The Um Slaim School: An Architecture of Connection
Overview
Official catalog of the National Pavilion of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the 19th Venice biennale of Architecture.
The Um Slaim School: An Architecture of Connection forms part of a propositional pedagogy for contemporary urbanism in Riyadh, expanding on the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia at the Biennale Architettura 2025, and the work of Riyadh-based practice Syn Architects (Sara Alissa and Nojoud Alsudairi).
Contributing to a localized spatial discourse relevant to Saudi Arabia and the broader region, bilingual spatial terminologies are illustrated through multi-disciplinary projects and interventions from Syn Architects and the Um Slaim Collective. The contents provide context on histories of urban development in Riyadh, including typologies of Najdi architecture, methods of spatial embodiment and situated practice.
Artistic, sonic, and photographic contributions from the exhibition’s collaborators Laurian Ghinițoiu, Mohammed Alhamdan (7amdan), Maha Malluh, and Mansour Alsofi, as well as new essays by Syn Architects, exhibition curator Beatrice Leanza, and catalogue editor Ahmad Makia complete the volume.
A second publication connected to the research agendas of The Um Slaim School is to be released in Fall 2025.
Edited by: Ahmad Makia
Texts by: Beatrice Leanza, Syn Architects (Sara Alissa & Nojoud Alsudairi), Ahmad Makia
About the Authors
Syn Architects (Sara Alissa & Nojoud Alsudairi)
Sara Alissa and Nojoud Alsudairi cofounded Syn Architects in 2018, an interdisciplinary Riyadh-based practice with a focus on ecologically sensitive architectural design projects. In 2021, they launched the Um Slaim Collective, a critical investigation of the changing condition of vernacular Najdi architecture in central Riyadh. They are also the cofounders of SaudiArchitecture.org, an independent organization that aims to research and archive modernist and postmodernist buildings in Saudi Arabia. Architects and artists, they are graduates of the Situated Practice program at The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. Their notable projects include When the Earth Began to Look at Itself (2024) Desert X AlUla, Anywhere Can Be a Place of Worship (2023) at the Islamic Arts Biennale, and the restoration and extension of Shamalat Cultural Center, Riyadh (2023).
Beatrice Leanza
Beatrice Leanza is a curator, museum director, and critic. After seventeen years shaping the Chinese creative scene, leading Beijing Design Week, and cofounding The Global School, China’s first independent design institute, she directed maat (Lisbon) and mudac (Lausanne). Her book The New Design Museum (Park Books, 2025) explores how contemporary institutions address 21st century challenges.
Ahmad Makia
Ahmad Makia is a geographer, author and editor. His work spans the fields of spatial studies and human geography, gender and identity, Arab and Islamic history and material philosophy. He is founder and creative director of HYPERHOUSE, a boutique pub- lisher and editorial practice; Head of Publications at Sharjah Art Foundation, a contemporary arts organisation; and Architecture and Design Editor at Kaph Books. He has published essays in ac- ademic journals, magazines, artist books, zines and online. Makia was also founding editor and contributor to the publishing projects THE STATE, ZIGG and Dubailand.
Technical Details
- Publication Date:
- Wednesday, May 7, 2025
- Language:
- English & Arabic
- Format:
- Softcover
- Dimensions:
- 20 x 26 cm
- Weight:
- 0.5
- ISBN:
- 978-614-8035-59-3
- Number of Pages:
- 238
- Publisher:
- Kaph Books
- Categories:
- Architecture