Can industry and nature fruitfully coexist?

Weaving a Home, 2020- ongoing
An ongoing development of a performative structural material system that honors the notion of cradle-to-cradle architecture and challenges contemporary modes of living.
Historically, communities in the Arab world were inextricably connected to nature and their surroundings, both inside and outside of their homes. In a modern world governed by consumerism and urbanism, and threatened by a burgeoning climate crisis, the notion of cradle-to-cradle living and design, which embeds nature and sustainability into all processes of life, is needed now more than ever. Shelter is a microcosm that represents how we understand and connect to the universe and to our bodies. Creating a shelter that sustains and supports the thriving of the human spirit and the nurturing of our environment forms the crux of this work.

The pre-stressed radial frames are linked circumferentially with the patterned geometrical membrane to form a stable and durable double membrane enclosure. Photography: © Tanya Marar

How can we create spaces that have regenerative impacts on human beings and their environment?
Weaving a Home has gone through multiple phases since its inception in 2013. The objective was to build a portable, dignified shelter for displaced communities that provides them with the necessities of contemporary life through the development of a double-layered performative structural fabric in the form of a dome. However, the design’s contextual link to land, culture and heritage highlighted the need to consider the wellbeing of different communities beyond simply providing functional solutions. How can the design of a shelter truly create added value?
Using local resources and the intuitive hands of a community of craftsmen and women, the new material system merges mechanics and design, while drawing inspiration from traditional tent-crafting methods that have community and sustainability at their core. Resilient and collapsible, the dome represents a continuity in the evolution of place-making that is not linear but rather circular–rooted in the present, but watered, fed and nurtured by its past.
Tent in Desert Environment, Jordan.
Size – 36 x 55 cm
Edition – 25 + AP
Rendering: © Abeer Seikaly, 2020Weaving a Home 2020 – Tent at Al-Namara overlooking the Dead Sea, Jordan.
Size – 36 x 55 cm
Edition – 25 + AP
Rendering: © Abeer Seikaly, 2020
The exclusive 3D rendering artworks of the dome above are for sale to help raise funds for the purpose of building a full-scale prototype. Contact me if you’re interested in contributing or acquiring the artworks.