Submitted by WA ContentsSyn Architects to represent Saudi Arabia at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 Saudi Arabia Architecture News - Feb 07, 2025 - 14:25 html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Saudi Arabia has announced its participation at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 with Syn Architects (Sara Alissa and Nojoud Alsudairi) with the National Pavilion.For its fourth participation in the Venice Architecture Biennale, Saudi Arabia will be represented by Riyadh-based architectural practice Syn Architects (Sara Alissa and Nojoud Alsudairi) with the exhibition of "The Um Slaim School: An Architecture of Connection".The exhibition, curated by Beatrice Leanza with help from Sara Almutlaq, launched an alternative pedagogical platform that expands on the work of the Um Slaim Collective and the Riyadh-based practice Syn Architects by staging a living archive and interactive website.In order to examine the displacement of Najdi architecture in central Riyadh, Sara Alissa and Nojoud Alsudairi formed the Riyadh-based Syn Architects, which in turn launched the Um Slaim Collective in 2021.Curator: Beatrice Leanza. Image Diana TinocoIn order to express new ways of reading and imagining the built environment that are consistent with the spatial lessons of the past, The Um Slaim School: An Architecture of Connection combines experimental, visual, and oral documentation that probes the complex relationships and stories woven throughout the city.By doing this, it hopes to develop a new ecosystem for architectural education in Saudi Arabia and promote cross-border communication with generational experiences that are equally interested in practice-led pedagogies and research-centered methodologies to tackle issues including resource management, climate change, and the social aspect of the city.The Um Slaim School: An Architecture of Connection explores Riyadh's architectural legacy in relation to identity, ecology, and urban-making by promoting the ways in which regional educational institutions and knowledge hubs can respond to the demands of a world that is changing quickly, both within and outside of Saudi Arabia.Under the direction of curator Beatrice Leanza and with assistance from Maryam AlNoaimi, a generative program of public and laboratorial sessions will advance spatial and urban thinking in the area and foster international cooperation to inform the future school. Alongside the program, a magazine will be created to compile the results for use after Biennale Architettura 2025.Anywhere can be a place of worship by Syn Architects at the 2023 Islamic Arts Biennale. Image Laurian Ghinitoiu"The Um Slaim School is a foundation for an alternative approach to architectural re-imagining through spatial narratives and materiality. This pavilion will invite a collective retelling of our effect on the environments we inhabit and our urban histories," said Sara Alissa and Nojoud Alsudairi, Syn Architects partners."Our interest lies in that symbiosis, how our values and ideas shape our world, and how the parameters of our landscapes influence that shaping," Alissa and Alsudairi added."Our participation at the Biennale Architettura 2025 embraces the emergence of generational voices in Saudi Arabia that are reshaping spatial practices. The Um Slaim School reflects a critical shift towards participatory frameworks for urban futures and eco-social imaginaries of resilience and renewal," said Beatrice Leanza, the curator."It endeavors to create an alternative pedagogical initiative that remains rooted in vernacular knowledge while striving to suggest new pathways for architectures role and purpose in todays world," Leanza added.The Um Slaim School: An Architecture of Connection will be on display at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 from May 10 to November 23, 2025, at the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia. This will be the eighth time Saudi Arabia has participated in the La Biennale di Venezia's International Architecture and Art Exhibitions.The Kingdom's best creative talent from all throughout its regions may be found at the Saudi Pavilion, which is housed in the Arsenale. The pavilion will serve as a gathering place for cultural practitioners to study, investigate, and work together in the domains of architecture and art.The commission for Saudi Arabia's National Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale is the Architecture and Design Commission. In order to foster talent and innovative thinking that reflects the Kingdom's unique culture, the Commission promotes Saudi Arabian architects and designers through educational programs and initiatives.The top image: Participants: Syn Architects, Nojoud Alsudairi (left) and Sara Alissa (right). Image Nora Alissa.> via Syn Architects