Lifescapes Beyond Bigness

Lifescapes Beyond Bigness was an excursion into the humane and under-celebrated areas of the UAE, highlighting the role of architecture and urban design in forming the choreography of people’s daily routines. It particularly investigated the role of ‘quotidian’ (everyday) landscapes in accommodating, enhancing, and facilitating social activities across different places in the UAE. The interplay between the physicality of architecture and places, and the dynamic choreography of everyday life was explored through a curatorial selection of different typologies and places from the UAE’s diverse landscapes. 

The exhibition presented an exploration of their physical characteristics and typologies; behavioral rhythms and life; and the design traditions that have shaped them. It also invited visitors to experience important landscapes that are often overlooked in common perceptions about the UAE’s mega-development discourse.

Lifescapes Beyond Bigness explored the interplay of architecture and social life across four UAE urban landscapes: residential neighborhoods; networks of streets and sikkak (alleyways); urban blocks; and natural landscapes. The exhibition featured a series of photographs, typological maps, graphs of behavioral data, architectural drawings, case studies, and three-dimensional models.

The exhibition was made possible by the support of the following research team from the Sustainable Critical Infrastructure Program, Urban Research Studio at Khalifa University, Masdar City Campus, whose contribution was instrumental to its realization. 

Senior Researchers

Ouafa Benkraouda

Martin Scoppa

Research Assistants

Wasan Arafat

Lamis Abu Ashour

Nimita Chandiramani

Research Students

Ahmed Alfarra

Shehabaldin Alhashmi

Maram Arafat

Khawla Bawazir

Shefa Hashem

Anood Al Hosani

Sahar Khaleel

Fatima Al Khoori

Maitha Nasser

Anoud Al Qahtani

Abeer Wahdain

Abdulqader bin Yahya

An excursion into the humane and under-celebrated areas of the UAE, highlighting the role of architecture and urban design in forming the choreography of people’s daily routines.