Centered on the Al Ahsa region, one of the world's oldest and largest oases, Maghras: A Farm for Experimentation (accompanying the inaugural Saudi Pavilion at the 24th Triennale di Milano, marking Saudi Arabia's first participation in this global architecture and design platform) reimagines the farm as a site of collective inquiry, where environmental change, cultural memory, and community practices converge.
The publication documents research, fieldwork, and newly commissioned projects by architects, artists, and practitioners who engaged with farmers, craftspeople, and residents of Al Ahsa. Through essays, images, oral histories, and archival material, it reflects on the shifting relationship between land, water, and community in a landscape transformed by modernization and urban expansion.
Maghras frames the oasis as both a physical and symbolic ground for experimentation, where traditions of cultivation and storytelling inform new modes of sustainability and design. The book invites readers to consider how rural knowledge and lived experience can contribute to wider debates on ecology, equity, and the future of shared environments.
Edited by Sara Al Omran, Lulu Almana, Latifa Alkhayat.
Foreword by Sumaya Al Solaiman; contributions by Leen Ajlan, Mohammed Alfaraj, Sawtsura (Tara Al Dughaithar), Deema Al Ghunaim, Civil Architecture (Ali Karimi, Hamed Bukhamseen), Courage Dzidula Kwaku Kpodo, Fatma Al Sehlawi, Reem Al Sehlawi, Mariam Al Noami & Ali Al Haji, Thamer Al Sunaidi.
