Majlis and the Manameh installation showcases Gulf architecture at Venice biennale

A familiar structure from the Gulf will be on display at the prestigious Venice Biennale of Architecture, demonstrating how a gathering space can be built and adapted amid rising global temperatures.

An elevated structure designed to promote airflow and to keep heat trapped within the ground, manameh are often found in the mountains and along the coast of the UAE. The name hints at its function, translating from Arabic as “a place to rest and sleep”.

Traditionally, the manameh uses sustainable forms of construction. Its simplicity allows for modifications to further promote its passive cooling, as well as design changes to accommodate various purposes. These qualities will be highlighted in Majlis and the Manameh, an installation on show at the 2025 biennale.

The work was curated by Emirati architects and urban researchers Ahmed and Rashid bin Shabib, with the support of Expo City Dubai. It comprises three interconnected manameh structures, which will be presented at the Giardini, the heart of the biennale. As its name suggests, the work also weaves in the idea of the majlis as a thoughtful, intentional gathering.

The Bin Shabib brothers were invited to present their project by the Carlo Ratti, curator of this year’s biennale. The installation marks their return to the event after they had participated with the National Pavilion UAE in 2021, penning the exhibition’s accompanying publication The Anatomy of Sabkhas.

“Ahmed and Rashid’s returned participation to the Biennale of Architecture sheds light on their region’s vernacular and offers forms of revival through the concept of the majlis,” Ratti tells The National.

The brothers are known for being the founders of Brownbook, which examines cities around the world while highlighting points of cultural intersection. However, they have long worked on coaxing concepts of sustainability from vernacular architectural practices.

In 2015, during the Milan Expo, the brothers created an exhibition for the National Pavilion UAE that looked at how dates, the palm tree and the falaj system produced a social and environmental ecosystem. They also highlighted the falaj and majlis concepts in an exhibition at Tokyo’s Atelier Muji Ginza in November.

They similarly highlighted the role of the manameh as a communal space in a 2023 presentation at Louvre Abu Dhabi. The project was a collaboration with Cartier. It featured three manameh structures, each conceived with a specific purpose. One housed a majlis, another was designed as a library, while the third featured a recessed seating area as well as a video component.

The idea, Ahmed bin Shabib notes, initially came from their grandmother. She would often recall how people would gather at manamehs during summer, saying it was as much a majlis as it was a respite from the hot climate.

“Our grandmother Mama Moza al Dowais was the first person who told us about the manameh,” Bin Shabib says. “She told us that during the summer, they would wet fabric, place palm fronds to endure the summers of old Shindagha [neighbourhood in Dubai]. They would soak sails to make shade and make a wind tower. But for them it was also was communal, a summer majlis where they would speak and made friends.”

Majlis and the Manameh builds upon that idea, reimagining the structure in a contemporary setting and with a touch of colour. Similar to the presentation at Louvre Abu Dhabi, the installation in Venice will feature three manamehs. They will also feature shades and fabric walls, which, when wetted, will cool the breeze ventilating the space.

“If we wrap this structure with fabric, and you're able to cool it, you're producing what effectively is a building as an air conditioner,” Bin Shabib says.

Speaking about the colourful fabrics adorning the top portion of the installation, he adds: “We wanted to use colour patterns that would both be playful and draw on the regions visual typology. Along with the geometric structure of the manamehs both elements combined continue a historic visual narrative, in a contemporary sense.”

While the structures are built upon the basis of passive cooling, Bin Shabib says that as technologies develop, the potential and function of the manameh will grow. “You can now roll solar panels like cloths,” he says. “Imagine wrapping a structure like a manameh with a similar fabrics, effectively creating a solar-powered tent.”

Bin Shabib says he hopes the presentation in Venice will spark new ideas of how to take the manameh and reimagine it in different global contexts. “The universality of this typology is that it can be applied to any circumstance,” he says. “Climate is changing and adaptation measures are critical, maybe this structure can respond to these conditions.”

“The manameh can be assembled out of scaffolding and tarp from a construction site. You can have a user manual in a pdf and construct a manameh anywhere. It’s not a static concept. It can be a bus stop, a social gathering space, a house. It could be applied to a building.”

Majlis and the Manameh echoes the mission of Expo City Dubai to share local stories on a global platform, says Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and chief executive of Expo City Dubai.

“Continuing the legacy of Expo 2020, Expo City Dubai serves as a vibrant platform for ideas and culture,” she says. “It champions initiatives such as Majlis and the Manameh that ensure the city’s vision and stories are shared with the world.”

Amna Abulhoul, executive creative director of Expo City Dubai and member of the Majlis and the Manameh team, adds that the project also underscores the city’s ethos of merging innovation with tradition. “In the heart of Dubai, we learnt that innovation and tradition are not opposites they are threads of the same tapestry,” she says.

“The manameh pavilion is a tribute to the wisdom of our ancestors to the elevated platforms where dreams floated with the desert breeze, wrapped in the vibrant colours of Sadu weaving. Expo City Dubai proudly carries this legacy to Venice, reminding the world that sustainability and soul have always been at the heart of Emirati living. Through the manameh pavilion, we reimagine ancient solutions for the cities of tomorrow. Cooling through wind and shade, beauty through craft, this is the art of living with nature, not against it.”