The Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023 kicks off with the UAE World Festival opening its doors to the public later this week. Its theme, “The Beauty of Impermanence: The Architecture of Adaptability,” was determined by the exhibition’s curator, Lagos-based architect Tosin Oshinovo of Studio Oshinovo (formerly cmDesign Atelier), who pulled out all the stops to create a truly world-class display. For the second edition of the festival. The exhibitions are set to “explore how we can create meaningful spaces that speak to their local environments and will highlight contextual architects currently doing this,” she told us during an interview earlier this year.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Andreas Diffner)
Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023: What to expect
Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023 kicks off with a three-day celebratory program comprising talks, tours, performances, workshops and performances, highlighting the Global South and architects’ solutions to conditions of scarcity in the region. Widely-known participants include Leslie Loko (curator, architect, and founder of the Afrofuturism Institute in Accra) and Rahul Mehrotra (founder of RMA Architects and professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design) – just two of the standouts out of a total of 29 contributions within the main show.
View of the building enveloped in madam
(Image credit: Courtesy of Hermann Hjorth Berg)
Among the more well-known names from the list that make up the comprehensive program (which includes numerous panels and discussions) include Cave_bureau, DAAR – Sandy Hilal, Alessandro Petti (who won the Golden Lion at the recent 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale), Hive Earth, and Olorunfemi Adewuyi, Architectural Assistant at Studio Contra.
Formafantasma, still of Cambio – Seeing wood for the trees (2020-2023)
(Image credit: Formafantasma)
“This triennial is a labor of love and an opportunity for discovery,” Oshinovo said. “It will provide people with an opportunity to think differently about spaces, practices and designs across the Global South.”
Laying down the wooden structural roof – La Balsanera – the floating production house
(Image credit: Natura Vitura)
“As an architect coming from practice, it is very important to me that the trilogy is comprehensive. Visitors will not need prior knowledge to engage with the ideas on display. Whether you have a strong understanding of design or not, you should be able to extract something from the trilogy.” .
Colab – Henry Glogau and Alexander Kongchog
(Image credit: Independence Resources)
Themed “The Beauty of Impermanence: The Architecture of Adaptability,” the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial will take place from November 11, 2023 to March 10, 2024 in the United Arab Emirates.
sharjaharchitecture.org
