Fostering culture and community in a modern, local context is important to Dubai-based Saudi architect Sumaya Dabbagh. We can nurture our identity, she says
When Saudi architect Sumaya Dabbagh founded her Dubai-based architecture firm in 2008, the moment was poetically layered. The time, though largely marked by a global financial collapse, held something more personal and intimate: an eagerness for growth that was mirrored by the young architect’s years-long personal search for identity and the Arab Gulf’s developing sense of cultural expression. ‘Who am I’, and ‘How do I communicate it’ were questions seemingly being posed by both Dabbagh and the region.
Born in Saudi Arabia, educated in the UK, with a short stint in Paris, the architect bore a sort of emotional resemblance to the UAE, as its growing globalisation blurred the lines for personal, cultural, and national identities.
‘The UAE, being a melting pot of many cultures, gave me the space and opportunity to express myself as a Saudi with both Arab and Western influences,’ Dabbagh wrote in 2023. ‘In the 1990s, architecture in the Gulf was predominantly led by return on investment rather than [a mission] to serve the community. I became aware of the negative impact of this approach resulting in a lack of distinctive identity, and a sense of alienation in many Gulf cities.’
By the early 2000s, Dabbagh saw developers shifting towards cultural and community projects. She felt a space widening in the UAE’s architectural scene – one that she could help fill. As she took on roles such as leading the RIBA Gulf Chapter between 2015 and 2019, her practice, Dabbagh Architects, started with work on private residences, hospitality projects, and schools. However, it was the Mleiha Archaeological Centre in Sharjah, completed in 2016, nearly a decade after the practice’s establishment, that propelled the architect forward as a pioneer of the region’s maturing design language.
‘That building put us on the map quite a bit,’ she recalls. ‘Looking back, it was an important project in the region – it was quite different to what was happening, and quite contemporary while still respecting where it was sitting.’
Nominated for an Aga Khan Award, the archaeological centre sits at the foot of Fossil Rock Mountain and is composed around a 4,000-year-old tomb. Containing an indoor museum, café, outdoor walkways, contemplation areas and desert gardens, the centre emerges from its context with its geometries maintaining a harmonious dialogue with the landscape.
‘We’re seeing more contextual, sensitive work, rather than big, iconic work,’ says Dabbagh, ‘I feel Dabbagh Architects has been a part of that. When we get invited to submit proposals, our own projects are often used as reference points for what the client wants to achieve. So there is more awareness in the region. In Dubai, it’s quite pronounced and in Saudi it’s starting. They’ve realised they want to showcase their heritage sites while being sensitive to their environment.’
Since completing the Centre, the practice has taken on cultural projects such as Al Ain Museum in Abu Dhabi, which is still under construction, and a mosque in Dubai, completed in 2021.
Gargash Mosque, located in the industrial Al Quoz area, is a contemporary design complete with large white forms perforated by geometric patterns. It maintains elements of traditional Islamic design such as a minaret, dome, courtyard, and transitional spaces to aid worshippers in connecting to the beyond.
Dabbagh’s projects and their architectural language have come to represent their context. Swooping forms, weighty materials, and calmness mark the latest phase of her work, and simultaneously, the schemes point to something else: a cosmopolitan desert city with Arab roots. And just as the start of her practice was affected by circumstances in the region, the evolution of her work remains interconnected with the progression of the Gulf’s view of itself. It’s as if the Arab Gulf is looking at itself through a lens that Dabbagh – and several other architects – continue to wipe clean as they refine their architecture and so the region’s urban expression. ‘Architecture is a responsibility, a legacy we create,’ she says. ‘How we build our cities influences our lives. We need to build our own cities – we spent the last 40 or 50 years importing the architecture and it’s time we claimed our cities, our heritage.’
Most recently, Dabbagh completed Earth to Earth, an installation for the Sharjah Architecture Triennial displayed until March 2024. Consisting of two curved walls that produced a semi-enclosed space providing an intimate shelter, it highlighted materials indigenous to the UAE. Palm fronds and mud brick worked together to invite visitors to explore their underrated strength and beauty.
Looking ahead, Dabbagh plans to continue guiding her practice’s diverse team – a mix of young graduates, interns, and professionals – while leading with her heart. As Dabbagh Architects works on its second mosque (also in Dubai), the practice is participating in several competitions in Saudi Arabia.
‘I think what we’re looking to achieve in our projects is a connection to context,’ Dabbagh says. ‘It’s like knitting the buildings into their setting; I believe that can create a sense of belonging.’
Rima Alsammarae is a writer on architecture and former editor of Middle East Architect and Brownbook