Saudi Arabia

Free space invites opportunity. Once, open land accommodated independent settlement. Today, the consumption of space drives suburban growth. Within the peripheries, where development meets desert, the distinction between city edge and hinterland is blurred as bare expanses are punctured by swift development. Over four decades, rapid urbanisation has transformed Saudi metropolitan centres, propelling built territories outwards. Disjointed neighborhoods connected by highways leave 40% of city land vacant; wide distances between residencial enclaves erode social ties and deplete natural resources. Recent design and policy interventions attempt to reverse this fragmented sprawl. Abdulrahman and Turki Gazzaz examine space and architecture. Visitors are engaged in the potential of creating interaction through redesign. Structures ranging from pathways, forums to flexible spaces, activating the inherent potential of the spaces in between.