How will we live together? Lebanese architect Hashim Sarkis, Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at MIT and curator of the upcoming architecture edition of the Venice Biennale, posed this intriguing question before the Covid-19 pandemic even began. As the theme of the 2021 Biennale, the question calls for participating countries and curators to reflect on the future of collective living at one of the world’s most significant forums for architecture and the built environment.
Even before the crisis, global platforms like the Venice Biennale, the World Economic Forum and Expo 2020 Dubai had a vital role to play in convening ideas and creating discussions around sustainability, urban development and climate change. Now, after a year of profound change, this call for long-term solutions is more relevant than ever.
As architects, we feel it is our responsibility to cast a critical eye on our industry’s significant contribution to the climate crisis and identify areas where we can mitigate its impact through new thinking. This is why we chose to respond to the National Pavilion UAE’s open call for projects to represent the country on the Venice Biennale’s important platform. Our project, Wetland, responds to Mr Sarkis’s question by thinking not just about communities, but also humanity’s relationship with our planet.
In early 2020, emissions fell to record lows due to industrial restrictions
In the first half of 2020, global carbon dioxide emissions fell by a record-breaking 1550 million metric tonnes due to restrictions on transport and industrial activity. We should celebrate this, but if the underlying systems and issues remain unchanged, the number will represent a relatively small and temporary blip on the charts. The planet is still heading for a temperature rise of more than three degrees this century. By the end of 2020, some of the world’s most polluting industries, including construction, were already back to normal.
We have always been conscious of the local environment in the projects that we’ve created for our design studio, waiwai, which is based in Dubai. We aim to minimise energy use, incorporate indigenous flora and make the most of natural resources. However, with just 100 companies said to be responsible for 71 per cent of all global emissions since 1988, it has become clearer than ever that the environmental impact of full-scale industrial activity vastly outweighs individual actions.
Venice is a city greatly endangered by rising sea levels and mass tourism. Reuters
Over the past two years, through our project for the National Pavilion UAE, we have been able to tackle a global issue from a local perspective by focusing on the world’s two most highly-consumed materials: water and concrete.
Producing cement – a vital ingredient in concrete – accounts for eight per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions and should be a matter of urgent concern across the environmental, architecture and construction industries.
Here in the Arabian Gulf, water is a scarce resource. The vast majority of potable water comes from desalination plants, which support habitation in our region but also produce a significant amount of brine, highly-saturated saltwater that goes back into the ocean, drastically raising marine salinity levels.
We saw brine not as a waste product, but as a resource in abundance. Our project proposes a potential method to recycle it into a green, MgO-based alternative cement that would match traditional Portland brands for strength, durability and accessibility.
Learning from natural landscapes is one of our fundamental principles. In partnership with NYU Abu Dhabi, the American University of Sharjah and the University of Tokyo, we’ve created an experimental prototype inspired by crystalised salts and minerals found in the UAE’s salt flats, or sabkhas, unique and complex natural phenomena tentatively listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Our experience shows us that to respond to climate change we must turn to the natural world for answers. One square metre of sabkha can sequester more carbon than one of rainforest, and yet our understanding of them is still in its early stages. In addition to our experiments, the National Pavilion UAE has commissioned a publication authored by urbanists Ahmed and Rashid bin Shabib, which contains extensive research into the sabkhas’ essential ecological and cultural value for the Emirates.
The 2021 Venice Biennale has asked us a simple question with complex answers. For us, living together sustainably means finding solutions that balance the modern world’s need for an immense amount of construction and manufacturing, with the need to preserve our natural environment.
Rethinking how we engage with the assets of the natural world – such as our idea to transform waste brine into a building material – is fundamental. We must ensure that as our sector emerges from the pandemic, it is not just a return to the “old normal”, but to long-lasting systemic and behavioural change that sets us on a path to renewed harmony with our natural world. This is how we intend to answer the Biennale’s question: how will we live together?
Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto, founders of Dubai-based architects waiwai, are curating the National Pavilion UAE at the Venice Biennale
Have a cuddle with pets and loved ones to help stay cosy
Eat ginger but avoid chilli as it makes you sweat
Put on extra layers
Do a few star jumps
Avoid alcohol
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
What you as a drone operator need to know
A permit and licence is required to fly a drone legally in Dubai.
Sanad Academy is the United Arab Emirate’s first RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) training and certification specialists endorsed by the Dubai Civil Aviation authority.
It is responsible to train, test and certify drone operators and drones in UAE with DCAA Endorsement.
“We are teaching people how to fly in accordance with the laws of the UAE,” said Ahmad Al Hamadi, a trainer at Sanad.
“We can show how the aircraft work and how they are operated. They are relatively easy to use, but they need responsible pilots.
“Pilots have to be mature. They are given a map of where they can and can’t fly in the UAE and we make these points clear in the lectures we give.
“You cannot fly a drone without registration under any circumstances.”
Larger drones are harder to fly, and have a different response to location control. There are no brakes in the air, so the larger drones have more power.
The Sanad Academy has a designated area to fly off the Al Ain Road near Skydive Dubai to show pilots how to fly responsibly.
“As UAS technology becomes mainstream, it is important to build wider awareness on how to integrate it into commerce and our personal lives,” said Major General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief, Dubai Police.
“Operators must undergo proper training and certification to ensure safety and compliance.
“Dubai’s airspace will undoubtedly experience increased traffic as UAS innovations become commonplace, the Forum allows commercial users to learn of best practice applications to implement UAS safely and legally, while benefitting a whole range of industries.”
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.
Sleep Well Beast
The National
4AD
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
PFA Team of the Year: David de Gea, Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Alonso, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Sergio Aguero
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 1,600m; Winner: Marzaga, Jim Crowley, Ana Mendez.
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 1,600m; Winner: Jawaal, Jim Crowley, Majed Al Jahouri.
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m; Winner: AF Ashras, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Ahmed Al Mehairbi.
New Zealand squad
Tim Southee (capt), Trent Boult (games 4 and 5), Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson (games 1-3), Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner
Racecard
5.25pm: Etihad Museum – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,200m
6pm: Al Shindaga Museum – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (Dirt) 1,200m
6.35pm: Poet Al Oqaili – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m
7.10pm: Majlis Ghurfat Al Sheif – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,600m
7.45pm: Hatta – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m
8.20pm: Al Fahidi – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 2,200m
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final