The Diriyah Biennale Foundation presented, for the first time, the AlMusalla Prize 2025 at the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah in January 2025. The award-winning project "On Weaving", designed by EAST Architecture Studio in collaboration with artist Rayyane Tabet and engineering firm AKT II, houses works by AAU Anastas, Asif Khan, Dabbagh Architects, and Office of Sahel AlHiyari for Architecture.
"The launch of the AlMusalla architectural prize, marked an important moment for culture in Saudi Arabia, but also an important moment for Islamic Arts globally. It represents, as the wider Islamic Arts Biennale does, a return to the plurality of Islamic Arts—presenting the many forms it includes, in the context of which they were conceived. From the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the historic Andalus, architectural expression has always been a cornerstone of Islamic identity".
His Excellency, Rakan Al Touq, Vice Chairman of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation.
The award-winning project consists of a central courtyard surrounded by a prayer hall that pays homage to the Saudi date palm by using its elements as the main construction materials. Palm fronds are used as an alternative to a column and beam structure, and palm fibres form a façade inspired by traditional weaving techniques that wraps around the entire pavilion.
The exhibition emphasises the multivalent capacity of musalla spaces, a series of images and archival documents related to the architectural history of such spaces, allowing for a dialogue between the contemporary work and the historical spatial practices of Islamic societies.
"Venice has long been a crossroads of cultural exchange, making it the perfect setting to delve into how the unexplored architectural typology of a musalla can contribute to the contemporary discourse around sustainable and adaptable architecture. By bringing excerpts from the AlMusalla Prize from Jeddah to Venice, we hope to demonstrate how traditional architectural practices, based on sustainability, impermanence, and flexibility, can generate new ideas and solutions for the future."
Prince Nawaf bin Ayyaf, jury chair of the AlMusalla Prize.
