→ Material and Land Narratives

On Saturday, February 17, at Al Qasimiyah School, Sharjah Architecture Triennial (SAT) hosts a final public programme for its second edition (SAT02), The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability, which runs until 10 March.

Material & Land Narratives explores the regenerative potential of earthen materials and land narratives with a line-up of activities. These include an introduction by curator Tosin Oshinowo, followed by a panel discussion with Joelle Eyeson and Kwame Deheer (co-founders of Hive Earth), Mahavir Acharya (co-founder of Hunnarshala), Sumaya Dabbagh (founder of Dabbagh Architects) and Felipe Gutierrez (Architect and building conservator at the Department of Tourism and Culture in Abu Dhabi), moderated by Wayne Switzer (Architect and Educator). The programme concludes with a talk by SAT participant DAAR (Decolonizing Architecture Art Research) – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti.

Earlier in the day, Felipe Gutierrez will lead a workshop on Earth Architecture: Material and Building Techniques, and in parallel, SAT02 curator Tosin Oshinowo will lead a walkthrough of the exhibition at Al Qasimiyah School.

Full information on these events and timings is provided below.

Workshop on Earthen Architecture: Material and Building Techniques (11:00 - 13:00)

In this workshop, architect and building conservator, Felipe Gutierrez, leads participants to explore earthen materials used in local traditional building techniques. Participants will learn about earth as a building material and will be able to identify soils that are suitable for construction. The workshop comprises several application techniques of earthen mixtures, allowing participants to construct masonry blocks, formulate natural plasters, and create prototypes of traditional earth wall constructions. This workshop is supported by a team of artisans from the Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi.

Curator-led tour (11:00 - 13:00)

As a part of our final SAT02 public programme, 'Material and Land Narratives', taking place on Saturday, February 17, we are hosting a Curator-led tour of our primary exhibition venue, Al Qasimiyah School, from 11am to 1pm.

Register now to gain exclusive insights into the exhibition as our Curator unveils the inspirations behind each project. Space is limited!

The tour will be followed by a panel discussion and a talk led by a selection of participants and collaborators from this year's edition of SAT.

Introduction by Tosin Oshinowo (14:00 - 14:20)

As this edition of the Triennial, titled “The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability”, evolved, Tosin Oshinowo and her curatorial team categorized the practices represented here into three overlapping curatorial strands: Renewed Contextual, Intangible Bodies, and Extraction Politics. Through her introduction, Oshinowo expands on the ideas behind these strands and contextualize the talks that will follow.

Panel Discussion (14:20 - 15:45)

This panel focuses on the opportunities and challenges of building with local earthen materials using traditional building techniques. It also aims at exploring the social dimension of traditional building practices and their intrinsic relation to the local communities. Panellists also examine the possibilities of implementing such techniques within contemporary architectural practices and assess their renewed potential for social activation.

Joelle Eyeson and Kwame Deheer (co-founders of Hive Earth), Sumaya Dabbagh (Architect at Dabbagh Architects), Mahavir Acharya (co-founder of Hunnarshala), and Felipe Gutierrez (Architect and building conservator at the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi), use earthen materials in their respective practices. They discuss their SAT02 projects within their larger body of work and tackle broader conversations related to community engagement around such construction techniques, and the possibility to revitalize them. The panel will be moderated by Wayne Switzer, an architect and educator working at the intersection of materials and building culture.

This panel ties back to ‘Re-Materialize’, an initiative of Sharjah Architecture Triennial that maps the making of environmentally conscious materials. In parallel, it supports designers who use sustainable and recycled local material in their production while involving the local community they are inscribed in.

Talk by DAAR’s Sandi Hilal & Alessandro Petti: DECOLONIZING ARCHITECTURE (16:00 - 17:30)

DAAR (Decolonizing Architecture Art Research), led by Sandy Hilal and Alessandro Petti, presents their extensive two-decade research-based art and architectural practice in two parts. The first part delves into their recent project, "Concrete Tent ," a space for collective mourning and solidarity with Palestine. DAAR will reflect on the condition of permanent temporariness that permeates not only Palestinian refugee camps but also other precarious living conditions worldwide. 

In the second part, DAAR will present an ongoing collective research programme, the "Afterlives of fascist-colonial architecture," which studies and proposes the reuse of colonial, fascist, and modernist architectures for aims different from what they were designed for. This research programme emerged from the necessity to challenge fascist, colonial, and modernist mythologies still present in public discourses, spaces, and institutions.

In their conclusion, speakers will discuss two recent projects aiming to create spaces for collective inhabitation. The first is ‘Al-Madhafah’, in Arabic, a living room dedicated to hospitality situated between the domestic and public sphere, yet also challenging traditional guest-host dynamics. DAAR will discuss afterwards the decolonial house, to be built in Sicily as an experiment of collective inhabitation and practicing of commoning.

