Architecture of Culture

During the Salone Internazionale del Mobile week in Milan (18 - 23 April 2023), Irthi Contemporary Craftsats Council—the Sharjah-based organization which focuses on the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage and local craftsmanship in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—presents the exhibition Architecture of Culture: a project which explores the subject of craft preservation from a macroscale, looking at it in relation to local materials, local architecture, and local environments to study its everchanging role and impact on the Emirati community’s sustainability and to revitalize its role in today’s economy and environment.

This experimental research was curated by Irthi for its Design Labs II initiative, in which the first year focused on a research fellowship with the American University of Sharjah’s College of Architecture, Art and Design:
● Research assistants delved into a series of urban mappings of various environments in the UAE, creating innovative recipes for construction that became in themselves a contemporary format of “craft”.
● The result of this fellowship is a growing material library of recipes that redefines, reinterprets and reimagines the future of vernacular materials and crafts of the UAE to be carried forward and explored by artisans, makers, designers, and architects on a macro scale.
● Aimed to revitalize craft preservation's role in the Emirati community's sustainability.
● Invited architects, urbanists, curators, researchers, artists, educators, geographers, biologists, chemists, and craft specialists across MENASEA to contribute.
● Concept of environment mapping was developed into four main subtopics: Palm Oasis, Desertscape, Waterscape, and Mountainscape.

The exhibition was made possible by the Patrons: H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and H.H. Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah.

Irthi is an affiliate of NAMA Women Advancement Establishment (NAMA) and operates under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah and Chairperson of NAMA.

Check out the exhibition Echoes of Alchemy at Fuorisalone | 5VIE DESIGN WEEK 2023 Milan

Architecture of Culture is a project which explores the subject of craft preservation from a macroscale, looking at it in relation to local materials, local architecture, and local environments to study its everchanging role and impact on the Emirati community’s sustainability and to revitalize its role in today’s economy and environment.

Architects, designers, urbanists, curators, researchers, artists, geologists, biologists, chemists, and craft specialists across the MENASEA, have been invited to contribute to this publication. Crafting connections and empowering women from its base in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council operates a pioneering Council of creative, cultural and commercial initiatives designed to empower women through craft. Spanning the Middle East, North Africa and South-East and Central Asia, Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council’s activities centre on the preservation and promotion of indigenous craft heritage, the engagement of young generations and the development of new international market opportunities.

Due to the cultural and sustainable significance of looking inwards and returning to the vernacular, Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council set out to curate an experimental research on the Architecture of Culture by delving into the context of UAE’s cultural heritage, for its Design Labs II initiative: in which the first year focused on a research fellowship with the American University of Sharjah’s College of Architecture, Art and Design.