Weaving Into Space, Wasit Youth Center | 2022
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Tri Design Studio | Designer.
Interior Renovation,
18,800 ft².
Client: Sharjah Youth & The Executive Office of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi.
Collaborators; Farah Al Amin, Nada Abu Shaqra
(Tri Design Studio).
Collaborators: Irthi Contemporary Craft Council.
Weaving Into Space is a unique project that employs a participatory and a collaborative design model, with local artisans playing a crucial role as makers of significant portions of the interior space. As part of the comprehensive renovation of the Wasit Youth Center—a hub for the local community—the project seeks to establish a space that nurtures a connection to Emirati cultural heritage while moving away from the prevalence of international design language.
Confronted with the challenge of working within an existing structural grid that no longer aligned with the new program and its spatial requirements, the design team arrived at a final solution: an open plan featuring five curved partitions that wrap around the existing columns, creating distinct zones for various learning groups.
Viewed as a project within a project, Weaving Into Space presented an opportunity for the design team to engage local artisans in collaboration with the Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council—a body dedicated to promoting local crafts in the UAE. Emirati women artisans were commissioned to 'weave' the partition walls, thereby preserving the intangible heritage of Emirati weaving traditions. These handcrafted walls provided financial support to the artisans, facilitated a transfer of knowledge within the artisan community, and took the craft to an architectural scale.
