How Emiratis made sha’bi housing their own - in pictures

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  Image by Dutch photographer Gérard Klijn from 1974. In the foreground is a traditional tent inhabited by Bedouins. In the background is a sha’biyat development under construction. Courtesy Gérard Klijn / Catholic Documentation Centre of Radboud University Nijmegen.

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  Informal shacks dotting the waterfront area of Abu Dhabi would eventually be replaced by the newly-built sha’bi houses. Courtesy Gérard Klijn / Courtesy Catholic Documentation Centre of the Radboud University Nijmegen.

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  Sheikh Zayed visits the construction site of the completed sha’bi housing prototype in Al Ain, 1974. Courtesy Juergen Monnerjahn.

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  Al Ittihad newspaper feature from 1973. The headline reads: “Zayed Visits New Sha’bi Housing Developments.”

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  Example of Emirati sha’bi houses in Madinat Zayed. Courtesy Yasser Elsheshtawy / National Pavilion UAE la Biennale di Venezia.

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  Colourful doorways are a significant feature in Sha’biyat Al Meryal, Al Ain. Courtesy Yasser Elsheshtawy / National Pavilion UAE.

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  Moza Al Shamsi sits outside her house in Umm Ghafa. Courtesy Reem Falaknaz / National Pavilion UAE.

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  A sofa under the shade of palm trees in Al Maqam, Al Ain. Courtesy Reem Falaknaz / National Pavilion UAE.

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  Ranmali washes the dishes at Rawiya Al Suroor´s house in Al Maqam. Courtesy Reem Falaknaz / National Pavilion UAE.

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  New Emirati housing development at the foot of Jebel Hafeet in Al Ain. Courtesy Yasser Elsheshtawy / National Pavilion UAE.

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  New Emirati housing development at the foot of Jebel Hafeet in Al Ain. Courtesy Yasser Elsheshtawy / National Pavilion UAE.

The UAE Pavilion at this year’s Venice Architectural Biennale explores sha’bi, or folk housing, built from the 1960s onwards. We examine how sha’bi residents transformed their homes.