Speaker Biographies

Tosin Oshinowo
Tosin Oshinowo, the curator of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial’s second edition, is a Lagos-based Nigerian architect and designer, and the principal and founder of Oshinowo Studio, established in 2013. She has worked on a number of civic, commercial, and residential projects throughout Nigeria, and she is renowned for her socially responsive approach to architecture, design, and urbanism. Oshinowo’s key designs include a project with the United Nations Development Programme to build an entirely new community in northern Nigeria for a village displaced by Boko Haram, and the Maryland Mall in Lagos. Her work demonstrates a strong interest in architectural history while embodying a contemporary perspective on African design, innovation, and afro-minimalism. She partnered with Lexus on conceptual design exploration for Design Miami/ 2020 and co-curated the second Lagos Biennial in 2019. Oshinowo is a registered architect in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Before founding Oshinowo Studio, she worked in the offices of Skidmore Owings & Merrill in London and the Office of Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam, where she was part of the team that designed the 4th Mainland Bridge proposal in 2008. Upon returning to Lagos, she practised at James Cubitt Architects and led notable projects, including the corporate head office building for Nigeria LNG in Port Harcourt. She has a BA in Architecture from Kingston University London, an MSc in Development and Planning: Building and Urban Design in Development from the University College London, an AA Diploma from the Architecture Association London, and a Master’s in Business for Architecture and Design from IE University Madrid.

Hive Earth: Joelle Eyeson and Kwame Deheer
Hive Earth is a multi-disciplinary space based in Accra, Ghana, founded by Joelle Eyeson and Kwame Deheer in 2017. The studio comprises architects and designers who specialize in using locally sourced and eco-friendly materials for construction, interior decor, art, and design. Drawing from African tradition and using local and natural materials, the studio explores the innovative and sustainable potential of earth. In particular, the studio has conducted extensive research into building multiple structures with rammed earth – a combination of earth, gravel, silt, clay, and lime/cement – as well as agro-waste. Recent projects by the studio include an unstabilised rammed earth library with NGO Archifair and a four-storey office block in Accra with Adjaye Associates.

Sumaya Dabbagh
Sumaya Dabbagh is a Saudi architect and founder of Dabbagh Architects in 2008. Since training and working in the UK and Europe, her contextual designs combine a mix of influences and sensitivities towards both Western and Middle Eastern cultures. She is curious about the impact of tangible, built forms around us, and notions of memory, identity, and belonging within architecture. Recent projects include The Mleiha Archaeological Centre, which has been globally recognised for its new emerging approach to architecture in the region; The Gargash Mosque; and the design of the Al-Ain Museum. Dabbagh was a founder of the RIBA Gulf Chapter, where she served as Chair (2015-2019). She won Principal of the Year at the Middle East Architect Awards and was a finalist at The Tamayouz Award for Women of Outstanding Achievements in 2019. She was also nominated for The Aga Khan Award, and her work has been featured in international publications such as Phaidon’s Breaking Ground, Architecture by Women.

Mahavir Acharya
Mahavir Acharya, an engineer and one of the founders of Hunnarshala Foundation, currently serves as the Managing Director of AINA (Artisan in Architecture). With extensive experience in building technologies, including earth, stone, and bamboo, he collaborates with local master artisans. His expertise extends to post-disaster rehabilitation, addressing earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods. As an active member of the Community Architect Network and the Asian Coalition of Housing Rights networks in Bangkok, Mr. Acharya closely collaborates with communities. He conducts training workshops for artisans, homeowners, professionals, and government officials. Previously, he contributed to post-earthquake rebuilding efforts in Nepal and is currently involved with the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board, designing community-built homestays in tribal villages. Acharya's work also focuses on green building materials and technologies, including shallow masonry domes, stabilized adobe, and rammed earth with lime and GGBS (Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag).

Felipe Gutierrez
A Colombian Architect currently working as a senior specialist for the conservation of earthen heritage buildings and archaeological sites at the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi (UAE). He holds a master’s degree in Earthen Architecture from CRAterre-ENSAG in France. Through his practice, he strives for high-quality sustainable solutions for the management and conservation of built cultural heritage, highlighting historical values, constructive cultures and helping to preserve local traditions on World Heritage sites.

Wayne Switzer
Wayne Switzer is an architect and educator working at the intersection of construction, academia, and material culture. His research and teaching focuses on contemporary earthen construction as a central element to promoting a “circular” building culture in the Middle East region. Since January 2024, he oversees the Material Archive at the Stiftung Sitterwerk in Switzerland. As a professor in Architecture at the German University of Technology in Oman, Wayne established the EBI platform (Earthen Building Initiative), organizing the first ever Symposium in the Sultanate on this topic. He has been invited as a guest critic or lecturer at various institutions, including: EPF Lausanne and the ETH Zürich.After completing his architectural studies at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, USA in 2007, he worked for offices in Vienna, Austria and in New York City. Recent publications include a contribution to “Thinking-Making: When Architects engage in Construction” (2021). In addition, he maintains an architectural practice: Atelier Switzer.

DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti
The artistic research practice of DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti – is situated between architecture, art, pedagogy, and politics. Over the last two decades, they have developed a series of research projects that are both theoretically ambitious and practically engaged in the struggle for justice and equality. In their artistic research practice, art exhibitions are both sites of display and sites of action that spill over into other contexts: built architectural structures, the shaping of critical learning environments, interventions that challenge dominant collective narratives, the production of new political imaginations, the formation of civic spaces and the re-definition of concepts. DAAR has participated in multiple editions of the Venice Biennale (2003-2021), the Berlin Biennale (2022), the Istanbul Biennial (2009), the São Paulo Biennial (2014) and the Marrakesh Biennial (2016), among others. Recent major retrospective exhibitions have taken place at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven (2019), Mosaic Room in London (2022), and La Loge in Brussels (2023). Their artistic practice has been awarded The Keith Haring Fellowship in Art and Activism at Bard College and The Golden Lion for Best Participation at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, for their long-standing commitment to deep political engagement with architectural and learning practices of decolonization in Palestine and Europe.