‘Rooted Transience' exhibition brings Saudi AlMusalla Prize to Venice Architecture Biennale

Saudi Gazette

09-05-2025

VENICE — The Diriyah Biennale Foundation presented Rooted Transience, an architectural exhibition showcasing the winning project of the inaugural AlMusalla Prize 2025, as an official Collateral Event of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. The exhibition opens May 10 and runs through November 23, 2025, at the historic Abbazia di San Gregorio in Venice, Italy. Curated by architect and researcher Faysal Tabbarah, Rooted Transience explores the architectural typology of the musalla — a temporary, adaptable space for prayer — and its potential to inspire new architectural solutions grounded in sustainability, impermanence, and flexibility. The exhibition situates musalla design within historical, material, and contemporary contexts, examining how such spaces have evolved and continue to influence Islamic spatial practices. The exhibition features full-scale fragments of the winning design by EAST Architecture Studio, in collaboration with artist Rayyane Tabet and engineering firm AKT II. It also showcases the shortlisted entries by AAU Anastas, Asif Khan, Dabbagh Architects, and Office of Sahel AlHiyari for Architecture. Alongside these contemporary projects, archival documents and imagery trace the historical lineage of musalla architecture in Islamic societies. The AlMusalla Prize, launched by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation and first unveiled at the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah in January 2025, recognizes architectural innovation in temporary sacred spaces. The winning entry, titled On Weaving, employs Saudi date palm waste materials to reinterpret traditional forms. Palm fronds are repurposed into a structural alternative to conventional columns and beams, while woven palm fibers form a façade that evokes heritage techniques and offers a contemporary environmental approach. Vice Chairman of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, Rakan Al-Touq, described the prize as a landmark moment for both Saudi cultural policy and the broader field of Islamic arts, stating: 'It represents, as the wider Islamic Arts Biennale does, a return to the plurality of Islamic arts — presenting the many forms it includes, in the context in which they were conceived.' Prince Nawaf bin Ayyaf, Chair of the AlMusalla Prize jury, noted the significance of presenting the project in Venice. 'Venice has long been a crossroads of cultural exchange, making it the perfect setting to explore how the untapped typology of a musalla can contribute to contemporary architectural discourse,' he said. 'By bringing fragments of the AlMusalla Prize from Jeddah to Venice, we aim to demonstrate how traditional architectural practices rooted in sustainability and adaptability can inspire new solutions.' A companion publication, co-edited by Prince Nawaf bin Ayyaf and Faysal Tabbarah, will be released during the exhibition. Published by KAPH, the book will expand on the themes of transience and place-making in Islamic architecture. — SG