Art, Terrain and Architecture

Abstract
Intersections – Art, Terrain and Architecture is an undergraduate year 4 architecture studio led by Shameel Muhammed, Architect and Associate Professor at Heriot-Watt University, Dubai. The year-long studio taught in the academic year of 2023/24 explored the intersection of art and terrain with architecture as the exploratory medium. During the project development, enrolled students explored the extent to which art and terrain relate to each other, be it their intersection, connection, overlap, extension, repulsion, or non-intersection.

With Dubai as the exploratory ground, the studio embarked on three lines of inquiry. The first inquiry was to get a ground-up understanding of art appreciation in the city. With an expat population of 80%, the community’s reference to art extends globally, making it a melting pot for locally grown art that is rooted in the global art culture. Intersections do not intend to create new art forms but rather attempt to nurture and bring forward art forms that the community relates to the forefront.

The second inquiry is to get insights into the diverse terrains prevalent in the emirate of Dubai, which was broadly classified into the sea edge along the city’s western border, the creek – the origin of the city, the conserved area of the Ras Al Khor mangroves, the inland desert regions and the mountain regions of Hatta. Although all these terrains are commonly identified as hot and arid regions, they reveal very distinct natural and spatial ecosystems upon closer inspection. Intersections explored the terrains in their existing and natural conditions and how art forms relate to these environments.

Architecture and spatial design, the third line of inquiry, will converge the first two findings. Through a decentralised network of art centres deployed in each terrain, the studio proposes to enhance access to art and its appreciation in the city through community engagement, education and showcase. Each proposed art centre is art form-specific and responds to the terrain both in the aspects of the environment context and as a source of inspiration to the chosen art form.

Project Intersections at the Innovative Intersections Conference will present some of the outcomes developed by students who were part of the studio. Insights include mapping of art appreciation across several districts of Dubai, studies exploring the intersection of art and terrains, and some of the successful spatial design outcomes. Key illustrations, image collages, video documentation and architectural visualizations will help to form construct of the project narrative.


Studio lead: Shameel Muhammed, Associate Professor, Heriot-Watt University, Dubai
Co-Tutor: Vineeth T Kannoth, Adjunct Faculty, Heriot-Watt University, Dubai

Student contributors:
Shifa Abdullah, Shirin K Attri, Alex Baturin, Melroy M Carvalho, Hamza Daaboul, Aïssatou B Dia, Alia Goedvolk, Jenvy Jaijy, Priyanshu Jangir, Anita Nweke, Aaeza Raheema Nazeer, Nithya Rajeev, Fiza Shaheen Muhammad, Rumman Siddiqui, Tahir Z Valli