Maghras – A Farm for Experimentation

Conceived for the Saudi Arabia Pavilion at the 24th Triennale Milano International Exhibition, Maghras emanates from a community research hub in Al Ahsa, one of the world’s oldest and largest oases. Through research, participatory workshops and experiments in production, the initiative explores how knowledge can be collectively cultivated, how environmental change influences cultural memory and how research can grow from places often overlooked in global narratives of progress.

The conversation will consider how design and planning in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East might evolve through place-based, community-driven approaches – imagining futures rooted in local ecologies and collective stewardship rather than imported models.

The curators will also discuss and unpack Maghras's first publication, launched in early 2026, which gathers the project’s research to date, documentation of programmes and commissioned essays by Maghras's collaborators reflecting on the region’s shifting landscapes, layered histories and emerging visions. More

PROGRAMME

Welcome and Introduction
Dunya Bouchi, Aedes, Berlin
Prince Nawaf bin Abdulaziz bin Ayyaf, CEO, Architecture and Design Commission (ADC), Riyadh

Presentation
Lulu Almana, landscape architect / curator of Maghras, Khobar
Sara Al Omran, cultural strategy advisor / curator of Maghras, Riyadh

Discussion
moderated by Kimberly Bradley, art critic / writer / educator, Berlin

ABOUT THE PUBLICATION

Maghras: A Farm for Experimentation
Edited by Lulu Almana, Sara Al Omran and Latifa Al Khayat

Includes contributions by: Mohammed Al Faraj, Leen Ajlan, Sawtasura, Mariam Alnoaimi, Deema Al Ghunaim, Fatma & Reem Al Sehlawi, Civil Architecture, Dzidula Courage Kpodo, Thamer Al Sunaidi, Ghaidaa Gutub and Fatima Al Hajji

Language: English and Arabic
Format: Softcover, 19.05 x 26.67 cm, 400 pages
ISBN: 978-614-8035-88-3
Price: 40.00 $
Publisher: Kaph Books

The book will be available during the event, at kaphbooks.com and in bookstores.

LEARNING FROM THE MIDDLE EAST

Aedes launches a long-term programme on architecture, identity and urbanism in the Middle East – a region that has stood at the crossroads of cultures, politics and trade for thousands of years. Today, amid rapid urbanisation, post-conflict reconstruction and environmental pressures, the region faces urgent questions about the role of architecture in shaping social and ecological change.

Moving beyond the traditional European lens of speaking about the region, the programme seeks to engage with local actors through architecture and urban design as tools for dialogue and collaboration. Through debates, lectures, exhibitions and book launches, it will explore the Middle East as a region in motion – diverse, contested and continuously reimagined – while addressing themes of ecology, climate, archaeology and materiality.

Who is shaping the built environment in the Middle East today? How do practitioners balance heritage and identity with the demands of climate change, migration and economic transformation? And what visions of the future are emerging from their work?

Stay tuned at aedes.global and on Instagram @aedesberlin

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