does the exhibition aim to bring back and share with the world?

By reimagining arid environments as abundant sources of knowledge and material, we can discover the potential of stone construction as an adaptable and sustainable form of architecture for countries affected by climate change.

There have always been thriving ecosystems in the UAE supported by land-based practices developed by inhabitants who understood and cherished the particularities of the land. These practices have successfully supported life in water-scarce environments, slowing land degradation. The exhibition shows how these practices or tactics are sustainable in terms of conception and materials used and, in the long run, as they work with the specific environment, protecting the local ecosystem. We identified 10 building tactics. When integrated, they can provoke future architectural conditions suitable for emerging aridity. These include tactics of dry-stone stacking, channeling water, and sheltering plants and people using textiles.

You are also the co-author of the related publication In Plain Sight: Scenes from Aridly Abundant Landscapes. The book is illustrated and carries the result of your research. Is it partly a travelogue and somewhat an art book featuring poetry?

The publication is in good travelogue style. With voyages across time, space and ideas, the book recasts the genre of travel and expedition literature, which has historically portrayed arid environments in a homogeneous manner as spaces devoid of life. In doing so, we attempted to use the same literary genre to add nuance to narratives around aridity. The contributors challenge this narrative by introducing nuance and concepts of abundance to construct multiple lenses to view the multitudes within aridity. In addition to research by the curatorial team, the publication also includes photographs, scientific essays, travel stories, fiction, and poetry, contributed by academics, architects, artists, geographers, and researchers based in the region. Rand Abduljabbar, an Iraqi artist, pens the poetry section in the publication. We also have short stories by Deepak Unnikrishnan and Mohamed Mahmoud Elnagar.

wknd@khaleejtimes.com