Architecture That Belongs to Its Place
When Schiattarella Associati was commissioned to design Diriyah Art Futures (DAF) — the Gulf’s first contemporary hub dedicated to digital and new media art — the question they faced was not simply architectural: how do you build something genuinely new on a historically layered site, for a generation whose identities are mobile, digital, and plural? Their answer, published in Matahef Issue 03, grew from the topography of the wadi and the logic of the traditional city wall reinterpreted as a threshold rather than a boundary. In this follow-up conversation, the architects reflect on what a museum is for, how cultural institutions shape cities, and what it means to design for belonging in the Arab world today.
Timekeepers
From the ruins of Gaza’s Great Omari Mosque library, a team of volunteers are rescuing what remains of a centuries-old collection — with paintbrushes, bare hands, and an undiminished sense of duty.