Bahrain’s award-winning pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture may inspire several new structures across the kingdom – its passive cooling technology offering construction workers shade and respite from the heat.
“The idea is to replicate this prototype across several sites in Bahrain,” explains Noura Al Sayeh-Holtrop, deputy commissioner of the project. “The pavilion served as a test for a shading structure that we hope to implement across Bahrain in the near future.”
Heatwave is commissioned by Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, president of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities. It is curated by architect Andrea Faraguna.
The project explores how architecture can respond to rising temperatures. The geothermal cooling system on display draws from the techniques used in vernacular architecture from Bahrain and the wider region. However, it has been bolstered by contemporary innovation.
The structure combines a geothermal well, which brings cool air from underground, as well as a solar chimney that expels the warm air out. These two forces are connected in what the designers call a “thermo-hygrometric axis” that creates a gentle, controlled climate inside the space – all without machinery.
“Temperatures are rising across the world, but their effects are unequal, and the Gulf is one of the regions that will be the most affected,” Al Sayeh-Holtrop says. “The urgency of the situation is what compelled us to focus on this topic for our national pavilion at the biennale. These public shading spaces are conceived to provide shade and cooling for the most vulnerable members of society and those most exposed to heatwaves: construction workers on work sites.”
The pavilion underscores this connection between climate, architecture and social equity through its scenography. Sandbags are piled around the central geothermal well – acting as seating to visitors.
“The proposal starts by acknowledging the alarming issue of rising temperatures and its consequences, specifically for the Gulf region,” Al Sayeh-Holtrop says.
“Yet, it is also a call not to be fatalist about the situation but to investigate what the current possibilities are, reinvesting existing technologies and practices and thinking of simple ways of deploying them in an affordable, modular and replicable manner.”
Heatwave, Al Sayeh-Holtrop adds, may be rooted in traditions from the Gulf, but it invites architects worldwide to consider “local solutions” to climate challenges.
“From Bahrain and from the Gulf, we aim to propose local solutions to global challenges that, while rooted in the contemporary realities of our urban conditions, are inspired by ancestral methods of dealing with the heat,” she says.
While Heatwave may go on to inspire innovative shading structures across Bahrain, there are plans for the project in Venice to be reappropriated after the biennale concludes in November.
“We are in discussion with a few partners in Venice to relocate the installation to a location in the laguna, where it can serve as a public shading structure,” Al Sayeh-Holtrop says. “In terms of sustainability, it would not make sense to ship this installation back to Bahrain, so we are looking for a site that is in or close to Venice.”
Heatwave is Bahrain's second Golden Lion win. The country’s pavilion also received the top honour at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2010. That project, entitled Reclaim, examined the social implications of extensive land reclamation in an island nation.
“Awards are always great motivations to continue working and talking about important issues,” Al Sayeh-Holtrop says.
“It's important for us in Bahrain to have a seat in international architectural dialogues and exhibitions and to use these platforms to shed light on the urgent issues that we are addressing.”
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
SPAIN SQUAD
Goalkeepers Simon (Athletic Bilbao), De Gea (Manchester United), Sanchez (Brighton)
Defenders Gaya (Valencia), Alba (Barcelona), P Torres (Villarreal), Laporte (Manchester City), Garcia (Manchester City), D Llorente (Leeds), Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
Midfielders Busquets (Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City), Pedri (Barcelona), Thiago (Liverpool), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Ruiz (Napoli), M Llorente (Atletico Madrid)
Forwards: Olmo (RB Leipzig), Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Morata (Juventus), Moreno (Villarreal), F Torres (Manchester City), Traore (Wolves), Sarabia (PSG)
Inside%20Out%202
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EKelsey%20Mann%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%C2%A0Amy%20Poehler%2C%20Maya%20Hawke%2C%20Ayo%20Edebiri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
Uefa Nations League: How it Works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
Abaya trends
The utilitarian robe held dear by Arab women is undergoing a change that reveals it as an elegant and graceful garment available in a range of colours and fabrics, while retaining its traditional appeal.
More on Quran memorisation:
TV: World Cup Qualifier 2018 matches will be aired on on OSN Sports HD Cricket channel
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
MATCH INFO
West Ham United 2 (Antonio 73', Ogbonna 90 5')
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 36', Moura 42', Kane 49')
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Enterprise-grade%20security%20and%20privacy%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Unlimited%20higher-speed%20GPT-4%20access%20with%20no%20caps%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Longer%20context%20windows%20for%20processing%20longer%20inputs%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Advanced%20data%20analysis%20capabilities%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Customisation%20options%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Shareable%20chat%20templates%20that%20companies%20can%20use%20to%20collaborate%20and%20build%20common%20workflows%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Analytics%20dashboard%20for%20usage%20insights%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Free%20credits%20to%20use%20OpenAI%20APIs%20to%20extend%20OpenAI%20into%20a%20fully-custom%20solution%20for%20enterprises%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
Results
United States beat UAE by three wickets
United States beat Scotland by 35 runs
UAE v Scotland – no result
United States beat UAE by 98 runs
Scotland beat United States by four wickets
Fixtures
Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland
Admission is free
