At its core architecture is one of the ways societies build resilience in the face of climate and environmental change, in the Gulf and globally. The spaces we design are not only about shelter and sustainability; they also shape belonging, dignity, education and social connection. In this conversation we ask: how do architects address these basic human needs when designing for uncertain futures? How do history and cultural memory each play a role in creating spaces that make people feel empowered and connected? And how do institutions and placemakers respond to rapid change, whether environmental, cultural or social?
Architectural practices like Civil Architecture and Counterspace have been redefining what designing for resilience can mean and challenging conventional architecture by drawing on often-overlooked narratives – Civil Architecture, for example, looks to historical landscapes and rural traditions. At the same time Counterspace highlights hybrid cultural identities and diaspora communities. Their work takes into consideration people’s sense of identity, comfort and community.
Listen to the full podcast with the founders of Civil Architecture, Hamed Bukhamseen and Ali Ismail Karimi, and Counterspace founder Sumayya Vally, moderated by architect and urban planner Abdulrahman Hamad Al Mana, as they discuss what it means to build with memory, identity and care. Exploring desert kites and ancient infrastructures as well as erased gathering spaces and diasporic imaginaries, together they unpack the tension between ambitious futures and lived realities, and they ask what architecture can offer in moments of crisis, loss and transformation.
