Lifescapes Beyond Bigness

Curated by Dr. Khaled Alawadi for Biennale Architettura 2018, Lifescapes Beyond Bigness is 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 investigates 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 through a series of photographs, typological maps, graphs of behavioral data, architectural drawings, case studies, and three-dimensional models. It also invited visitors to experience important landscapes that are often overlooked in common perceptions about the UAE’s mega-development discourse. The exhibition received further support from 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.

The accompanying publication delves into the insights and findings from the exhibition research in more detail, addressing each of the four typologies in four core chapters.

The 16th International Architecture Exhibition, titled Freespace, curated by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara was open to the public from26 May – 25 November 2018.